Alcohol at Reception- Help

jamiekbarto · April 2010

I am having a rustic country wedding/reception and my finace really wants to have a Keg, but I am not s sure it's a good idea. My worry is that our guests are going to get extremly drunk and act likes animals. The reception site is out in the country away from city limits and I fear that our guests might drive after drinking.

The other part of the problem is that my mother is totally against the idea. She doesn't see anything wrong with a champaigne toast, but does not want us to serve alcohol. I am not against the idea of having alcohol I just want everyone to drink responsibly without hearing about it from my mom. Any advice would be great-

LisaTyler1984 · April 2010

I also hired a trolley for 3 hours after my wedding that will take guests back to their hotel or out on the town- so they have a ride to and from the bars. But if your wedding is not a destination, the most you can do is trust your guests. I think it would be weird to go to a wedding with no or limited alcohol. People will work it out themselves. They will carpool with a DD, cab it home, or limit what they drink. Your guests are adults; this isn't a frat party.

lcorey · April 2010

I was having the same problem because we have people on both sides of our family who are alcoholics. We decided to have an open bar for only two hours and a cash bar after that. They don't have a lot of money so I think this was the way to do it.

jamiekbarto · April 2010

Thank you everyone for your imput- Great insight!

beth5507 · April 2010

Give them some credit.

If there is one guest in particular you are worried about, just make sure they have someone else hold on to the keys.

psichick · April 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_alcohol-reception-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:05d67cef-af66-4468-a053-fdfedee8af5cPost:32b4cbf4-cfb8-4813-bb73-8fec0a26d4dc">Re: Alcohol at Reception- Help</a>:
[QUOTE]I was having the same problem because we have people on both sides of our family who are alcoholics. We decided to have an open bar for only two hours and a cash bar after that. They don't have a lot of money so I think this was the way to do it.
Posted by lcorey[/QUOTE]

lulz. really you are blaming alcoholic family members for you having a cash bar?

niksterdoodle88 · April 2010

We've decided not to have alcohol at our wedding. We're having a beach-themed/picnic wedding and since the reception will be at 11am, alcohol isn't really needed. Besides, most of our families are avid coffee/ice tea drinkers. Instead of alcohol, we're going to have coolers of bottled water and huge coolers of sun tea floating around the picnic area for the guests.

Regardless of what anyone says, alcohol is not a "must-have" at a wedding.

Good Luck!!!

psichick · April 2010

nobody has ever said that alcohol is a must-have. but it is an all or nothing. either have it any pay for it (ALL of it, whatever you are serving), or don't have it at all.

tommyandy · April 2010

A keg of good beer is a great idea! There will be less clean up involved & no chance of broken glass. How many people are invited to the wedding? 1 keg serves 141 red party cups of beer so you may want to have 2 if you have more than 70 beer drinkers at the reception. A keg is way cheaper than bottles or cans BTW.

penad5 · April 2010

I think the Keg is a great idea! It will save you money - plus I"m assuming you'll still need a bar tender so it's not like you'll end up with people chugging from it like frat boys. You can provide cab numbers, or look into the cost of a shuttle bus or something that will give your guests a lift into town, or if everyone is staying at the same hotel - consider seeing if a non-drinking family memeber or freind would be willing to be DD for the people your consered about

As much as PPs are saying you should trust your guest to act like adults - it sounds like you like me know some people won't, (many people look at an open bar wedding as an excuss to live it up) so I think either limiting the amount they can drink and/or providing them with a ride home, or going with a part or full cash bar is a great way to ensure your wedding day isn't tainted by someone getting behind the wheel drunk

Dolphingirly05 · April 2010

You can also stop serving alcohol an hour before you plan to end the reception. Yes, people may leave before that, but it will give the people who stay the whole night some time to sobber up if they do have a bit to much to drink. Are you haveing someone serve the alcohol? Maybe have them stamp their hands each time they get a drink, and cut them off after a certain amount?

SuMmErKuTiE · April 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_alcohol-reception-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:05d67cef-af66-4468-a053-fdfedee8af5cPost:48e98f01-6fd0-4328-be70-fa6ad00fad6e">Re: Alcohol at Reception- Help</a>:
[QUOTE]Give your adult guests some credit - most adults don't act like animals just because there is alcohol. They know how to control their drinking. To prevent drunk driving you can provide phone numbers at the bar for taxi services. But, if your mother is paying, she gets say.
Posted by pandasquishy[/QUOTE]

Ditto this exactly.

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