Jul 10, 2010

Getting Your Special Occasions Permit

Are you like us and supplying the alcohol for your wedding? If so, you probably need a special occasions permit.

While most LCBOs have a copy of the form you’ll need to fill out, you can print a copy of it off from over here.

That page also lists off which stores issue permits, since many of them do not.

Permits must be dropped off at one of those stores and then it takes about five business days for the permit to be approved. You then have to go back and pick up the physical permit (you can phone and make sure that yes, it’s there and ready).

Permits need to be applied for at least 10 days for indoor events and 30 days for outdoor events.

Outdoor events also need to meet these requirements: For outdoor events, the permit holder must at least 21 days prior to the event, write to the local municipality, police, and fire and health departments informing them of the event. The building department must be notified as well if a tent or marquee is used. The licensed area must be clearly defined and separated from the unlicensed area by a 36” (0.9 metres) high separation.

Since we’re having an open bar, or a “no sale” bar in the world of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, our permit only cost $25 and filling out the form was very quick and easy.

The permit for a cash bars, or “sale” bar, is $75 and filling out the form is bit more work though not much more.

All alcohol being served under a special occasions permit needs to purchased under that permit’s number. Then the receipts for those purchases need to be at the reception, just in case an inspector stops by. The permit also needs to be there, up in a visible location so I guess everyone knows that they’re drinking government approved liquor.

We’re waiting until a few days before the wedding to buy most of our booze though the beer is being ordered from Mill Street Brewery and the wine from WineOnline. Both places will deliver though I think Shawn’s thinking it might be “safer” if we pick up the wine and then bring it over with the rest of the alcohol.

While we’ve figured out how much wine we need, we’re still working on how much of everything else we need. I know there are alcohol calculators out there but I’ve yet to find one that breaks hard liquor down by type and takes into consideration things like coolers. If anyone knows of a calculator that does all that, let me know!

1 comment:

  1. GUIDELINES FOR SPIRITS


    A 750 mL (26 oz.) bottle gives approximately 17 standard drinks. You will need three similarly sized bottles of mix. Allow three drinks per person. Guest preferences or a party theme may affect the types of spirits purchased, so the following is only a basic guide for making spirit purchases:

    • 30% Canadian Whisky
    • 20% Vodka
    • 20% Rum
    • 10% Scotch
    • 10% Gin (more popular in summer)
    • 10% Float or something unusual (e.g. liqueurs or Schnapps)

    Extra fruit juices and soft drinks should be provided for the designated drivers and non-drinkers.


    ESTIMATING NEEDS FOR A LARGER SOCIAL FUNCTION


    Follow three steps when estimating your needs:

    1. Calculate how many people will be drinking at the event.
    2. Multiply this number by four. This tells you the maximum number of standard drinks you need.
    3. Translate the number of standard drinks into cases of spirits and bottles of wine.

    100 "standard drinks" = approximately:
    Beer: 100 12-oz. bottles
    or
    Spirits: 6 750 mL bottles
    or
    Wine: 20 750mL bottles

    Suppose you expect 200 people to be drinking at your event. The recommended number of drinks you need is 800 (4 x 200). Let's further suppose that you expect about half of the people will drink beer and the rest will be divided between spirits and wine. The 800 "standard drinks" required would be divided as follows: 400 bottles of beer (4 x 100), plus 12 bottles of spirits (2 x 6), plus 40 bottles of wine (2 x 20).

    via:http://www.lcbo.com/learn/howmuchdoineed.shtml#howmuch

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