Alcohol... Cash Bar/Open Bar/Sponsored Bar? UGH!

brandichambers27

Ok... so I am really struggling with what to do about alcohol for my reception. I personally would like to be able to do the open bar, however.. it's really expensive... so I have a couple of questions.. what is the difference between a sponsored bar and open bar? Aren't I still paying the tab? Lol then.. is it tacky to have a cash bar. Most of my friends/family are drinkers.. so there will be a lot consumed I am sure.

I searched for alcohol related topics, but none of the ones I was reading really pertained to this. Please.. I need advice/suggetions! Lol

oh and I am finally going to see two venues tomorrow.. and I should be making the decision this weekend! YAY!

SoonToBeMrsHoz

 Both sides of the case can be argued,  and ultimately, I believe you have to do what is right for you and your crowd.

Some will say that you shouldn't expect your guests to bring money to a wedding, which I agree.

Others will say, as a guest, they would at least like the option of being able to purchase alcohol at the wedding instead of not having it all bc the bride and groom couldn't afford to provide it.

We went with a middle ground; we provided beer and wine for our guests.

angieandjames

I went to a wedding a while back where beer and wine was free, and any liquor drinks were cash-bar style.  It was the first I had been to like that, and it was really nice. 

At our wedding we're just doing beer and wine, on us, and no other options.

If cash bars are popular with your group of guests, then I don't think they're tacky - I really think it's kind of regional as to what's acceptable/expected.

NMac2010

Our guests/family are big drinkers too. DH and I both thought it was not appropriate to make our guests pay for alcohol.

We provided beer and wine. No liquor, to save money. It really wasn't THAT expensive, when compared to the cost of other wedding related things.

It's all relative.

serlace

We are also providing beer and wine to our guests versus having an open bar.  I agree with Kathy - it honestly just depends on your crowd.  If you don't think they would mind paying for their own alcohol, then you could do that.  You could also set a limit.  For example, you will pay for two drinks for each guest and after that they pay for their own alcohol. 

Technically it is in poor etiquette to have a cash bar.  That's why this is a controversial topic.  In my opinion - you know your guests better than anyone here.  If you think they will be okay with a cash bar and alcohol isn't in your budget, then do a cash bar.  Alcohol can be very expensive.

DFWIndian

I agree with the other PPs. It's about your guests and about the feel of your wedding. I've been to both open and cash bars. I honestly didn't think anything of paying for a drink. My sister did open bar for (x) amount of money. Once they hit that cap they switched to cash. No one said anything about it.

bsn1752

I will agree with everyone here... we are also having a beer/wine bar, cash liquor drinks.

Personally (and generally speaking), I believe that's it's not in good taste to have your guests (especially since they are drinkers) buy all of their own drinks.  You are hosting the "party" so you should supply their beverages.

Word of advice - if you take this same question to another board on here, you may not like the answers that you get... National Boards (like Ettiquite) have people from all over and they tend to get a little mean when it comes to this question.

I say, if you're going to host the reception, atleast allow for beer and wine... or have a "cap" on your bar - like have an "open" bar for the first two hours of the reception, or let everyone drink freely until they hit a 1k limit.  Something along those lines...

lacy1603

We had open bar for 2 hours and then it went to a cash bar.  No one minded, but I think it depends on your crowd.

BanannaP

We're also doing the "cap" on an open bar. We tried to budget enough so that we won't have to go to cash at any point. And if we do reach the cap, we have the option of keeping it open and paying more or switching to cash. But that will be up to my dad at that point in time since it's his pocket.

brandichambers27

Wow thanks ladies. They do have the option of beer/wine. I think that is what I am going to do. I really don't want my guests to pay for their drinks, and that seems like a happy medium. Thanks for putting that part of my mind at rest! Now for everything else. Heheh.. Happy Thursday!

Tiffany618

We did the "cap" on the full open bar too.   At my venue, mixed drinks were actually the same price as beer so we didn't limit one over the other. 

We (I'm still blown away by this) never met our limit so the bar flowed freely all night, but if we had met the limit then we had the option to increase it.

I highly recommend doing it that way if your venue will allow it.   We spent $700 I think instead of almost $1700.

mralpha

We also thought about this to cut costs.  But just felt it was inappropriate for us to charge our guests.  We thought about beer/wine and again we knew most of our guests are alcohol drinkers.  Now we will have a cash bar in our afterparty up on the terrace of the penthouse where we are having our wedding.  What we did is cut costs elsewhere and went with a 4 hr open bar package. 

MissesKB

We had a certain amount that we provided the venue that we would spend. We also said it was only for beer and wine. It was gone within 45 minutes because our crowd was full of heavy drinkers. Amazingly people kept drinking until the end of the night. Why? They bought it themselves. At first, I was so worried about what people would think if I made guest purchase alcohol and it all stemmed from reading these boards. Everyone has an opinion. I did what was best for our wallets and was happy with the decision.

juliebug1997

If you really wanted to provide one liquor option, you could always try a signature drink along with your beer and wine.