Wedding liquor Edmonton

[Thrillbilly]

So I'm getting married in Edmonton this October and we decided on a toonie bar. I was hoping someone on here would be able to point me in the right direction for where to buy bulk liquor and beer at the best deal.

[Hammerhead]

I'm in the same predicament... I've been told that Costco liquor is the best and that they will take returns on whatever you don't open. Apparently they also have a list of what to buy based on your number of guests.
Also, we went to the Alley Kat Brewery and got a good deal on 2 mini kegs. Great beer and they were very accommodating. Gave us a discount because it was for our wedding.
Good Luck. Lance.

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

Back in 2005 I hauled the enclosed trailer to GP and we bought at Super Store. Buy in multiple and get discount . We returned some later for full refund. Mostly the wine -a couple cases. The left over spice rum and Lambs Amber rum I kept.

Best deal we got and I tried all the local stores and with large volume purchase supposed discount, it was cheaper at Superstore. We were already heading to GP anyhow so pulling the trailer made no difference to me. At the time Costco had no liquor store.

We did the Twoonie bar and supplied all the and if people wanted it.

[Gilly]

Lol. That's the advantage of being 30 miles to the Montana north Dakota line. I had my truckers haul me back booze with every load of oil hahahah. Worked great and saved a pile in booze we still had to have a toonie bar but we were pretty generous with the pouring if u know what I mean. Good luck in your search for a trailer full.

Gilly

[-JR-]

Co-worker just bought his wedding booze also at Costco this week. said he checked around and it was cheaper than super store.
No member ship needed ,only in the main building you need one.

[Thrillbilly]

I just realized I accidentally posted this in hunting lol! I'm glad I still got a handful of replies. Looks like Costco and superstore are my best bets, thanks guys!

[grizzler]

If you are inviting the party crowd and anticipate the bar tender to be busy. DO NOT follow the suggested list most liquor stores will give you. Double the popular stuff ( Rye, Vodka, and beer ). My wedding and a few other buddies followed the list and had to have the store hot shot more after hours ( good thing about small town Alberta ). Maybe we just drink too much, but it wont go bad and as long as its not opened, you can always take it back.
same goes for the mix. Especially clamato

[Kanonfodder]

I am going to chime in as I was in the business for 15 yrs some questions first:

-what is your venue? Some hotels do not allow you to bring in your own booze
-you need a resale permit 25 bucks plus service charge, you can buy at the liquor store
-buy the basics only, buy 26 oz btl as you get less waste and they go on sale more often
_Costco has only the very basics, Superstore is also good cuz you get discounts on multiples
-if you are putting wine on tables, alternate red and white on the tables, this prevents wastage and encourages conversation between tables ( have extras for purchase at bar )
-vodka, rye are 2 most popular get btl of white a few spiced and a decent dark, skip gin and tequila and if you want get one btl of glenfiddich etc for scotch guys
-go with canned beer and try to buy flats ( 8 pks are usually cheaper ) dont get sucked in to 48 packs 30s etc the 6 pk or 8 pks are better for returns as once a pk is open stores wont take it back.
- cans are king for clean up.... as well as you can just buy a trough at Peavey mart and fill with ice and water, Halls never have alot of cooler space ..cans take up less area.
-always order more ice than you think u need, its a waste of money but warm drinks suck
_put coffee mix ice clam etc on a table near the bar but far enough away they wont get crowded...
Shoot me a PM if you need some liquor stores I can recommend esecially if you have specific wine, beer or liquor questions

[ArtG]

Originally Posted by Kanonfodder

I am going to chime in as I was in the business for 15 yrs some questions first:

