BYOB vs Full Bar Service — Which Is Cheaper for a Singapore Wedding?
Alcohol is usually the largest variable cost at a Singapore wedding. Choosing between BYOB and a full-service bar can swing the drinks budget by thousands.
How the two models differ
With BYOB you buy the alcohol yourself and pay a bartending fee only. With full bar service, the provider or venue supplies the drinks and prices them per head or per bottle, with a margin built in.
We charge nothing extra for BYOB. Our $680 wedding package is the same price whether the bottles are yours or ours.
A worked example for 100 guests
Assume 100 guests over four hours and about 300 drinks. Under BYOB you might spend $700 to $1,200 on spirits, wine, mixers and juice at supermarket or duty-free prices, plus our $680 bartending fee — roughly $1,400 to $1,900 in total, and you keep unopened bottles.
A hotel free-flow package at $30 to $60 per guest for the same crowd lands between $3,000 and $6,000 before service charge and GST. Even a mid-priced package is typically double the BYOB route.
Where BYOB stops being cheaper
Corkage is the trap. Hotels and some event venues charge per bottle opened, which can erase the saving entirely. Read the venue contract before you buy anything.
Time is the other cost. Sourcing, transporting and chilling that much stock takes a full day. If that is not realistic during wedding week, our procurement and delivery service at $150 handles it and still beats a venue package.
How to decide
Choose BYOB if your venue allows outside alcohol without punitive corkage, and someone in the party can handle the shopping run. Choose full procurement if you are time-poor. Choose the venue package only when it is contractually unavoidable.