The thought of footing the bill for an open bar sends a shudder straight down to your toes. Thousands of dollars for what you could have bought at the liquor store for a few hundred. But that’s exactly what you get to do!We have no liquor license. That means three things:
- You can provide your own alcohol (even your own home-brew!)
- You cannot charge for it.
- It must be served by a licensed, TIPS trained, insured bartender.
We provide all the infrastructure: two kegerators with taps, ice machine and insulated bins for ice for mixed drinks or canned & bottled beverages, all tucked behind a sandstone bar.
Grimm Brothers Brewhouse is just across the parking lot. Here’s a secret: They only sell kegs to restaurants and us. You can wheel your beer across the parking lot and they won’t even charge a keg deposit.
If you want a “cash bar”, you can use tokens like at a festival. At a separate table, you’ll sell tokens. At the bar, the bartender will check ID’s, exchange tokens for drinks, and make sure Uncle Ernie doesn’t get too smashed.
Because of the liability, you must use one of our approved, insured bartending services.
One of the bartending services also offers a package including alcohol if you prefer an all-inclusive experience.
Here are guidelines for estimating how much alcohol to provide per person:
- Guests typically consume two drinks in the first hour and one drink during each following hour.
- If you serve wine, beer and spirits, plan on 50% wine, 30% beer, and 20% mixed drinks.
- Serving just wine and beer? Plan on 60% wine and 40% beer.
Here’s a nifty drink calculator.
Alcohol
Do you know of any services that could bring in the alcohol along with the bartending services?
Party Liquor is a vendor we have worked with that will provide beverages AND a bartender. They do everything. they have packages from beer and wine to a full bar and everything in-between. They base their fees on they type of service you need and the number of hours you have the open bar.
Some bartending services may also provide beverages upon request. Please remember that you MUST use an approved bartending service for your event at the Garden Room.
Can we have a cash bar at our event?
The only way for you to do a cash bar is to get a 1 day special events permit so that YOU can sell drinks. Colorado wants their tax money. Most of the time these special events permits are reserved for nonprofits and fundraisers. You will have to apply for a Special Events Permit through the City of Loveland and once the City approves it they send it to the State for approval. It generally takes about 60 days to accomplish this, so please plan ahead.
You could also coordinate drink tickets with your approved bartending service. Most services are happy to work with you to accept drink tickets from attendees so that no cash actually passes over the bar and it is clear that the bartending services is not actually selling the drinks.
What if we run out of adult beverages?
The Garden Room as a venue does not sell or provide alcohol. However, Grimm Brothers is just out our back door AND they are willing to kegs to people using our event center. There are also a number of liquor stores in the area.
What is included with use of the bar?
The bar includes 2 refrigerated kegerators with CO2 and taps, no need for tubs of ice to keep your kegs cold. The frige in the kitchen can hold 2 more kegs just in case. Two insulated ice bins are located under the bar to hold ice for mixed drinks or to store bottles of cold beer and wine. There are also 2 smaller refrigerators behind the bar, and a hand sink. Oh and we have our own ice machine so you don’t need to lug in bags of ice to keep things cool.