-what is your venue? Some hotels do not allow you to bring in your own booze
-you need a resale permit 25 bucks plus service charge, you can buy at the liquor store
-buy the basics only, buy 26 oz btl as you get less waste and they go on sale more often
_Costco has only the very basics, Superstore is also good cuz you get discounts on multiples
-if you are putting wine on tables, alternate red and white on the tables, this prevents wastage and encourages conversation between tables ( have extras for purchase at bar )
-vodka, rye are 2 most popular get btl of white a few spiced and a decent dark, skip gin and tequila and if you want get one btl of glenfiddich etc for scotch guys
-go with canned beer and try to buy flats ( 8 pks are usually cheaper ) dont get sucked in to 48 packs 30s etc the 6 pk or 8 pks are better for returns as once a pk is open stores wont take it back.
- cans are king for clean up.... as well as you can just buy a trough at Peavey mart and fill with ice and water, Halls never have alot of cooler space ..cans take up less area.
-always order more ice than you think u need, its a waste of money but warm drinks suck
_put coffee mix ice clam etc on a table near the bar but far enough away they wont get crowded...
Shoot me a PM if you need some liquor stores I can recommend esecially if you have specific wine, beer or liquor questions

I just had a open bar wedding in august so from what me and the wife learned. Shop around we stayed away from Costco cause they only wanted to give us 10% discount on all our liquor. liking in Calgary we went with Crowfoot liquor since they have us cost plus 10% i think. (we needed 7k worth of liquor). Shop around talk to managers/ store owner. even the small stores are willing to bargain. And they let us return what we didn't use. Of course I kept couple bottle of the good whiskey, vodka, and rye

If your proving your own bar look into "event liability insurance". Most places require it if case god forbid someone gets hurt. i know the hall we rented wanted 2 million liability it was $100-$200.

[Kanonfodder]

Good call on the liability insurance

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Is it just me who thinks that liability insurance for a wedding just sounds wrong

ARG

[ArtG]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

Is it just me who thinks that liability insurance for a wedding just sounds wrong

ARG

What happens when people start drinking and driving or someone destroys property accidental or not? Your ass is on the line.

There is a saying it is not a polish wedding unless there is at least one fight

I had to lay my older brother out on my sisters wedding. He has issues with people telling him what to do and a hotel manager telling him to keep it quit or he would call the police (1am) got him all fired up about his "it's a free country and free speech rant"

It's the same if you host any party with alcohol.

[Fisherpeak]

We are getting hitched Aug. 1, can`t get discount liquer in B.C., least not here. We got 2 cases of wine made, 100 Apple Coolers and I`m picking up 6 flats of Bud. After that they can all buy their own. Also I`m getting 5 buckets of chicken from a local place(way better than KFC) and 10 pizzas from a great local place. Some home made potato salad, cole slaw and macaroni salad. Getting it all done in my big beauty yard under the giant trees. Stereo set up on the new deck and a bunch of my musician friends playing with me.
All in...around $2000.
Old fashioned country style. About 50 people.
The average wedding in Canada costs around $20,000.
Insane. Pay down the mortgage instead.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

Is it just me who thinks that liability insurance for a wedding just sounds wrong

ARG

No way! I wish I could have taken it out against my first marriage!!

LC

[ArtG]

Originally Posted by Fisherpeak

We are getting hitched Aug. 1, can`t get discount liquer in B.C., least not here. We got 2 cases of wine made, 100 Apple Coolers and I`m picking up 6 flats of Bud. After that they can all buy their own. Also I`m getting 5 buckets of chicken from a local place(way better than KFC) and 10 pizzas from a great local place. Some home made potato salad, cole slaw and macaroni salad. Getting it all done in my big beauty yard under the giant trees. Stereo set up on the new deck and a bunch of my musician friends playing with me.
All in...around $2000.
Old fashioned country style. About 50 people.
The average wedding in Canada costs around $20,000.
Insane. Pay down the mortgage instead.

I'm envies sounds like a great wedding and the local B.C food is great. Just came from a week vacation in Lumby and had fresh farm egg from a local farmer who ended up selling us a 5lbs chicken (fire roated) and gave us some veggies from their personal garden. Who knew food is suppose to taste so good.

On a side note $20,000 sounds a little low. I think it would be closer to $30,00. We paid almost $40,000 for 120 people.

