Cash Bar

Well my future husband`s family and my family LOVE to drink. And our area there is no tradition of cash bar or open bar. Its whatever the bride and groom decide or what they can afford. I will be have 2 diff kegs of soda, and 2 diff half kegs of beer (only allowd one keg of beer). Then after that they are buying their own. If people can`t appreciate what is offered don`t let it ruin your day and don`t do something because you think others will be offended. If they want to drink they will buy. They are not suppose to be there just for the food and drinks, they are there to celebrate YOU, i have had many people point that out to me. And the more i think about it the, the more i see they are right. Just do what you feel is best for you.

Melissa

If as you say "They are not suppose to be there just for the food and drinks, they are there to celebrate YOU", then there isn`t any need to charge them for alcohol. According to your logic the bride and groom should serve only what they can afford and the guests will be happy with it because they are they are not there for the drinks, they are there to celebrate you. I agree with you, Melissa. No cash bars.

Dont agree with you guys. Serving alcohol also come with the responsibility of your guests. If you have a fam who loves to drink then cash bar! The bartender can cut them off and inform you/someone of this person. There is nothing worse than people drunk at a wedding. Also if you cant afford an open bar then do the cash bar even if its only wine it is people still like having some alcohol at the wedding.

Your guests have been invited. The hosts have an obligation to be gracious. If you can`t afford it or fear problems with serving it, it then don`t serve it. Your wedding guests are not walking into a business establishent where they would be required to purchase thier libations.

My hometown is one where a cash bar is something of the norm, but I have been to several weddings where there is not a cash bar. At our wedding, we will provide two types of keg beer, punch without alcohol and a few kinds of cocktails before dinner. Sodas, other kinds of beer, or other cocktails we don`t offer are available at the reception hall bar, but that will be the responsibility of the guests.

I hate the fact that you say it`s the guests responsibility. Under those circumstances they`re not even guests, they`re customers.

Hello Shelley Ann.....I must be from some other planet, because I have never been to a wedding where there wasn`t a cash bar. Around here, drinks always cost something. At our wedding we are having a toonie bar (canadian), now adays around here, alot of times the bride and groom pay for their own weddings, and this is a way to help with the cost recovery of the alcohol..I couldn`t imagine paying for everyone to drink for the nite....everyone around here LIKES TO DRINK... It would really break us......good luck...just my opinion.

Everyone around here likes to eat surf and turf, but that doesn`t mean I`m going to give my guests the option to pay for their dinners just because I can`t afford to feed it to them. I know, maybe I should just offer the steak and the servers will say to each guest "good evening, would you like to add lobster to your steak sir? It will be an addition $15 for a tail or we can just serve you the standard steak for free".

I guess that`s just they way receptions are done in my area. Growing up, there never were open bars... Everything was cash bar. I didn`t mean to make it sound like the guests were customers. I guess it`s more socially acceptable where I am from. The reason cash bars were/are so popular is because it lowers the possiblity of guests getting too hammered. I know that when I have to pay for my own drinks, I tend to drink less and when the drinks are free, the more I drink.

I don`t think that`s a good excuse, Kristin. It doesn`t justify charging people at your own wedding. If you don`t want them to get "hammered" then serve a limited amount. Or none at all. If the adults in your circle are not mature enough to know how to behave at a wedding with acohol then they really shouldn`t be invited. But we know that`s not usually an option, so the bottom line is if you fear your guests will act like irrisponsible children, then either limit the alcohol or don`t serve it.

Well, honestly, it`s not an excuse. It`s just the way receptions in my area have always been, and acutally, I am being way more generous than previous couples before me. Fiance and I are spending a lot to offer quite a lot of different beverages for our guests. It`s more common to have a strictly cash bar around here, but we agree that these are our guests and would like to treat them as such. Our guests don`t have to purchase anything and drink for free all night. However, if they want something that we personally don`t offer that the bar does (what we bring in is separate from the bar by law) then that is their choice.