Alcohol Question

jessandjoe2005

My reception venue does something kind of different in that it will allow us to pay a substantially reduced rate for those who are not drinking alcohol. Being very budget-conscience, my fiance initally said, "let's just ask it on the invitation," almost like a menu card asking if they were planning on drinking. To which I said, "Absolutely no way!" But being that we are very budget-limited and paying for it all ourselves, I began to think about it. I talked with a couple of people who said something about putting a poll or something to that effect on our wedding website. The reception site only requires us to give them a number of who will/won't be drinking alcohol, not names or any other distinction. What do y'all think about putting something on the wedding website? Thanks!

waltzingmatilda13

A total of 5 people viewed my wedding website, and I included the address on the invitations accommodations card.

I would just suck it up and pay for everyone to drink. You don't want to underestimate and then get socked with a huge bill because people changed their minds and decided to have a glass anyways.

baystateapple

I think it's kind of weird, personally...H and I had to determine whether we wanted our bar priced by consumption or by person, and we figured out whatour best deal was by going down our list and estimating how many drinks (alchoholic and non-alcoholic) each person would drink.  We pretty much knew who the heavy drinkers were vs. the non-drinkers.  I would think if you checked out your guest list you would be able to make an educated guess as to who will be drinking a lot of booze and who will be having Diet Coke most of the night.

hlq2011

My venue does the same.  We are giving them a count based on under-21 and those who we know without asking do not drink.

jessicabessica

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_alcohol-question-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:64677001-6d52-4b53-80d9-0410b08924e4Post:ee8b666f-a2d5-4e7f-904b-92e4f2b5876e">Re: Alcohol Question</a>:
[QUOTE]My venue does the same.  We are giving them a count based on under-21 and those who we know without asking do not drink.
Posted by hlq2011[/QUOTE]

<div>That's how I would approach it.  You don't want to count people who aren't sure or might have a glass of wine or two as a non-drinker, so it's really only the people who you know will not drink that you should have the lower price. </div>

hlq2011

I would add that pretty much the only people we'll be counting as non-drinkers will be (1) pregnant or (2) medically unable to drink.  I don't want to risk coming off like I tried to scam my venue.

baystateapple

The only people who I listed as "non-drinkers" were family members who we knew didn't drink, such as H's dad, who doesn't drink for religious reasons; or my mom, who hates alcohol, or my sister, who is epileptic and can't drink.  We had very few non-drinkers.

lisa89760

How does the venue keep track of if you said people weren't going to drink and then they did?  I've never heard of this before so I'm just curious.

hlq2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_alcohol-question-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:64677001-6d52-4b53-80d9-0410b08924e4Post:a8c378c7-a9d8-44e5-846f-aca270578fd6">Re: Alcohol Question</a>:
[QUOTE]How does the venue keep track of if you said people weren't going to drink and then they did?  I've never heard of this before so I'm just curious.
Posted by lisa89760[/QUOTE]

I don't think they're necessarily going to keep track of certain people.  But I also think they'd be suspicious if I gave them a whole long list.

AbbeyS2011

Simple really.  Add up how many people you know for sure NEVER drink, and then give the venue the amount that is left over.  Better to be safe than sorry. 

My FH likes to drink when we go out, and I rarely do, I would rather have a drink at home.  The one time one of his brothers saw me drinking a beer, he had to take a pic, because they never see me drinking. 

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_alcohol-question-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:64677001-6d52-4b53-80d9-0410b08924e4Post:0db4c518-1964-437c-a10b-7744112c4572">Re: Alcohol Question</a>:
[QUOTE]I would add that pretty much the only people we'll be counting as non-drinkers will be (1) pregnant or (2) medically unable to drink.  I don't want to risk coming off like I tried to scam my venue.
Posted by hlq2011[/QUOTE]

This is what I would do. Also, children and possibly very old people. Everyone else, leave on the drinking list.