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Alcohol Free Wedding -Announce this ahead of time?

MelissaRNMaceMelissaRNMace member
First Comment First Anniversary
in Wedding Reception Forum
I don't drink, have never liked the taste and think it's unnecessary. I don't come from a family that usually serves alcohol at events and we are having a dry wedding. It's an afternoon wedding. My fiancé's family aren't totally wild but don't completely understand. There have been a couple jokes about hidden flasks. I don't know how much of a joke it was but I do not want any drinking at this event. Do I need to put a sign up reminding people it's dry? Say something on our wedding website? Or just remind my fiancé to remind his family?
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Re: Alcohol Free Wedding -Announce this ahead of time?

  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    MelissaRNMace said:
    I don't drink, have never liked the taste and think it's unnecessary. I don't come from a family that usually serves alcohol at events and we are having a dry wedding. It's an afternoon wedding. My fiancé's family aren't totally wild but don't completely understand. There have been a couple jokes about hidden flasks. I don't know how much of a joke it was but I do not want any drinking at this event. Do I need to put a sign up reminding people it's dry? Say something on our wedding website? Or just remind my fiancé to remind his family?

    No.  Don't announce that it's dry anywhere or put up signs.  Does your venue have security, or are you providing security of your own?  If so, you can allow them to deal with guests caught drinking.  That said, it would be a good idea for your fiancé to warn his family that it's dry and that if there is going to be security, what the consequences will be if they are caught drinking alcohol at your wedding.

    Beyond that, though, you can't really do anything to prevent people sneaking drinks except subject them to the adult consequences if they are caught and security handles it.

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  • MelissaRNMaceMelissaRNMace member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    edited July 2015
    Thank you. I haven't thought about security. We are only having about fifty people. I'll ask my venue about that and remind my fiancé to remind his family.
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  • levioosalevioosa member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Dry weddings are not rude, but you don't announce them before hand.  It is a host's duty to provide something to drink (whether alcoholic or not), but the guest's duty to take what is offered graciously.  If they want to sneak flasks in, that's rude on their part.  If you are having security, they can deal with it accordingly, but I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it.  


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  • Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I will be honest and say that I would expect alcohol at any wedding I attended due to it always being offered at the previous weddings (15+) I have gone to in the past 8 years.  But with that being said, if when I got to your wedding and found out that no alcohol was being served I would happily grab a diet coke or an iced tea and still have a fun time with the other guests.  So just because I expect it doesn't mean that if it isn't there it will ruin my time.

    With that said, no you don't announce what is and is not being provided.  By doing this you will most likely have people sneaking in flasks or alcohol rather then just slightly joking about it.  But in the end you can't stop people from drinking if they really want to.  If someone sneaks in a flask I think having security chuck them out would be a bit much.  Most people will be respectful of your decision to have a dry wedding.  But there will always be a few that act like whiny children regardless.

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  • banana468banana468 member
    First Answer First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    MelissaRNMace said:
    I don't drink, have never liked the taste and think it's unnecessary. I don't come from a family that usually serves alcohol at events and we are having a dry wedding. It's an afternoon wedding. My fiancé's family aren't totally wild but don't completely understand. There have been a couple jokes about hidden flasks. I don't know how much of a joke it was but I do not want any drinking at this event. Do I need to put a sign up reminding people it's dry? Say something on our wedding website? Or just remind my fiancé to remind his family?
    It's perfectly fine to have a dry wedding.   I wouldn't open it up to discussion at all or you're going to create arguments.   Just host it and if people bring in alcohol they're the ones looking foolish.

    Please don't use your own preferences as to why the event is dry or use the concept that your family events are dry as a reason.   That can cause people to think you're picking a "side" over the other or opting for your own preferences vs. hosting.

    Instead, just have a great reception that doesn't include alcohol.   You're fine. 
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  • MandyMostMandyMost member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    You're not throwing the wedding alone, your future-husband is throwing it with you and is evidently fully on board with having a dry wedding. It's up to him to deal with his family. While you clearly shouldn't make any announcements (either before or during the event), it may come up while discussing the plans with your families that it will be a dry event. Your wedding guests are your nearest and dearest...if your future husband believes his family will try to sneak in alcohol, it's up to him to clarify the expectations with them. 

