Should Have Bottled Up During Dinner

I bartended weddings for a while and met a whole cast of characters every weekend. There was almost always a bottle of white and a bottle of red wine on every table, as well as more behind the bar for us to serve. I worked at a more affordable venue, so what was put out was usually all the guests were getting for free.

We always kept the white wine in the fridge and the red on the counter below the bar top. The neck of the bottle stuck up a little bit, and guests could see them. This was never an issue until someone showed us it might be. 

We always closed the bar during dinner to slow booze flow and so we could help serve dinner. A guest approached me: 

Guest: “We’re out of wine. We need more.”

Me: “There are only two bottles per table, but you’re more than welcome to ask any of the other tables if they’re not drinking a bottle.”

I continued serving tables and did a pass by the bar. One of my bottles of red was missing. I had an idea of who it was, but had to confirm. I told my manager that one of my bottles was missing and that I thought I knew who it was.

Now I have to explain something. Most couples got custom labels on their wine. They’re not charged full price for the wine they don’t use, as we can use it for bar service later. Restaurant guests don’t usually see the bottle their wine is poured from anyway. This missing bottle was one of those. For the sake of the post, “Craig and Alyssa” were getting married that day.

I found the guest who had asked for more wine at his table and saw the second bottle of red in front of him. I asked:

Me: “Where did you get that bottle?”

Guest: “Another table gave it to us.”

He straight up lied, so I picked up the bottle and showed him the picture of a different couple on the bottle.

Me: “This bottle is from “Tyler and Olivia’s” wedding, and I know you stole it from my bar. That was a mistake.”

He kind of sputtered and tried to apologize. I took the bottle back to the bar and informed all of my coworkers that he was cut off.

Come prepared to pay for drinks when it’s not an open bar, and actually listen when they say last call before dinner. If you can’t make it a couple of hours without a drink, you should have come prepared for that as well.