Bar closing during dinner?

ashmy211

My dad and step mom are friends with the general manager of our venue. They ran into the GM and the wedding coordinator last night, and they told my parents that during dinner, the open bar will close for about an hour. So it will be open bar during cocktail hour, closed during dinner, then open bar again after dinner for the rest of the reception. They complained about it so the venue said they would serve wine to the tables during dinner for no extra cost (they usually do not do this). Their reasoning was that it will keep everyone out of the servers' way and have things run more smoothly and quickly. I have never heard of this before... has anyone had this happen at a wedding or at their wedding?

lyndausvi

I've seen it done at weddings. So much so I know to get my final drink before I sit for dinner.  I never had a problem with it being closed because I find I drink water more at dinner than alcohol anyway.

andyandhillary

My coordinator for the reception said the same thing so that's what we're doing.  I think it's a very legit argument and I don't think it's a huge problem. 

tracy_k

It's extremely common and usually relatively invisible to the guests, particularly if wine is served at the tables.

Mrs.B6302007

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bar-closing-during-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:d9f9af47-a468-42b4-bb50-d9612fadabacPost:6b30ee4a-7067-454a-bf1b-d04480d45462">Bar closing during dinner?</a>:
[QUOTE]My dad and step mom are friends with the general manager of our venue. They ran into the GM and the wedding coordinator last night, and they told my parents that during dinner, the open bar will close for about an hour. So it will be open bar during cocktail hour, closed during dinner, then open bar again after dinner for the rest of the reception. They complained about it so the venue said they would serve wine to the tables during dinner for no extra cost (they usually do not do this). Their reasoning was that it will keep everyone out of the servers' way and have things run more smoothly and quickly. I have never heard of this before... has anyone had this happen at a wedding or at their wedding?
Posted by ashmy211[/QUOTE]
It's common.  As long as there's wine available, you should be fine.  That's awesome that they worked out a deal with you at no additional cost.

sweetpea0911

Our open bar is closing during the dinner hour...it seemed pretty standard in every venue that we looked at.  I'm okay with it - it's only an hour, people can have water, coffee, or tea with their meal if they didn't get their beverage beforehand.  We'll be making an announcement during the cocktail hour, about 5 minutes from the end, though, to keep everyone aware of the arrangement.

ashmy211

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bar-closing-during-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:d9f9af47-a468-42b4-bb50-d9612fadabacPost:3b16391c-8689-48a2-aa2a-5ce9464a879f">Re: Bar closing during dinner?</a>:
[QUOTE]My coordinator for the reception said the same thing so that's what we're doing.  I think it's a very legit argument and I don't think it's a huge problem. 
Posted by andyandhillary[/QUOTE]

When I heard the reasoning, it made sense to me. I just have never had it happen before at the weddings I've been to. Although, now that I think about it, I've never tried to grab a drink during dinner either so it may have been closed and I didn't know it :)

LadyJ10

The venue often also uses the bartender(s) as servers, so it cuts down on how many people are working the event. For ours we had the option of leaving the bar open or having wine poured at the tables throughout, and we opted for wine pourings.

Good idea, though, to have the bar closing announced towards the end of cocktail hour!

ashmy211

Ok great! Glad this is common... Thanks!

danieliza1127

Our bar closed for one hour during dinner.  It's actually pretty common.  My understanding was because we had a 4 hour bar package, so since including cocktail hour, it was 5 hours, it closed for dinner.  It wasn't that big a deal really.

kate51485

Our venue closes it during dinner.  There will be a champagne toast at that time, so they won't be totally boozeless if they forgot to get another drink. 

zippityb

It may be common, but I don't like it because I felt like a moron going up and asking for a drink and getting denied. So now I don't like it.

danieliza1127

We made sure that someone (our Usher I think) made an announcement when the cocktail hour was ending, so people knew to grab another drink if they wanted one.

zippityb

Yeah, the wedding I went to didn't do that. I think the bride and groom got secret pleasure watching people get clowned-upon by the bartender. Like one of those hidden camera shows.

nhelene

My venue turns the open bar into a cash bar for dinner and then back afterwards.  This is actually their standard operating procedure.

I am going to talk to them and either close the bar or pay by consumption myself after the fact, but from the responses here it seems like paying for consumption during dinner wouldn't set me back too much.  Thoughts?

tenofcups4me

My venue for my first wedding told me they wanted to close the bar during dinner. I told them that was unacceptable. I had never seen the bar closed during dinner and thought it was a horrible idea. Even though we were serving wine at the tables, I wanted guests to have the option of getting any other kind of drink they wanted.

The coordinator said it was to help get people seated and so they didn't get up during toasts, etc. I called BS and agreed to have it closed for about 15 minutes when people first entered the ballroom after the cocktail hour and during our entrance, but then wanted it immediately opened again, which they agreed to do.

SaraAndrew2010

I think this as fine as long as you are serving wine at the tables.

I'd never seen the bar close before during dinner until I went to a friend's wedding.  There were signs on the bar warning that the bar would be closed during dinner, but I mistakenly assumed there was going to be wine or some beverage served with dinner.  So I didn't get another drink before I sat down for dinner.  Turns out there was nothing to drink with dinner other than water, which was kind of annoying. 

