DeaconPeach
Beer me
have you asked about providing your own booze? we chose a caterer that allowed us to provide our own alcohol. We spent a few hundred bucks on liquor ($500??). also had beer and wine. the caterer had an ABC license to serve alcohol but since we supplied it we had to get our own insurance for the day (about $100). they provided the bar tenders and we paid 3 or 4 bucks a head for soft drinks/tea/coffee/mixers etc. we spent maybe 1/3 of what they would have charged for them to provide everything. we also had a bunch to take home and some of our close friends took some left overs back to the hotel after the wedding. the only downside was transportation to and from but my bro in law was happy to take care of that for us.
We went the same route - bought all the beer & wine ourselves from a local package store who gave us their volume discount. We paid for a bartender from the caterers to serve it. No bottle charge this way and anything unopened came home with us.