They originally expected about 275 guests so had planned the open bar accordingly to have approximately a $4,000 bar budget. The final head count for the wedding turned out to be about 225 guests. Their wedding coordinator assured them that reaching the $4,000 limit would be an almost unattainable feat. Well guess what, their final bar bill was $8,000!

How did that happen?

This particular wedding had a 2-hour cocktail reception which probably increased the number of drinks "sold" because people were lingering and waiting for dinner.

Billing was on a per-bottle basis, meaning that the bartenders kept track of the number of bottles cracked open. At the end of the evening one of the bartenders had cracked at least a dozen beers (not directly ordered by any single person) and left on a cocktail tray for people to just come and grab. At one point I personally had 3-simultaneous beers in hand (1 bud light, 2 Heineken if you care to know). Looking over various pictures, the groom also noticed that guests had near-full bottles of liquor for takeaway. This is a clear violation of the hotel's policy and worked heavily to the the host's detriment.

The per-bottle arrangement is probably common. However, for my wedding the cost of alcohol was included no matter how much people drank.

The bartenders allowed people to linger and take pictures and continue drinking. As a guest I loved it but we drank quite a bit during the 20 minutes of lingering in the lobby.

The bartenders were paid additionally for the amount of drinks sold, I suppose to keep them efficient. The side-effect being that they were incentivized to crack as many bottles as possible.

• Don't underestimate your guests' capacity to drink.
• Be weary of shady bartenders. I wonder if the bartender was double-counting bottles-opened?
• Ask your wedding coordinator what happens if your party goes over-budget for alcohol? Hopefully the hosts were not held responsible for the full $8,000 when the coordinator was so certain that $4,000 would have been sufficient.
• Maybe tell your venue that once the budget is reached, the drinking is over. Your guests will likely be soused by then anyway.
• If you have a heavy-drinking party, try to negotiate a flat rate for drinks.

• Go to Priceline.com Name Your Own Price for Detroit, Michigan
• Choose ONLY "Southfield" (Region 4)
• Select "4-Star Deluxe" as your minimum level
• Name Your Own Price at about $45.

The Westin is off the Lodge Freeway around 9 Mile Road in the Southfield Civic Center area. The hotel is beautiful inside and the staff is incredibly friendly. There isn't a ton of stuff to do in the immediate area but Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Detroit are within a 10-15 minute radius.

• The rooms at the Westin Southfield were perhaps a little nicer than the Troy Marriott but not as nice as what was formerly known as the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn. The Ritz name has changed for the Dearborn location.
• The management of the Westin Southfield made exceptions to allow outside catering for the wedding reception. The food was a reputable Chinese Restaurant (Hong Hua of Farmington Hills) in the area. Of course this luxury comes at a cost.
• The 10-course Chinese food banquet dinner was awesome.
• The bartenders at Westin Southfield poured shots. Shots are not always allowed at wedding open bars.
• The staff allowed us access to a conference room for an after-party but we did not use it. We ended up congregating in the honeymoon suite.

Here is a Flickr stream of Cranbrook photos via the blog Michigan in Pictures.

Towards the bottom of the page you'll see some great pictures of Cranbrook Lake and the surrounding trails. If you and your photographer have the moxie to sneak onto the grounds you should be able to get a lot of good engagement photos on the trails and near the Cranbrook House Gardens like the ones featured on this website. You probably would not be able to do formal wedding day photos in Cranbrook without paying. Security is generally relaxed but they aren't lazy. If you went over there wearing a tux and a wedding dress they probably would spot you and kick you out. I don't think they would call the cops, however.

View sample Cranbrook Wedding Photos

Read more about  weddings at Cranbrook and wedding photography at Cranbrook.

We still had several family members in town lingering for 1-2 nights after our Michigan wedding because many of them came from out-of-state. Our extended family members spent their Sunday afternoon touring various parts of the metro Detroit area. Some families went to the Detroit Zoo, others went to Greektown, while still others went meandering through the streets of Oakland county with no destination in mind.

After a hard day of wandering and taking in the sights and sounds of a Michigan summer we converged upon Alibi of Troy for pizza, salad, and an all around good carb-laden meal. Our motley party of 20 (!) grandparents, parents, children, and newlyweds showed up at Alibi semi-announced (they do not accept reservations) and the restaurant managed to seat us within a decent time. Alibi is my wife's favorite pizza because the crust is a little sweet and the toppings are generous. The space interior is casual and homey, lots to like here. It's a family place without being Chuck E. Cheese.

If you ever have the pleasure of coming here, I would suggest a pizza, some breadsticks, and a salad. This carbo-licious meal is awesome.