Alcohol

[MollyJ]

I am having trouble deciding on what type of a bar to have at my wedding. I know it is rude to ask your guests to pay for anything at the wedding but it can be so expensive to host a bar! I'm not an Emily Post fanatic or anything, but in something like this I can really see where it would not be cool to have a cash bar. What options do I have? Beer and wine feels so bland... any suggestions?

MJ

[JL29720]

I am having the same problem. My cateror suggested beer and one mixed drink. I think I have decided on margaritas since my wedding is right at summer time. Another idea, for kids,is do (virgen)hawaiian punch drinks like margaritas, so the kids will have fun too.

[Angeltee4u]

Well the place where I will be having my wedding does the wedding and the reception and it's a christian wedding chapel and if the weather premitts it it will be done outside, out back of the chapel, by the lake. cause of the large number of guest that will be there. and I figure if the guess want beer or whatever, we all will go up to the little club that I go to all the time and dance and have a couple beers for a while and then me and my soon to be will be out the door by midnight and on our way to our honeymoon.

Teresa

[p_h_c]

Despite what everyone say's about it being tacky it is your wedding and you are responsible for your guests. At our site they don't offer non-cash bars. All parties are cash bars. So, it's not an option. They do offer free coffee, tea and water. We can put an amount of money down on the bar if we would like that evening but because of the current laws that make the site and the purchaser responsible they do not allow couples to pay up front for the bar tab. All the guests must buy their own alcohol if they want it. We can provide a non-alcoholic punch if we would like and they do have a bartender and bar at the location.

The site manager informed us it took the liability for guests getting drunk and then driving off of us and put it back on them. So, we are offering a cash bar rather than no-bar.

Personally, I agree with our reception site manager it should be the individual who is responsible for their drinking. The guests have a choice to drink non-alcoholic drinks if they want. The site is happy to make that available for free to us and the guests. We can bring in our own champagne and offer that to our guests which we plan on doing.

The guests should know up-front that the drinks will be paid by them if they want alcohol. You're not stopping them from drinking if you have a cash bar but then neither are you telling them get drunk and drive either. Your guests are not coming to get drunk. They're coming to share the joy of your day with you. If all they want is to drink free then let them drink non-alcoholic drinks free. To heck with all the emily post guests shouldn't pay for anything at your wedding. They should if they're drinking alcohol and it's not the champagne! Hopefully, you don't want to be responsible for their driving after drinking and having an accident. This is one way of curbing that possibility. It won't stop anyone from drinking if you have a cash bar. People who drink will pay for their alcohol if they really want to drink. Don't worry about what everyone else say's. Plus, it's one less cost that you don't have to worry about.

[jimandangelia]

I had the same problem when I got married last July, and here is the solution I ***e up with for my reception. I had to hire my own bartender, as our reception site did not provide one. Everyone attending my wedding knew that we were working on a small budget and that our 'open bar' policy was this: we picked up the tab for the members of our wedding party and their immediate family, and paid for the first keg of beer. If people chose to have mixed drinks, or beer after the first keg was gone, they had to pay.

My sister also had a very good idea of handing out 'drink tickets' as people entered the recetion hall. Each person was allotted two drinks that the newlyweds paid for, and simply presented the ticket to the bartender when ordering, and the bartender then wrote the price of the drink ordered on the back of the ticket. At the end of the night, he added up the prices on the tickets that were handed out, and that is what my sister paid. Anyone who did not have drink tickets, or had already used their allotted two, paid for the drinks they ordered. It worked out well by keeping the cost of the bar tab down for the couple, and also made the guests feel that they didn't have to pay for everything they drank.