Hey all - long time lurker, first time poster here. I am completely aware of the overall feeling of cash bars around here. Believe me, I am on board! However, FI and I have hit a (possibly huge) snag in our planning. We have an appointment to sign a contract with our dream venue tonight. We have toured the venue twice, met with our event coordinator and are ready to put down a deposit and sign tonight.
For a little background, we were/are planning to have a hosted bar of wine, beer, and two signature cocktails (1. vodka cranberry; 2. crown & coke) with a champagne toast at dinner. I did not even think to bring this up during our meetings with the venue - we only discussed whether or not we'd be having alcohol at all. FI and I were reading through the contract last night and saw that there is a stipulation - if you are serving hosted alcohol of any kind, a full bar must also be available (cash open bar or hosted). I have never heard of this before. Is this stipulation common? I put in a phone call to the venue's coordinator we've been talking to but the wording is pretty clear. I was going to wait to hear back from her but now I'm kind of freaking out... We love, love, love the venue. But this may make or break our plans.
It is not in our budget to host a totally open bar (the cost nearly doubles when it's a full open bar with champagne toast, as opposed to our original plan of wine, beer, champagne toast, and signature drinks). I mean is this how they "get ya" to host more?
Also, as an aside - in our circle, a dry wedding is not an option.
I guess I am just wondering what our options are? (Assuming the venue will not budge on this stipulation...) We love this venue and we absolutely cannot afford to host a full bar. Is it awful to think we might sign the contract anyway? We have most of our bases covered -- wine, beer, champagne toast, and the two signature cocktails. In all likely hood our guests would not even indulge in the cash bar but the contract says we have to have it available. I'm kind of freaking out. Help me, knotties. Would I be an awful host to allow for even a smidge of a cash bar at our wedding?