Beer/wine reception vs. liquor open bar

MsBunny312 · March 2010

My fiance and I are considering going with a beer/wine reception instead of having liquor because of the costs. I was wondering who else is doing this or considered doing it, and what helped you make your decision besides just the cost?

thealphabride · March 2010

Hi Ms.Bunny,
Have you chosen your venue yet? Is the bar part of the package?
When planning our wedding I considered the most expensive aspects of the wedding first, which was food and liquor. I found a venue that let me bring in my own catering and bar, so that I could control those costs.
It is not necessarily cheaper to do this depending on the venue you choose.

We are having a full open bar for 4 hours at 16 per person as we were able to negotiate these costs with the caterer. We have 2 domestic bottled beers, and 2 choices of wine. We are having champaigne on every table and only closing the bar for 30 minutes during dinner. We are also having 12 top shelf liquors for mixed drinks. We are having water, and soft drinks too.
They are bringing all the mixers, the actual bar, glasses, napkins etc.

HTH, let me know if you have any more questions.

jenniferandstephen · March 2010

FI and I have been to plenty of weddings where it was a beer/wine bar and it works out just fine. Really consider your group of friends and family and often times you can picture them being perfectly happy with those two options. If you're bummed out about it, perhaps you can upgrade from the Miller Lite, etc. to one nicer import beer or splurge a little bit for a wine you really like. Is having one 'signature cocktail' an option?

Does your venue allow for a cash bar on the liquor? That way if Aunt So-and-so really wants her vodka tonic she can shell out for it.

As far as non-cost reasons, I chuckled and thought of one of our friends. Her reasoning for a beer/wine only bar was that it would take longer for the groomsmen to get out of hand than if they had access to free Jack Daniels shots. Guess it depends on your group...

GL!

Sparkette19 · March 2010

My cousin had a beer/wine bar rather than an open liquor bar. Her parents were paying for the that portion of the reception and my uncle is notoriously cheap. I thought it was kind of weird at first b/c I had never been to a wedding that didn't have open liquor bar before. However, I was fine b/c I love wine. I think the guys were more put off by no liquor.

Don't go into debt over the liquor bill. Do what makes you comfy and you can afford.

jbll326 · March 2010

We wanted to do beer/wine/soda only and allow guests to pay for stronger drinks, mostly for costs but also to control the excessive drinking that our friends are prone to. Unfortunately our venue did not allow cash bars, so guests paying cash for liquor drinks was not an option. We didn't want to limit our guests to beer and wine only, so we went with the full open bar. It ended up being only $5 more per person and luckily there weren't too many wasted groomsmen running around the dancefloor

I've been to a few weddings with limited open bar and it didn't bother me one bit. If you think most of your guests are liquor drinkers, maybe you should consider splurging, but otherwise don't worry about it!

beautifulnryan · March 2010

I went to a wedding with beer/wine once - it was in a Sonoma winery. I don't know if they had options for hard liquor actually. But it was fine. I was wine-d out from the trip, so I didn't really drink all that much and beer isn't my favorite thing....but I find it funny that some of the rationale would be that it would take longer to get drunk....or maybe it's because of our friends...or wine definitely hits people differently....let's just say it made for really good pictures and video. LOL.

AshleyK2011 · March 2010

Alpha bride - I just sent you a PM

alexilyse · March 2010

We are doing soft drinks, flavored iced tea, beer, and white wine sangria. We are doing this not only to cut down on costs, but our reception is on a Sunday afternoon, and our guests are not really heavy drinkers.

ladybug7485 · March 2010

I just went to a wedding reception in January that was beer/wine only. I thought it was completely fine and I didn't hear anyone complaining. I don't think there was an option to purchase liquor but I only say that because I don't remember anyone having any. I think it's a good spot to cut down on costs. Like Jbll we also considered it to try to keep some of our unruly (haha) friends in line but the cost difference wasn't enough so we went with the full bar. HTH!

MsBunny312 · March 2010

Thanks everyone! I don't really think I need to worry about my guests getting out of control. They are big drinkers, but generally keep things within reason.

I'm trying to think about anyone who would refuse to drink wine or beer and I can't. So I think we'll probably end up going the wine/beer route. Thanks again!

Beer/wine reception vs. liquor open bar

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