alcohol at reception?

FutureMrsPrice2013 · May 2012

So my fiance and I are trying to determine what to do about alcohol at the reception. Is anyone doing a cash bar and a host bar? We would be willing to pay for everyone to have maybe 2-3 drinks then everyone pay for their own.

ashbeth06 · May 2012

We are doing a cash bar, but my FI's parents are hosting the soda for guests. We thought this was an easy way to prevent too much "policeing" of people to stay in our hall/building, otherwise if someone goes outside with an alcoholic beverage and they find out, they automatically shut our reception down.

An option could be drink tickets to give to guests so they know that this many drinks are on the house and after that they have to foot the bill.

SusieSunshine2 · May 2012

We are most likely having an open bar but will be providing a shuttle service to and from the reception. You could just have an open bar for the cocktail hour and then cash after that.

ktwed1 · May 2012

Our venue is BYOB so we are able to bring in our own.

cnf2013 · May 2012

Could you maybe offer beer and wine instead of everything so that way it's not as expensive for you guys and your guests won't have to shell out cash? Our venue includes catering and an open bar and it's a hotel reception so guests will be staying there too. So I'm not much help since this is something we had to put zero thought into.

iloveu4ever · May 2012

That sounds like a good idea byob.

Miss Esa · May 2012

My SO and I are going to do a cash bar for our reception. We are only inviting 50ish guests, and most of the guests don't drink.

FutureMrsPrice2013 · May 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_june-2013-weddings_alcohol-at-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:f30b0bfc-508d-415c-bf59-ab83e327da37Discussion:27466b92-1436-4f32-bb0a-ea35b5a9808dPost:e05acd10-343a-47fa-9fdd-ebc4562f17e6">Re: alcohol at reception?</a>:
[QUOTE]Could you maybe offer beer and wine instead of everything so that way it's not as expensive for you guys and your guests won't have to shell out cash? Our venue includes catering and an open bar and it's a hotel reception so guests will be staying there too. So I'm not much help since this is something we had to put zero thought into.
Posted by cnf2013[/QUOTE]

I like this idea!

belle7fl · May 2012

We are doing an open bar just for the cocktail hour since dinner includes two bottles of wine at each table, but our venue gave us the option to either put a cash or time limit. If you only want to spend a certain amount a cash limit might work well.

emilyb213 · May 2012

Our reception will be an open bar (cash bars are just not done around here), and our venue is BYOB, which means we'll be saving a lot on the alcohol tab. CNF has the right idea, you don't need to do a full bar- wine and beer should be sufficient. Also, I don't know how it is in Indiana, but here, if you buy liquor/wine for a wedding (our liquor and wine is sold in state-run stores here), and you have unopened bottles afterward, they will allow you to return them for a refund.

anastassiiat · May 2012

I know our venue allows you to tell them what's the maximum amount you are willing to pay for liquor, so they do open bar up until that number and then switch it to cash bar. So say you only want to spend 1K, they do open bar up until it hits 1K, and after that it's a cash bar. They can also check with you prior to switching to cash bar, just in case the reception is almost over and you don't mind going slightly over board. So maybe your venue can do the same thing, too?

Also, can I just say that it's so cool how everyone on here has an open mind about cash bars? I've tried suggesting it as an option on some other board (not even the etiquette one) and it did not go over to well. haha

cnf2013 · May 2012

Yeah, other boards will destroy you for suggesting cash bar. I do understand the logic, it's expensive to go to a wedding (travel, hotel, gift, outfit, whatever) then getting there and having to pay for drinks that someone else hosts. I get it, but still do what works for you. If where your getting married cash bar is the norm, then go for it. If not, do limited alcohol in some way or another. Either pay for a certain amount up front like anastassiiat suggested. Or offer only ber and wine if that's affordable to you guys. Returning unopened bottles is definitely worth looking into as well. I'd pay for a few drinks if I went to a cash bar wedding. Honestly, it would make me drink less too, so there will probably be less sloppy drunk people that way too, which is never a bad thing.

bar10521 · May 2012

We're doing a cash bar for a few reasons 1.) We just can't afford to have an open bar. We're probably going to have a champagne toast and a few bottles of wine on the tables to serve with dinner but even our cocktail hour will be a cash bar unfortunately. 2.) In both my family and FI's family there are a lot of people who don't know their limits. So to avoid having any issues we're not providing much alcohol. I basically don't want to pay for people to get smashed which is what will happen.

cassienoel022 · May 2012

Our venue can only do wine and beer and I'm glad for it. My family gets a little too crazy with hard liquor and I don't want to worry about them. I think having a wine and beer bar will save you a lot of money in the long run and people won't get upset that they have to pay for it. If you really want to have hard liquor I like the idea of having it open bar for a certain amount of time.

sparkles776 · May 2012

We are having an open bar. We are planning on booking our room block at a hotel that has a shuttle. However, my reception is all adults and they should know their limits. It doesnt hurt that my FI is a police officer and there will be a lot of his work friends at our wedding, so hopefully people do not want to embarass themselves and will behave!

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