What kind of...

smurdock1

BAR do you have. This seems to be a hot topic on some of the other boards so I wanted to see people's thoughts, reactions, whatevers....

jml1981

We're having an open bar because all my family is coming to my destination wedding and I don't want them to have pay for their drinks. Plus it's cheaper to do open bar than by consumption because we have some drinkers.  

Rachmarie23

It's so funny that you asked this, because I was just about to do so myself.  Currently we are doing hosted beer and wine, but if budget allows, we might spring for an open bar since its only $10/person more.

amberr110

open bar - this was one of our must haves.

cas6868

We are sort of having an open bar....our venue lets us provide the alcohol, so we are just doing a beer and wine bar and bringing all of the stuff ourselves.

southerncharm24

Beer and wine only open bar.

jbrook12

I guess it could also be considered open, but we are only have beer and wine. We are supplying it ourselves and just having it in various locations at the reception.

firechick83

Ours is a combo of open/cash.  We are buying a couple kegs & when those are gone they are gone,  We have a liquor store setting up a full bar so people can buy something if they don't want beer.  I wish we could afford an open bar but with 500-ish people (@ least 250 of those can drink like fish), there was just no way.

[Deleted User]

Hosted beer and wine... Liquor available for cash if people just have to have it

cu97tiger

This was one issue that FI and i never even had to discuss. Open bar all the way. BTW, one of the most fun weddings that I've been to in the last few years was beer and wine only. In the end it made no difference at all!

femmepink

An open bar. I'm a big believer in "a wedding is not a wedding without an open bar". If I ever went to a wedding where I was expected to pay for drinks I'd be completely disgusted that they didn't pay the extra to make their guests happy. Guests are already dishing out enough money for the night. ETA: we have domestic and imported beer, wines and upgraded to get blended drinks like daiquiris because they are my fav!!

cmac3504

Open bar. We actually only came across one venue that offered NON-open bar packages... I was a bit surprised but open bar is definitely the norm here. Come to think of it, I've only been to 2 non-open bar weddings.

rachel801231

We won't be having any alcohol except for toasting.  Neither FI and I drink and none of my family drink and most of his family doesn't either, so we both opted for no alcohol. 

w+c3

We're having an open bar. We have yet to decide whether or not to do just beer and wine or go the step up and add house liquors. My mom has a thing against alchohol in the first place and thinks liquor is the devil of it all. Only problem is I HATE beer and wine. both taste like sh*t. I'm a mixed drink girl. So its like do you go cheaper and keep it simple or should the bride be able to have a drink that night too?

Ugh. So yeah. still undecided

bdgrl73

Our Venue, we provide all the alcohol, so we're having beer, wine and different liquors that are what most people drink...

LoverBean27

We are having an open beer and wine bar. We won't have any liquor, but more so bc we have some friends who act shameless once they consume it. After 3 hours we are switching it over to cash.

elidellio

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_march-2012-weddings_kind-of?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:955e4823-0be1-44ef-9ee7-99a63794e103Discussion:eab6a70a-51b6-4118-97f4-086ed8591c43Post:c982889f-1f44-4db8-9606-284941b5b2a2">Re: What kind of...</a>:
[QUOTE]We are having an open beer and wine bar. We won't have any liquor, <strong>but more so bc we have some friends who act shameless once they consume it</strong>. After 3 hours we are switching it over to cash.
Posted by LoverBean27[/QUOTE]

Hahahaha. <div>
</div><div>We're providing the alcohol so it will be beer and wine only. I kind of wanted to provide some liquor, too, but a.) it's expensive and b.) I don't want people falling down drunk and I know some people who would be. </div>

lisa&sean

We are not only doing an open bar, but my dad insisted on paying extra for the premium open bar...he wasn't a fan of the house wines and liquors (my parents are wine snobs). So it's all out for our guests, but really intended for my parents...they say if they are paying the money, they want to enjoy the drinks! I wouldn't have cared either way but they are paying so it's their call...

We are also adding a 2 hour premium open bar to our rehearsal dinner (all guests invited to that too).

Yea, so I have a family of drinkers...they def like to party!

JCWhitey

No bar, no need for one since our "reception" is just a meal, no dancing or toasts or anything like that.  And with only 10 people it would be a little extreme!  We may buy some wine to have served at dinner, but only one ohter person in my family really drinks.

Just a quick warning for the ladies who are providing alcohol... I highly, highly, highly recommend hiring a security guard even if it's not required or if one is already provided to check people who are leaving.  My cousin left my first wedding intoxicated and got arrested that night.  Spent a month in jail.  I know it's not my fault he decided to drive drunk but I still carry a lot of guilt for being the one responsible for him being there.  So not hiring someone to take keys and call cabs has always been a huuuuuuge regret.  I'm just grateful that no one left that party and injured or killed someone else!

brittandjp

This wasn't even a question, it was a requirement. We're definitely going the open bar route. We'll have 2 kegs (one imported, one domestic), wine, and liquor. Our venue provides the licensed bartenders and soda, napkins, etc. We provide all the alcohol. We started buying bottles right after we got engaged so that we wouldn't notice in a sense that we were spending the money. We only have 2 bottles left to buy for the liquor and of course the kegs. My FI's old boss owns a vineyard and is providing all the wine.

Honestly, I wouldn't go any other way. A lot of my family doesn't drink, but  most everyone else does. Out of the 203 invited guests, I'd say 175 of them drink.

diehld

No Bar... maybe a K-cup bar... but even that would cost to much

Carykay

Okay here it goes.

We are having 2 receptions.. Right after the ceremony we are having a reception at the church.. So its a NO BAR.  We decided to have one their because the people from the church would go and FI and I dont feel like they would like drinking around them..  We sill have like snacks , cake, and regular drinks.

We are having another reception later that night (the fun reception) for our party friends and family.  This one will be an open bar.. Also FI is a recent diabetic and when he drinks and eats he has to have a shot so he will have to sneak off and do that   
This one we will have dinner, drinking, dancing, cake and FUN..

I know it sounds weird but it will be fine and I know we will have plenty people at both receptions.  Sure some will go to both.

HobokensFury

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_march-2012-weddings_kind-of?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:955e4823-0be1-44ef-9ee7-99a63794e103Discussion:eab6a70a-51b6-4118-97f4-086ed8591c43Post:f3999505-248e-4411-ad65-c958280f4040">Re: What kind of...</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>An open bar. I'm a big believer in "a wedding is not a wedding without an open bar". If I ever went to a wedding where I was expected to pay for drinks I'd be completely disgusted that they didn't pay the extra to make their guests happy. Guests are already dishing out enough money for the night.</strong> ETA: we have domestic and imported beer, wines and upgraded to get blended drinks like daiquiris because they are my fav!!
Posted by femmepink[/QUOTE]

Same here.  In the NYC area a wedding is expected to have an open bar and the bride and groom are considered rude if they don't.  And yes people will talk about it behind your back or in my family to your face. People usually go with black checks or cash and will deduct if they have to pay for drinks.  A friend of mine went to a cash bar wedding and took the money out of the card to pay for the drinks.

ralbro

We're doing an open bar. Technically we are providing all the alcohol (beer, wine, liquor, etc) but our caterer is providing licensed bartenders to serve everything but the beer. We'll have our beer in a giant canoe on the beach. I can't wait!! We drink quite a bit and so do all our friends, so there was no way we could do a cash bar or just have beer and wine. ;-) 

miranda1211

Right now, the plan is to provide an open bar with beer, wine, and soda.  If the budget works out, we'll provide liquor as well.