Bar closing during introductions and speeches?

Re: Bar closing during introductions and speeches?

• J&K10910 member

  

  January 2012

  How long do you intend on speeches and introductions being?  I mean, really, it shouldn't be more than 10 minutes tops.  Of course you want to get everything you pay for, so I'd ask for a prorated hour for that hour, or the 10 minutes tacked on elsewhere... but I think your guests can probably manage to make it 10 minutes without running to the bar.
  
  Now, if you're planning on it being much longer than that, I would seriously reconsider.

  
  
  Everything the light touches is my kingdom.

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• AdeleDazeem member

  

  January 2012

  I've heard of bars closing for dinner service (an hour).  I'm not sure exactly why, but I know many people choose it to lengthen the time of their reception that has open bar.  So... if you are having a five hour reception, if you close the bar for an hour during dinner then you only have to pay for four hours of open bar...
  
  It seems like this is something that you should be able to logically hash out with your venue.

  
  

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• Simply Fated member

  

  January 2012

  I was at a wedding where they closed the bar during dinner and I was furious. I didn't know they'd be doing that, so I wasn't able to get a drink beforehand. So I went through my meal thirsty. The reason behind that was because the bartenders doubled as the servers. I would check with the venue's reasonings and try to work things out.

  
  

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• SeaShell224 member

  

  January 2012

  Ok, I will talk to them again, maybe they can tack it on at the end. i just wasnt sure if this was a common thing?

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• tenofcups4me member

  

  January 2012

  For my first wedding, our site told us they close the bar for a half an hour while guests are seated, there's the intro, speeches, etc. I said that was unacceptable. I agreed that they could close it during the intros, but that it had to be open before while guests were seating themselves and immediately after the intros.
  
  There was nothing in the contract about closing during that time, and similar to you, a number of hours specified. They agreed to keep it open.

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• MobKaz member

  

  January 2012

  In our area, it is quite common to close the bar during the dinner portion of the reception.  More often than not, it is the only opportunity for the bartenders to grab some dinner. 
  
  At my daughter's wedding, we did two things to offset this "gap", and again, both are typically done.  Bottles of wine were placed at every table.  A framed sign, placed on the counter of the bar, indicated the bar would close during dinner.  This forewarned guests that if they preferred a drink or beer during dinner, that they would need to order just prior to being seated.
  
  The framed sign was similar to other signs displayed throughout the reception to indicate "messages" such as card box, photobooth, or guest book.
  
  

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• SeaShell224 member

  

  January 2012

  Ok, maybe I will have to say no more than 10 minutes if they won't budge.

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• Chicago Lighting Design member

  

  January 2012

  It's common in the Chicago area to close the bar during dinner, but in place of a bar, the servers are pouring wine or champagne during dinner.  Check your contract.  Does it specify how many hours the bar will be open for?  They can tell you anything, but what is written is what you need to go by. 

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• alithebride member

  

  January 2012

  im on long island too. no it's not normal at all.
  which venue?

   

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• volleygurl0306 member

  

  January 2012

  The way my venue explained it to me was there are controlled and running bars.  A controlled bar would be like a stopwatch where any time you close it the meter stops and doesn't count towards what you pay.  A running bar means you have it from set times and no matter what it closes at a specific time.  We have a controlled and since our package includes wine service during dinner, we are closing the bar during dinner so that we have an extra hour into the reception with booze.  If you have a running bar that will close at say 11pm no matter what, I would demand to have it kept open.  Those things shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes (for the guests' sake) and people can survive 10 minutes without a drink BUT if you are paying for that 10 minutes I would absolutely demand you get your money's worth.

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• norburke member

  

  February 2012

  It is very common (in Chicago) to close the bar for an hour.  We will have our bar for 4 hours and serve wine with dinner. That is plenty of time for folks to get their drink on.

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