    Honestly, reminding people it's dry is only going to encourage them to sneak in their own booze.

    Also, while a dry wedding is perfectly acceptable, keep in mind that many people consider alcohol a typical part of a celebratory event. These people may find it odd that there's no alcohol (which is fine, as long as you're fine with it too!). And your event may end up being shorter than an event with alcohol. 
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  • MelissaRNMaceMelissaRNMace member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    Thank you for your input. We won't post anything but my fiancé will make sure his folks remember that this is what we have chosen. After that I won't worry too much about it. It's an afternoon wedding that makes it easier.
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  • southernbelle0915southernbelle0915 mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Totally fine to have a dry wedding. But I think you'll come off as super paranoid and controlling if you put up a sign or make an announcement about "no flasks allowed!"

    Just don't serve booze. Simple as that. And enjoy yourselves without trying to police what everyone is doing.
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  • MyNameIsNotMyNameIsNot member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    Maggie0829 said:
    I will be honest and say that I would expect alcohol at any wedding I attended due to it always being offered at the previous weddings (15+) I have gone to in the past 8 years.  But with that being said, if when I got to your wedding and found out that no alcohol was being served I would happily grab a diet coke or an iced tea and still have a fun time with the other guests.  So just because I expect it doesn't mean that if it isn't there it will ruin my time.

    With that said, no you don't announce what is and is not being provided.  By doing this you will most likely have people sneaking in flasks or alcohol rather then just slightly joking about it.  But in the end you can't stop people from drinking if they really want to.  If someone sneaks in a flask I think having security chuck them out would be a bit much.  Most people will be respectful of your decision to have a dry wedding.  But there will always be a few that act like whiny children regardless.
    I don't think the purpose of security would be to boot people, but just to dump the booze. If the venue isn't licensed to serve alcohol, OP could end up with a bunch of problems if a lot of people are drinking.

    I wouldn't announce it or remind anyone of anything. Reminding people that the wedding is dry would remind them to bring a flask. If you don't say anything, they can come, enjoy the wedding with a soda, and then head out for drinks after. 
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  • best4lastbest4last member
    Name Dropper First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment

    We went back and forth on this. Our venue offers tea, lemonade, coffee and water. FH and I decided to have a bartender (under 30 people) and have red and white wine, and 1 beer choice, and perhaps soda. We will have to purchase these and bring to the venue the day before. The Historic Home doesn't have a liquor license. Anything we don't use we are going to have a family member take home. It won't be much, and we will have champagne (sparkling cider) for our toast.

     Best Wishes! <3


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  • JediElizabethJediElizabeth member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    MandyMost said:
    You're not throwing the wedding alone, your future-husband is throwing it with you and is evidently fully on board with having a dry wedding. It's up to him to deal with his family. While you clearly shouldn't make any announcements (either before or during the event), it may come up while discussing the plans with your families that it will be a dry event. Your wedding guests are your nearest and dearest...if your future husband believes his family will try to sneak in alcohol, it's up to him to clarify the expectations with them. 

    Honestly, reminding people it's dry is only going to encourage them to sneak in their own booze.

    Also, while a dry wedding is perfectly acceptable, keep in mind that many people consider alcohol a typical part of a celebratory event. These people may find it odd that there's no alcohol (which is fine, as long as you're fine with it too!). And your event may end up being shorter than an event with alcohol. 
    This! I wouldn't side eye a dry wedding, but I've only been to one out of all the weddings I've been to, and the fact that people knew it was dry ahead of time undermined the bride's original wishes. 

    In this case, the guests staying in the hotel took turns bringing people up to one of their rooms, where people would partake from the bar someone had stocked in a mini-fridge. No one had alcohol inside the wedding itself - no flasks or anything - but there were a lot of drunk people on the dance floor.

    Of course, this was all super rude of the guests, but it could have been avoided by the couple by not widely broadcasting what they were serving ahead of time.
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