[bigbfidaddy]

Wife works for a wedding planner and events co-ordinator that specializes in doing Hindi and East Indian weddings For them talk about going all out. Average wedding cost has been near $200,000 and she just finished one that all in will be closer to $350k. Apparently this is quite common in their culture. That's nuts. We did ours 23 years ago and shelled out about $2000 and had a blast. Good luck on the marriage I hope yours is as long and happy as mine has been.

[mooseknuckle]

we went the Costco route. you can return anything Un opened. 100 people roughly we bought around 1800 worth. open bar so I got the liability insurance think it was around $150.

[WCTHEMI]

We got married a couple years ago. Couldn't find anywhere to give us a discount, so we watched for sales, bought most of it a the Superstore liquor store. Found they had the best sale prices and allowed us to return un-opened bottles and beer. We also got the 8 packs, easier to return unused portions then. Liquor license and insurance are a must as well. Congratulations on your upcoming big day.

[tbiddy]

Originally Posted by Kanonfodder

I am going to chime in as I was in the business for 15 yrs some questions first:

-what is your venue? Some hotels do not allow you to bring in your own booze
-you need a resale permit 25 bucks plus service charge, you can buy at the liquor store
-buy the basics only, buy 26 oz btl as you get less waste and they go on sale more often
_Costco has only the very basics, Superstore is also good cuz you get discounts on multiples
-if you are putting wine on tables, alternate red and white on the tables, this prevents wastage and encourages conversation between tables ( have extras for purchase at bar )
-vodka, rye are 2 most popular get btl of white a few spiced and a decent dark, skip gin and tequila and if you want get one btl of glenfiddich etc for scotch guys
-go with canned beer and try to buy flats ( 8 pks are usually cheaper ) dont get sucked in to 48 packs 30s etc the 6 pk or 8 pks are better for returns as once a pk is open stores wont take it back.
- cans are king for clean up.... as well as you can just buy a trough at Peavey mart and fill with ice and water, Halls never have alot of cooler space ..cans take up less area.
-always order more ice than you think u need, its a waste of money but warm drinks suck
_put coffee mix ice clam etc on a table near the bar but far enough away they wont get crowded...
Shoot me a PM if you need some liquor stores I can recommend esecially if you have specific wine, beer or liquor questions

I know this thread is a few years old but we are also planning our October wedding in Edmonton and looking for liquor for the toonie bar. Is Superstore still the go to place or is there a better recommendation now? Haven’t price shopped yet. Won’t be anything spectacular. 3 kinds of beer, one light. Then your standard hard liquors with emphasis on whisky and vodka.

[Skoaltender]

I got married in September and Costco is the way to go. They do buy back all in opened bottles and boxes of beer. Just remember don’t but too early as they only return if purchased within the last 30 days.

Buy 26’s instead of 40’s or 60’s
We ended up with 4 opened 60’s and could not return (ended up giving away as I don’t really drink much).

[Dick284]

For my daughters wedding, I totally lucked out with a local liquor store, where the owner allowed us to basically run a week long tab on the alcohol. We took what we wanted plus lots of extras. After it was over we returned the un opened stuff, tallied up and paid for what we owed.

I can also say, know your guests as we had a hellish run on vodka, a decent run on rum, and rye was pretty tame, wine was so un popular we might as well had just not bought any. Web based or Liquor store calculators play heavy on the wine, and low on the spirits was my experience. And if the weather is warm expect beer to go harder than spirits, but if it’s a bit cooler or rainy, expect spirits to out run your beer sales.

Again know your guests, and best of luck.

[Kim473]

All inclusive hotel in Mexico ! Anyone wants to attend , pay their own way.

[Dean2]

We used Liquor Depot for our large purchase for a Birthday party. We went in and talked to the manager, they gave us a very good discount that actually made it cheaper than buying at Superstore or Costco. Don't know if they all do it but the one by the Sobeys on 97 St and 167 Ave in Edmonton is the one we used.