ZoeTheDog

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bar-closing-during-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:d9f9af47-a468-42b4-bb50-d9612fadabacPost:d806eac6-4c7f-4244-887f-e700a769b16a">Re: Bar closing during dinner?</a>:
[QUOTE]My venue for my first wedding told me they wanted to close the bar during dinner. I told them that was unacceptable. I had never seen the bar closed during dinner and thought it was a horrible idea. Even though we were serving wine at the tables, I wanted guests to have the option of getting any other kind of drink they wanted. The coordinator said it was to help get people seated and so they didn't get up during toasts, etc. I called BS and agreed to have it closed for about 15 minutes when people first entered the ballroom after the cocktail hour and during our entrance, but then wanted it immediately opened again, which they agreed to do.
Posted by tenofcups4me[/QUOTE]

I have never heard of this ever...the hall I worked at on Long Island NEVER closed either bar throughout the night.  Totally BS...

J&K10910

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bar-closing-during-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:d9f9af47-a468-42b4-bb50-d9612fadabacPost:4ed3a0ed-ea8b-448d-a30c-b84231ed6510">Re: Bar closing during dinner?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Bar closing during dinner? : I have never heard of this ever...the hall I worked at on Long Island NEVER closed either bar throughout the night.  Totally BS...
Posted by ZoeTheDog[/QUOTE]


So just because the one place you worked at never closed the bar, it just doesn't happen anywhere?  Makes sense!

jesi_nickles

I went to a wedding like this back in September. The bar was closed to everyone except the wedding party. Sometimes its for the people paying to save money.

I wasn't put out by it, it just meant that I drank wine the rest of the night, cause I didn't want to mix.

I think that if you have something for your guests to drink, they will be happy.

Jes

tb583

The venue we got married at usually shuts down the bar during dinner and most people end up doing wine service.  We decided to keep the bar open during dinner because it was cheaper for us to extend our open bar rather than serve wine with dinner, plus we knew that most of our guests would prefer beer or mixed drinks to hard liquor.  The venue was fine with keeping the bar open even though we did a seated dinner, and there were no problems with anyone getting in the servers' way.

There was one other reason I decided to do this and most people probably don't think about it.  I went to a wedding at our same venue about a year and a half before we got married.  They closed the open bar down during dinner and only had wine service (and water).  One of my friend's husbands who was sitting at our table was diabetic and needed a Diet Coke, but they wouldn't serve him one until the bar opened back up (he even explained to the servers that he was diabetic and they still said h had to wait until after dinner).

quotequeen

This is SOP for my venue too, and I don't see a problem with it.  The per person/per hour price for the open bar would not be worth it for the number of people who would need additional drinks during that time (beyond the wine and whatever else is served with dinner anyway).

maggiepatch

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bar-closing-during-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:d9f9af47-a468-42b4-bb50-d9612fadabacPost:c43c77ca-de04-4047-b46c-51e41f185992">Re: Bar closing during dinner?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Bar closing during dinner? : So just because the one place you worked at never closed the bar, it just doesn't happen anywhere?  Makes sense!
Posted by J&K10910[/QUOTE]

Its definitely not standard operating procedure on Long Island at just about anywhere.  I've been to almost all the large catering facilties for all different functions including weddings and dinner is never a time to close the bar.    Just as we don't do cash bars on Long Island, it is unique by region I'm sure. 

zippityb

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bar-closing-during-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:d9f9af47-a468-42b4-bb50-d9612fadabacPost:761669ef-96da-4d57-9a79-2704a4bcaffa">Re: Bar closing during dinner?</a>:
[QUOTE] They closed the open bar down during dinner and only had wine service (and water).  One of my friend's husbands who was sitting at our table was diabetic and needed a Diet Coke, but they wouldn't serve him one until the bar opened back up (he even explained to the servers that he was diabetic and they still said h had to wait until after dinner).
Posted by tb583[/QUOTE]

I don't get this. Diabetics can drink water just fine. They never NEED a Diet Coke. Now, if he was going low, he would probably have needed a regular Coke or something else with sugar in it.

sucrets4

I have never seen this, but I'm from Long Island.

I do think it's weird, but I guess that's because I've never experienced it before.  In my experience, there isn't a flock of people up at the bar during dinner, so I can't see how people would get in the way of the servers.

It seems like they just want to save money.

sap82478

This is new to me... I live in MI and have never been to a wedding that had one close.... I KNOW that my guests would be very upset.... BUt if its custom in your area then it shouldn't be a problem, however, the cash bar idea i think may have a lot of people talking about how HORRIBLE your wedding was.. unless they know this before they come... Just a little respect to them.. and so your not hearing people upset... YES its your event.. but you want to have people be comefortable....:)

ashmy211

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bar-closing-during-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:d9f9af47-a468-42b4-bb50-d9612fadabacPost:1e5c9634-b4ba-443b-843a-818c0b3a51f9">Re: Bar closing during dinner?</a>:
[QUOTE]This is new to me... I live in MI and have never been to a wedding that had one close.... I KNOW that my guests would be very upset.... BUt if its custom in your area then it shouldn't be a problem, however, the cash bar idea i think may have a lot of people talking about how HORRIBLE your wedding was.. unless they know this before they come... Just a little respect to them.. and so your not hearing people upset... YES its your event.. but you want to have people be comefortable....:)
Posted by sap82478[/QUOTE]

If you read my original post, you will see that we are having an OPEN bar the entire night except for during dinner, where wine will be served to each table. I never mentioned anything about a cash bar.