Call Kurtis: Wedding Bar Bill Hangover

They are the two words wedding guests love to hear: "Open bar." When drinks are being poured left and right, how is that final bill calculated? Two Sacramento newlyweds say their open bar was the cause of a billing blunder, so they called Kurtis Ming. The couple says they were overcharged.

Steven and Trang Fong had a beautiful November wedding.  The open bar during the reception at Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa helped make it a blast.

"Everybody that went said it was the most fun they've had at any wedding," says Steven.

But he and Trang say Arden Hills stiffed them with a tab for hundreds more than they agreed.

"It was a shocking experience to say the least," says Steven.

The Fongs put a $1,000 deposit toward the bar tab.  The night of the wedding, they blew through that and agreed to $1,500 more.  So why were they charged $1760 plus tax and tip?

Wedding planner Shelley Larkin, of Pizzazz! Event Planning, didn't work on this wedding, but says when there's an open bar the bride and groom have a right to see a breakdown of every drink served.

"If there was ever a question after they received their bill, there should be documentation to back up where they arrived at that figure," says Larkin.

But Steven and Trang didn't get that itemized documentation of drinks.

"The computer did crash that evening," says Arden Hills Event Coordinator Alicia Brown.

She says the bartender kept a handwritten tab and that's how they came up with that $1,760.  But even she agrees the couple only verbally agreed to an additional $1,500.  So why did they get the bill for $1,760?

"Oh, I see what you're saying," Brown says after taking a closer look at the Fongs' receipt.

The country club agreed to refund the Fongs the difference and offered a free night in one of their villas.

"We are willing, in good faith to make this right with them and wish them the best," says Brown.

"It's not quite the hangover Steven and Trang expected having an open bar.

"You should know what you're paying for," says Steven.

The key here is to put things in writing.  Almost everything surrounding this open bar was agreed to verbally.  Larkin says if the Fongs had the terms in writing it would have been much easier for either side to prove their case.