This is the option if you have the budget and will make you seriously popular with your guests. Free bars - unfortunately not as the name suggests!! - are where you pay up front a fee per guest for them to drink at the bar without having to find their purse or wallet. Most bar hire companies give you the choice of cocktails, draft beer, spirits & mixers, wines and soft drinks but make sure you ask to see a sample drinks menu and ask if you can tailor it to suit your requirements. Also make sure there are no hidden extras such as glassware or ice. All-inclusive services should be just that - although you may have to contribute towards diesel if you are a long distance away. We have provided bars in Scotland under this agreement and you don’t get much further away from Brighton than that! It was a great party by the way.

People often worry that free bars involve a limited amount of stock, at which point they run dry and your guests are left to make do with whatever’s left. Although it is always possible that Jack Daniels and coke will be consumed by 90% of your guests at the exclusion of everything else on the menu - your free bar should always have a good range available and should never run dry. Ask for testimonials and guarantees that your supplier understands the variables that tend to crop up again and again - and check what they are going to do should the unexpected happen and they do run out.

Price per guest will vary - maybe quite considerably - and it might be wise to choose a company that is mid-way between the cheapest and the most expensive. Ask as many questions as you need to - if they are a good company they will not mind!