Alternative to the Champagne Toast!

jdiamon · July 2009

Does anyone have any creative ideas for toasting at the reception besides champagne? Is anyone doing an open bar, a price limit or other beverage service? FI and I are trying to decide what to do. TIA

angeliza · July 2009

It's perfectly acceptable to not have a champagne toast at all, most people won't miss it. When the toasts are made everyone can just raise a glass of whatever they are drinking. As to your second question, if I understand it correctly, you're wondering who is having an open bar vs. cash bar, vs. other options, right? In my personal experience, I've been to a lot of weddings in my life but only 2 have been completely open bar. I've seen bad things happen from that... people get totally hammered because they feel like they ought to take advantage of the opportunity to drink for free, etc. I've been to a few weddings that had an open bar for the cocktail hour and then a cash bar after that, one that gave 2 drink tickets per guest, a couple that set a price limit and had an open bar until that price was reached, then changed to a cash bar, and several that had just beer and wine open bar. A vast majority of the weddings I've been to had cash bars, but the etiquette gods seem to frown on that.Personally we're doing an open bar, but it's all DIY so we're having mostly beer and wine with a few signature cocktails. HTH!!

danieleandwayne · July 2009

My sister and her husband did a Guinness toast (the majority of folks had champagne, though).My FI and I are doing Mimosa toasts, since our reception is a Sunday brunch buffet...Do what you like-- it's your wedding! :-)

jgreg29 · July 2009

We did a prosecco toast. It was less expensive than most of the champagne we would have been interested in. For bar, we had an open beer and wine bar for cocktail hour and the reception. We didn't have any hard alcohol offerings--we couldn't afford them and our friends tend to believe cash bars are a no-no (personally, I don't care). We picked two Maine microbrews and ordered kegs of those. We also offered one red and one white wine. People loved it! Plus, we had a wine tasting with friends a couple of months before the wedding to choose our wines. That was really fun! ;-)

csjg2010 · July 2009

We aren't doing a champagne toast, FI and I aren't champagne people. When the toasts happen we are just going to have everyone hold up whatever glass they have, with whatever they may be drinking! nothing special for drinks just whatever they have at the time. . .

mainezilla · July 2009

I love champagne, so I always love it at weddings:) But if you are looking for an alternative is there a drink you and your DH like? I was at one wedding were the couple loves tequila and they did a tequila toast, For your bar question, you will get a lot of different responses. The best is to do what is right for your budget. But I do believe it is rude to invite people to an event and ask them to pay for something (you wouldn't ask them to pay for their meals) so offering someing, beer/wine or a signature cocktail. Or have a limit and once the bar hits that limit than it switches to cash if you have to. We had an open bar b/c it was important to us, we did not have any crazy hammered guests, or anything bad happen. IMO tickets are just tacky, or having an open bar for the bridal party only as well. Treat all your guests the same.

chayer227 · July 2009

We're donig a white wine toast, that's what our venue offers. I assume it's less expensive.We're going to do an open bar for some short amount of time/money, which our final budget will dictate. Do whatever works for you and your budget, there will always be someone who is unhappy with your choice. I've never expected a bride and groom to pay for my drinks, and I've been to weddings where there was an open bar and people took FULL advantage - they were a mess. When you go to someone's house for dinner or a gathering, you don't expect them to feed you AND give you free drinks, why should a wedding be different? JMO.

alliemarshall22 · July 2009

Now I'm nervous because of all of the previous posts, but we are planning on doing an open bar. We're going to ask that our venue doesn't serve shots though, although I think we're still allowing mixed drinks. We were planning on doing an open bar for the cocktail hour, but our venue offered a really good flat rate for open bar, so that's what we're going with! Hopefully people don't get too ridiculous!

jdiamon · July 2009

I think are leaning towards an open bar but setting a limit. FI calculated how much it would cost if everyone has 2 to 3 drinks. I think we can swing that. Thanks for the feedback.

jgreg29 · July 2009

I think the degree to which people take advantage of a full open bar really depends on the crowd. I've been to some weddings where people have been a mess and some where people have been responsible but still had a great time. I've known brides who've totally expected that the open bar would lead to craziness but have either wanted that or been fine with it. For the pp who is nervous about it, keep in mind that you know your crowd best. If you were really had reason to be nervous about having an open bar with your particular crowd, the thought would probably already have crossed your mind when you were weighing open bar for cocktails vs. full reception. Just my two cents.

danieleandwayne · July 2009

We're not having an open bar. During the cocktail hour (which will be 10:45-11:45am), we're offering punch and water and a cash bar. Mimosas for the toast (since it's a Sunday morning-mid-afternoon reception).And cash bar for the rest of the reception. We can't afford to pay for 85 people drinking (some of whom are rugby players!). My friends all know that. Everyone else who has a problem with that can not attend, for all I care. If they want to drink that much on a Sunday morning... heh hehI think most people worth your time and consideration appreciate how difficult things are right now with the economy....

angeliza · July 2009

Personally when I attend a dinner party or any other type of gathering, I ask what I can bring, and even if the host says nothing, I always bring a bottle of wine or some such thing. I see no problem with a cash bar. People need to eat, they don't need to get drunk. If they want to, you provide them with the opportunity, there's no reason you have to pay for it if it's not in your budget. But then again, there are plenty of people out there who feel differently. Open bars certainly don't always spell disaster, but I've only been to 2 that I can remember being full open bar with beer, wine, and liquor and both of them turned into drunkfests by the end of the night. Like jgreg said, it's all about knowing your crowd. I know that offering free beer and wine and signature cocktails at my wedding is going to mean some people get wasted, but I know who is most likely to do so and am prepared for it. If I had an unlimited open bar, I'd probably end up with someone drowning themselves in the lake, but that's just my crowd.

MiniMin20 · July 2009

I'm going to chime in late here. Our venue (Shawnee Peak) doesn't even allow unlimited open bars because of what they can lead to -- so at least we have an excuse when people ask why they have to pay for drinks! They do let you do an open bar for two hours, I think. We are considering doing something for the cocktail hour -- either open beer/wine bar or a signature drink -- then cash bar. I've never actually been to a wedding with an unlimited open bar, so I'm comfortable that my friends and family won't expect that at my wedding. I wish I could afford an open bar, because I think it's a nice thing to offer, so people don't have to worry about how much they are spending.

bethanyasquith · August 2009

We are just doing beer and wine and a signature cocktail: mai tai's. I'm going to do a private champagne toast with just the bridal party and parents and such on the beach after our ceremony. When we get to the reception, everyone can fend for themselves:)

Alternative to the Champagne Toast!

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