Poll: Are you having alcohol?

heather_rae90

Alcohol seems sooo expensive..especially since I'm a budget bride. Do you think it's a necessity to have alcohol at a wedding? I'm talking to one of FI's friends, and she says that a majority of people go to weddings for the free booze specifically, and people will be pissed if they find out there's no booze. I refuse to believe that people would be that shallow as to come to the celebration of our new life together just for the free alcohol..but maybe that's reality, I don't know. Adeline Leigh has a soda bar option for $1.75 a person and a festive non-alcoholic beverage bar for $5.25 per person (which includes virgin margaritas, bloody marys and the like..).Anyways, my question to you is, are you having an open bar? And how much are you spending on it?

laurelanne2232

We are not having alcohol.  His parents are divorced and aren't on the best terms so to avoid unwanted drama we are not having any alcohol.  We also feel that it is an cost we need to avoid because we are on a budget as well.  People always say they don't want to come if there isn't booze, but we know that those who truly care about us and celebrating our occasion will come whether there is alcohol or not.  Good luck with this decision, it totally depends on your situation and what you're comfortable doing.  What works for one may not neccissarily work for another!

sns3

I think you should really consider your crowd when deciding whether or not to have alcohol. For example, out of our 100 guest only 4 of them drink on occasion, the other 96 NEVER drink alcohol including FI and I and both our families.  We are going to have flavored lemonades, soda, and punch. I've heard that you should serve the type of drinks that you would serve to guests in your home.  GL

Deeder522

I understand Budget Bride. Maybe this is tacky but I'm providing 1 drink ( Sangria) but I have told guest that they are welcome to bring their own if they prefer something else. The wedding and reception is at Townsend Park and we are having a picnic theme. We also have to be out by 10pm and if guest want to drink more the bars will be open. I'm also hope that helps. You could also do a drink ticket option. Every guest gets 2 tickets which are good for 2 alcoholic drink and then they have to pay after that.

shrades77

We are having an open bar - this was really important to us, because I know how we would feel if we went to a wedding reception without alcohol.  However, if you feel that it is too expensive to serve alcohol, I would suggest that you possibly look into having a lunch reception or something similar.  That way your guests won't even really miss it.  They say that if you don't have alcohol, guests tend to leave earlier... I would just hate for you to pay to have a DJ and such for 5-6 hours and have your guests leave early.HTH!

bgibbons

We're not serving alcohol--SO expensive, ours is a lunch reception anyway, and nobody in either FI nor my family drinks!

heather_rae90

Thanks for all of the replies so far. What do you ladies mean by "lunch reception?" Our reception will be in the evening..

smile83839

I"m with Rachel here - we are definitely having an open bar. But, we found a reception place (the Mill Creek barn) where we can bring in our own alcohol, dramatically reducing the costs. Still, my dad is covering this portion and it is really his thing and he went WAAAY overboard and spent about $1200 + the bartender. But, my friends and family are definitely drinkers. You do what's best for you - I like the idea of a lunch wedding to sort of alleviate this issue, or a place where you can bring your own and keep costs down. A couple of kegs can be pretty cheap...that is an option - just serving beer, or beer and wine. It is really the liquor, I think, that blows your budget...HTH,Lindsay

AmoroAgain

FI's family and friends are SDA and don't drink.  We are going to provide a single wine pour with dinner for those that would like it, as well as a prosecco toast for those that would like it.

bgibbons

By lunch reception I mean the wedding's at 11ish (haven't decided for sure yet) and we have the hall booked from 12:30 to 4:30, so we'll be serving lunch and the reception will be over by 4ish.

mbear511

We are having our reception at Kalamazoo College and they do not have a liquor license so we get to provide our own alcohol. We have to pay $3.25 a person for an open bar and that includes the bartender, cups, etc. We will be ordering the alcohol from Tiffany's Wine and Spirit store and have figured it will only cost about $250-300 for all the wine/beer/liquor we need for our guest list.

kyleandjayme

You really need to consider the crowd that you are having at your reception. I come from a family and group of friends that alcohol is the norm at a celebration such as a wedding, but if thats not true for your group of guests then I think it would be acceptable to skip the booze.

eclipsethecat

We had an open bar but it was included as part of our package. I think as pp said, you need to take your guests into consideration while still thinking of your budget.The majority of our guests drink. They would not have lasted long without alcohol there. HOWEVER I have been to dry weddings and guess what? I didnt die. We had a nice time, ate dinner, danced and went out later. It was the bride and grooms choice not to have alcohol and I respect that. A good suggestion however to make everyone happy is to just serve beer and wine- I think for $5.25 per person (in lieu of doing the festive bar,) you could do that very well.I wouldn't do the drink ticket thing. Cash bars at weddings seem to really tick people off. HTH

heather_rae90

Thanks everyone!

chestr22

We planning on having an open bar, but like you we are on a budget. Grapvine Bar and catering has pretty decent rates, plus I found a guy on craigs list advertising for bartending. I know if we can buy what it is we want and just hire the bartender, we should be able to come in on budget. Right now we are budgeted for around 1500. I have a friend who had a 7000 bar bill at her wedding, but it was through her hall! Thats why I am glad we are doing it sepaertely! 

sam09

No alcohol at ours. Neither one us are drinkers, neither are our families. Another reason was that 99% of our guests are from out of town, about 2 hours away and we didn't want to worry about them wanting to drive home that night after drinking at our wedding. Also the cost was just too much, we didn't think it was necessary. We are going to provide plenty of other beverages. We are just trying to tell as many people as possible so no one is surprised. So far people have been very respectful with our decision. I was thinking about Adeline Leighs non-alcoholic bar, I would totally have some of the drinks from there, but I don't know that many our our guests would get the virgin drinks. I think they'd just want soda, water, punch, lemonade, etc.

heather_rae90

Thanks, Sam. I, too, was thinking of our guests' drives home since most of them live at least an hour away. You're probably right about the virgin drinks..thanks for pointing that out! I was thinking about mentioning on the reception cards that no alcohol will be provided.

deerslayersmom11

We are having a totally open bar B4 dinner, and then only beer and wine are free after dinner.  We chose this route for the most obvious reason COST!!!!  Also, we feel that most of the guests who would enjoya nice mixed drink, will be leaving shortly after dinner anyways, and, most of our friends are HUGE beer drinkers!!!  This way we hope to control the bar tab, without offending anyone.  I have been to several weddings, and, I had no problem with a bar that was set up this way as opposed to severely limiting the selection for the whole reception(only beer and wine for the whole nite) or a dry reception. HTH

sscafe

I am a budget bride as well... I only have a $2,000 budget for everything, so definitely not having alcohol at the wedding