Do You Need a Licence for a Mobile Bar at Your Wedding?
Short answer: it depends on how your guests pay for their drinks. If you’re covering the bar as part of your wedding package and everyone drinks for free, you often don’t need anything extra. If guests are buying drinks individually, or your venue isn’t already licensed, you’ll need a Temporary Event Notice. Here’s exactly how that works and what it means for your day.
The Short Answer, Unpacked
There’s no single “mobile bar licence” you apply for. What you actually need depends on two things: how alcohol is being paid for, and whether your venue already holds a licence.
If your venue has its own premises licence covering the sale of alcohol, which most established wedding venues, hotels and country houses do, a mobile bar can usually operate under that licence. No separate application needed.
If your venue doesn’t have one, or you’re hosting somewhere that isn’t a licensed premises, a garden, a field, a marquee, then whoever’s selling the drinks needs a Temporary Event Notice, known as a TEN. This applies specifically when guests are paying for drinks themselves, a cash bar. For prepaid, open-bar packages where the couple covers everything upfront, licensing is usually more straightforward because nothing’s technically being “sold” to guests.
What a TEN Actually Costs
A Temporary Event Notice costs £21, paid to the local licensing authority. That’s it, there’s no sliding scale based on guest numbers or event size. It has to be applied for at least 10 clear working days before the event. There’s a faster “late TEN” option too, but that has to land between 5 and 9 clear working days beforehand, so it’s not something to rely on if your planning’s running behind.
One limit worth knowing: an event covered by a TEN can’t run longer than 168 hours (7 days) and can’t have more than 499 people in attendance, including staff. For a wedding, neither of those is usually close to being a problem.
That £21 is a small part of the overall picture. For the full breakdown of what a wedding bar costs, see our mobile bar hire cost guide.
How Many TENs Can You Actually Get?
This matters more for us than for you, but it’s worth knowing. Anyone without a personal alcohol licence can only serve 5 TENs a year, 2 of which can be late applications. Someone who does hold a personal licence, which we do, can serve up to 50 a year. That’s part of why working with a licensed pub for your wedding bar removes a genuine headache: we’re not scrambling against an annual limit the way an unlicensed mobile bar operator might be.
Why This Is Easier With Us Than DIY
We’re a licensed pub first, Coach and Horses has held a premises and personal licence for years before the mobile bar side ever started. That means TEN applications aren’t new territory for us, we handle them as a normal part of booking a wedding, not as an extra step you have to chase.
Practically, that means: we tell you upfront whether your venue needs a TEN or not, we handle the application and the fee, and we build the 10 working day notice period into your booking timeline so it’s never a last-minute scramble. You don’t fill out a council form. You don’t find out three weeks before your wedding that something’s missing.
We also keep a copy of the TEN application at the venue on the day, so if the police, licensing team or environmental health ever want to see it, it’s right there. Most couples never think to ask about this until it’s too late.
Local Specifics: Monmouthshire and the Surrounding Area
If your wedding’s in Monmouthshire, TENs are applied for through Monmouthshire County Council’s licensing team, same £21 fee, same 10 working day notice period. For weddings just over the border or further into South Wales, the process is the same everywhere in England and Wales, just apply through the relevant local authority, full details on GOV.UK’s Temporary Events Notice page. We cover both, whichever council your venue sits under.
Is This Something You Need to Worry About?
Honestly, mostly no, not if you’re booking a mobile bar through us. This is genuinely one of those things that’s more useful to understand than to personally manage. What’s worth doing on your end: tell us early whether your venue already has a premises licence (most wedding coordinators know this off the top of their head), and get in touch with your date as soon as you can so the 10 working day window is never tight.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to apply for the TEN myself?
No, not when you book through us. We handle the application, the fee, and the timing as part of your wedding mobile bar booking.
What if our venue already has an alcohol licence?
Then a separate TEN often isn’t needed at all, the mobile bar can usually operate under the venue’s existing licence. We’ll confirm this with your venue directly before your day.
How much does the licence cost?
£21, a flat fee regardless of guest numbers. It’s a small part of the overall cost of your wedding mobile bar hire.
How far in advance does this need sorting?
At least 10 clear working days before your wedding, which is why we build licensing into your booking timeline from the start rather than leaving it until the week before. For general booking lead times, see our wedding mobile bar hire page.
What's the difference between a cash bar and an open bar for licensing?
An open bar, where you’ve prepaid and guests drink for free, usually doesn’t need a separate licence. A cash bar, where guests pay for their own drinks, is what specifically triggers the need for a TEN.
Does this apply to marquee and outdoor weddings too?
Yes, if the marquee or outdoor space isn’t itself a licensed premises, which most aren’t, a TEN is exactly the route for that kind of setup. It’s actually one of the most common situations a TEN gets used for.