cool bars/restaurants as reception venue

roxysun17 · September 2013

Hi! I'm looking for a bar or restaurant with a cool vibe that could be an alternative and inexpensive. Any thoughts?

GypsyWife_ · September 2013

Old town has Mexican restaurants that have banquet rooms. Karl Strauss is A beautiful place for weddings too. Not sure what you mean by cool vibe but I hope this helps.

Dreamergirl8812 · September 2013

^^^ Brilliant. Definitely check out Mexican restaurants. There's 2 that I can picture that have nice courtyards. Will do recon and report back.

And by "inexpensive" I assume you mean compared to standard receptions, not like $8/person.

ETA:
http://www.casaguadalajara.com/banquets-parties/#banquets
http://www.oldtownmexicanfood.com/events/

roxysun17 · September 2013

Thanks! I just went to Tom Ham's lighthouse and it was awesome and inexpensive. I'm trying to see now if it is cheaper to do a consumption or a hosted bar for 150 people. My family drinks...so not sure what amount to expect.

ashbay22 · September 2013

If they drink a lot, I would go with hosted bar. It will save you a lot of money. So many times people order a drink and then take two sips and go on the dance floor or get distracted and then forget about their drink and then have to go to the bar and order another one. If they drink a lot, hosted bar is the way to go.

Dreamergirl8812 · September 2013

^^^ I agree. I thought about doing consumption but I was afraid I would get distracted when I noticed someone take 2 sips and then put it down somewhere.

roxysun17 · September 2013

I decided to go with Tom's Lighthouse, it's beautiful. I'm thinking I'm going to do a consumption bar with a max. This way once it reaches the max, people can buy their own drinks. This might end up being a 3 hr open bar. Any thoughts?

champagne85 · September 2013

That is a fab location! Personally, I wouldn't be mad if I was at a wedding that had an open bar for 3 hours then pay your own way, but I know it is generally frowned upon to have guests need to open their wallets at all during your event. I know SD is more laid back so maybe this is a know your crowd kind of decision. I would hate for you to have guests leave after the bar "closes" if they don't want to shell out cash for more drinks.

I am in the same boat with bar costs. We've decided to do a hosted bar all night but will only be offering beer, wine, and champagne (and soft drinks & water of course). I know there are some people who may be bummed not to have the hard liquor but I'm sure they will be plenty happy with free flowing beer & wine all night.

Good luck with your decision!

GypsyWife_ · October 2013

roxysun17 said:
I decided to go with Tom's Lighthouse, it's beautiful. I'm thinking I'm going to do a consumption bar with a max. This way once it reaches the max, people can buy their own drinks. This might end up being a 3 hr open bar. Any thoughts?

No cash bars are an ettiquette faux pas. Host the whole time. However you could have Dry wedding or host wine and beer for the whole night. Cash bars are tacky and rude. You don't want your guest to think that about your wedding do you?

randerson123 · October 2013

roxysun17 said:

I decided to go with Tom's Lighthouse, it's beautiful. I'm thinking I'm going to do a consumption bar with a max. This way once it reaches the max, people can buy their own drinks. This might end up being a 3 hr open bar. Any thoughts?

We are going by consumption. According to several folks I know in the wedding industry, consumption almost always costs less than hosted packages. Depends on your guests though. Best option: go through each person on your guest list one by one, estimate on the high end how many drinks they'll have, multiply by their percentage likelihood of attending the wedding, and sum the numbers. Compare that to your hosted back package.

I think what you proposed will make your guests the happiest (at least if I were going to your wedding, that would make me the happiest). There are some people that will tell you it is bad etiquette to convert the bar into a hosted bar. If you feel the need to please the etiquette police, you could always do a consumption bar that's open for 2-3 hours with a defined ending point and not give guests the option to purchase more alcohol, that way it is never a cash bar. But be warned ... the etiquette police will always find something about your wedding that is "tacky" so use your own moral compass.

GypsyWife_ · October 2013

randerson123 said:

roxysun17 said:

I decided to go with Tom's Lighthouse, it's beautiful. I'm thinking I'm going to do a consumption bar with a max. This way once it reaches the max, people can buy their own drinks. This might end up being a 3 hr open bar. Any thoughts?

We are going by consumption. According to several folks I know in the wedding industry, consumption almost always costs less than hosted packages. Depends on your guests though. Best option: go through each person on your guest list one by one, estimate on the high end how many drinks they'll have, multiply by their percentage likelihood of attending the wedding, and sum the numbers. Compare that to your hosted back package.

I think what you proposed will make your guests the happiest (at least if I were going to your wedding, that would make me the happiest). There are some people that will tell you it is bad etiquette to convert the bar into a hosted bar. If you feel the need to please the etiquette police, you could always do a consumption bar that's open for 2-3 hours with a defined ending point and not give guests the option to purchase more alcohol, that way it is never a cash bar. But be warned ... the etiquette police will always find something about your wedding that is "tacky" so use your own moral compass.

Randerson123 gave you Horrible advice. If you are going to host, do it the entire time. Do not have an ending point, it should be all or nothing.

Its up to you what kind of host you are going to be to your wedding guests. Follow my advice or not but its written here for you to know what is proper etiquette and what is not.

cool bars/restaurants as reception venue

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