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I say yes to the cash bar. You can have wine at the table for your guests and have a bar with a variety of cocktail drinks that people can pay for. Vodka, Tequila, Rum ect., can be extremely costly and i don't see anything wrong with people paying for these drinks themselves. I have been to many weddings where there was no bar at all and i prefer the option of paying for my own drink than not to have any at all.
Oh, but if it's a Mexican party..........well then couple of kegs will do.
No cash bar. Wedding are enough of an expense to the guests as is. Would you throw a party at your home and have a cash bar? Seriously, I know it's expensive but like another poster said, there are better places to make cuts. I don't think it's right even to do wine/beer only. What if you don't drink that but want a mixed drink? You should make your guests feel as welcome as possible. Just my opinion. Oh, and I have been to a dry wedding before and they are torture!!
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nnyl
Cash bars at wedding receptions as an option? Boo/hiss. Or it's okay, doesn't matter.
Our wedding was my wife's second, so we didn't get assistance from either side of the family for funding. We decided to provide a few free drinks to everyone as a start, but after a certain number the car turned into a cash bar. I don't remember how many we provided. I think three.
Given that we also provided a full dinner to 200 people and I was unemployed at the time, I don't think that was unreasonable. It was expensive enough as it was.
nnyl
I have seen many places that will charge you(the host) per drink, they track the number of drinks served
You might want to see if this is an option especially if only half the guests will be drinking
Also what time of year is the wedding ?
Remember most places have slow times, should the wedding be during this time they are more agreeable to negotiating especially if business has slowed because a lot of folks are cutting back now days.
As to what to serve, that again will depend on the time of the wedding if you have a 5 pm ceremony followed by a 6 or 7 pm reception you will have to do something a bit more substantial
You might want to compare the pricing for heavy hors'd'oeuvre stations vs a full buffet
With an afternoon wedding say 1 with the reception at 2 or 3 you can get by with more simple hors'd'oeuvres
Another option I have seen folks do is a early wedding around 11 with a brunch reception following
They had the stations like made to order omelets,a belgian waffle station, lots of fresh fruit and different pastries , along with mimosas and both a plain and a spiked punch.
This went over very well because it was different than the standard usual wedding fare.
Wedding (thus far) tentatively set for 5:00 p.m., reception to follow at country club (located about 15 mins. drive away). W/that as the tentative wedding start time, we priced (thus far, but things are still fluid at this point) a buffet dinner and wine/beer only option.
But we are thinking of moving the wedding to 7:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., reception to follow. And change the food to hors'd'oeuvres, and then of course, keep the wine/beer option included.
Spring wedding, 2009.
As to serving cocktails, that'll be on the individual if they want that. If I opt for beer/wine, I'm only going that far. And to be truthful about it, it's only the bride's side of the family that are drinkers really. And we are just down-home sorts, none of us into fancy signature cocktails or otherwise. Beer/wine does it for all of us. We aren't into liquor per se, any of us. So I'm not real concerned about offering cocktails also, in addition to the beer/wine option.
I haven't checked w/the venue. I do remember when pricing things, there are some venues that you just give them an open cc and tell them the limit you want. When that limit gets reached, you tell them, that's it, last call for alcohol, it gets cut off.
Maybe I should check that w/the venue we've really set our sights on. Maybe it's available there.
A full service cash bar is sure fire way make sure that everybody remembers the wedding.....for how cheap it was! Do you want people to talk about how they had to pay for drinks or how beautiful the brides looked? At the very least have an open wine/beer bar.
Also for a wedding at 5 or 7 pm if you want people to stick around hors d'oeuvres aren't going to be enough. Perhaps if it was an early afternoon wedding that was going to end early you could do that but if you have an evening wedding people are going to expect a full meal and starve or they will rush the hors d'oeuvres like ravenous beasts.
I know it can get pricey- I'm planning a wedding myself and the bar options were almost as much or more than the dinner for our guests.
We are just going to have them keep a record of the drinks and pay the drink tab afterward at the regular cost that they offer their drinks for. We have the same issue with a number of people not being drinkers yet we would have to pay per guest for the bar. My fiance's parents are chipping in and their portion will probably cover the bar tab.
NO, NO, NO to a cash bar! It is VERY rude to have your guests pay for drinks at an affair to which you have invited them. Similarly, it is highly rude for guests to disparage that which has been provided them. No guest should EVER complain that booze (or anything else) was not provided.
If you cannot afford booze, do beer/wine. If that is out of your budget, either downsize the guest list or change the venue to a more affordable place. Cash bar at a wedding is a violation of Etiquette 101.
Amd FWIW, I have the fondest of memories of the most modest wedding I ever attended -- a daytime wedding with only punch and cake in the church basement. It was memorable for the couple (so obviously in love) and the refreshing simplicity of it all. It was a reminder in many ways of what really matters at a wedding.
cash bar = come to my event/party/wedding and pay for it too...it's an 11 on the 1 to 10 ICK factor
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