For couples buying their own alcohol
The BYOB shopping list
You bring the booze. We bring everything else — and, more usefully, the list that stops you buying three kinds of vodka and no mixers.
Before you buy anything
Check what your venue allows. Many DFW and Houston venues require BYOB, others require licensed bar service, and some have an exclusive vendor. That answer determines your entire bar plan, and it is the cheapest question you will ever ask.
What Shaker requires for a BYOB event
Bartenders and the supplies package are required for all BYOB events. Bartenders are $50 an hour, staffed one per 75 guests, and the supplies package is $ 275.
That requirement is practical rather than commercial. A bar with no pour spouts, no ice bucket, no water dispenser and nobody staffing it is the version of BYOB couples regret, and it is where the savings go — into a queue, a mess and a liability.
The supplies package covers
- Coolers
- Plastic cups
- Ice serving bucket
- Tongs
- Cocktail napkins
- Straws
- Pitchers
- Serving tray
- Tip jar
- Water dispenser
- Garnish bowls and plates
- Bar towels
- Pour spouts
The three things couples forget
Not the alcohol. Nobody forgets the alcohol. It is always these:
- Mixers. Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, sweet & sour, cranberry, orange, pineapple and grapefruit juice, plus ice, cooler rental and disposables. This is the package BYOB couples most often forget. $7 per guest through us, or bought yourself — either way, a spirits bar without sweet and sour, cranberry and grapefruit juice can pour about four drinks.
- Ice, and then more ice. $25 per 50 lb. Ice does two separate jobs at a bar — chilling stock and going into drinks — so one bag covers neither.
- Citrus and garnishes. $50 for lemons and limes. Every cocktail on a wedding bar wants one, and a garnish-free margarita photographs like a mistake.
How much alcohol should you actually buy?
Client to confirm — the quantities
Please send the BYOB shopping list you already give couples, sized by guest count. It should be published here as a real table — bottles of each spirit, cases of beer, bottles of wine, per 50/100/150/200 guests — rather than as a link to a downloadable file. This is the single highest-value page on the site that we cannot write for you: 'how much alcohol for 150 guests' is a question couples search constantly, almost nobody answers it properly, and the company that does is the company they call. We will not estimate quantities ourselves, because a guess that leaves a wedding dry is not a guess worth making.
In the meantime, ask us — we will size it to your guest list and what your guests actually drink, which matters more than a generic ratio. Bartenders also stock the bar through the night to reduce waste, which is what keeps unopened bottles returnable rather than opened and worthless.
Is BYOB actually cheaper?
Often, but not always. It moves the alcohol to retail cost, which wins when your guests drink modestly and you can buy well. It stops winning when you over-buy, when you want a broad spirits selection, or when your store will not take back unopened bottles. The estimator prices both so you can compare them against your own guest count.
BYOB at a glance
- Bartenders $50/hr, required
- Supplies package $275, required
- Mixers package $7/guest, optional
- Ice $25 per 50 lb
- Lemons & limes $50
Last updated .
Want the list sized to your wedding?
Send us your guest count and what you want poured, and we'll tell you what to buy.