a word of advice re: bar at wedding

nataloo314

hi gals -i just got home from working at my part time catering job. tonight we had a wedding and the couple was in their early twenties and had quite a few friends/guests who were not 21. we ended up "busting" probably a dozen minors for drinking bc guests were giving them alcohol. every drink we took got dumped out and it ended up costing the bride's family in the long run. i guess my point is - the bride's mother spent a lot of the evening putting out fires bc guests couldn't abide by the LAW and she wasn't enjoying herself. I would suggest telling any underage guests to behave themselves.

jobiann

Yes, good advice, my FI's youngest brother and his friends are all mostly 20 and we've already told them that they are under no circumstances to be drinking at the reception.  There is no excuse for breaking the law and putting the venue and us in that sticky situation. 

aek83

Stupid question, but I thought minors could drink in Iowa if their parents are present and consent. Is that just at home, not in public?

ScarletGem

That sucks, Nat!  At least it wasn't your own wedding...  ;-)  I don't know what the laws on the books say, but as far as I understand, it's not legal for anyone under 21 to drink in Iowa, no matter where they are or who they're with.  That said, if Mom and Dad give little Johnny a glass of wine with dinner at home, I doubt anyone is going to bust them.  And in this case, I'm sure that the venue or caterers, as well as the hosts, would be liable if the police caught people drinking underage at a wedding, including providing minors with alcohol and any liabilities that come with an underage drinker hurting themself or someone else. 

nataloo314

i'm not sure what the law states about parents giving their kids alcohol, but i am pretty sure scarlet is correct. i know that at my wedding at the hotel ft dm (different from where i catered last night), the coordinator from the hotel told us to make sure everyone had id on them. it was also in our contract that they would ID.

kellidanae

I just have to say thank goodness that the only minors will be my nieces~  and I myself may police that 16 year old!

kthalken

Alot of places I looked at required that an off duty police officer or rent-a security personnel be there if you're serving alcohol...they're usually about $25-30 an hour....but not a bad idea to hire one just in case if you're concerned about it...especially the larger group there is....