[tbiddy]

Thanks for the replies. We got some prices from Superstore as a baseline. We had looked at 48 packs but the 6 or 8 packs are a better idea. It is Thanksgiving weekend so I assume it will be cooler so we won’t go crazy on the beer. 200 people, no kids. I know it will be mainly whiskey and vodka drinkers. We’re not getting a ton of wine either. Wedding is paid for. Have the caterer (pig roast), hall paid for, photographer, DJ and cake maker. This is the last big thing on the list. Going to check out Costco, Liqour Depot and Wine & Beyond.

Destination wedding was the 1st plan but there are people we want there that would definitely not be able to make it. Or asking friends to drop 10k on a family holiday. We chose having friends and family with us rather than the people that could afford to go.

[omega50]

Originally Posted by tbiddy

Thanks for the replies. We got some prices from Superstore as a baseline. We had looked at 48 packs but the 6 or 8 packs are a better idea. It is Thanksgiving weekend so I assume it will be cooler so we won’t go crazy on the beer. 200 people, no kids. I know it will be mainly whiskey and vodka drinkers. We’re not getting a ton of wine either. Wedding is paid for. Have the caterer (pig roast), hall paid for, photographer, DJ and cake maker. This is the last big thing on the list. Going to check out Costco, Liqour Depot and Wine & Beyond.

Destination wedding was the 1st plan but there are people we want there that would definitely not be able to make it. Or asking friends to drop 10k on a family holiday. We chose having friends and family with us rather than the people that could afford to go.

Good Call
Step daughter married in Jamaica 2016 at higher end resort. Cost our small extended family of 10 people about 50k to attend
Lots of drama and stuck on a resort with our exes for a week.

Divorced by Dec 2017

Still shaking my head about attending that circus

Your plan seems sensible and fun and well though out.

[dgrimard]

We used super store, was able to return unopened stuff.
One tip is don't buy the cheapest booze spend a little extra, people will enjoy it more and spend more at the bar. I tailored my booze list to my friends likes and it payed off big time we made money on our 2$ bar, and that is with paying 2 bartenders.

[tbiddy]

Originally Posted by omega50

Good Call
Step daughter married in Jamaica 2016 at higher end resort. Cost our small extended family of 10 people about 50k to attend
Lots of drama and stuck on a resort with our exes for a week.

Divorced by Dec 2017

Still shaking my head about attending that circus

Your plan seems sensible and fun and well though out.

I had a good friend get married in Mexico and only 4 people could attend. We comprimised so all our friends and family could be there.

We’re still spending a good chuck of change and all out of my pocket. The only requirements I had was that it had to be a great party with good food and music. Future wife is on board and hasn’t turned it into an astronomical cost. We’re being sensible and not throwing money away to just spend. Caterer worked with us and got the cost to our budget with no sacrifice. They are a BBQ team out of Edmonton and have been excellent to work with. DJ travels the world doing weddings but gave us a 50% discount cause he went to high school with one of our bridesmaid. GF wants cupcakes instead of a cake. Saved us a ton. She doesn’t like flowers so just her bouquet. Hall had to let us bring in our own caterers and liqour. Dutch Club in Edmonton has been awesome to work with. Put the word wedding in front of a service and costs double. It was an eye opener.

Originally Posted by dgrimard

We used super store, was able to return unopened stuff.
One tip is don't buy the cheapest booze spend a little extra, people will enjoy it more and spend more at the bar. I tailored my booze list to my friends likes and it payed off big time we made money on our 2$ bar, and that is with paying 2 bartenders.

We have to use the halls bartenders ($500) and pay $4.50/person for corkage so I’m hoping we will at least break even. The thought of an open bar crossed our mind but our friends like to party. They’ll put me in the poorhouse!! Haha.

[partsman]

We payed for our own wedding in 95 her second, my first I am still paying the price.

[Travco1]

Drive south too the border at Sweet Grass Montana and load up . You can bring 6 24 per person . So grab wife to be . and Inlaws and doit .

[ocelotrugby]

Originally Posted by Thrillbilly

So I'm getting married in Edmonton this October and we decided on a toonie bar. I was hoping someone on here would be able to point me in the right direction for where to buy bulk liquor and beer at the best deal.

order a week or two ahead case lot only 10% off