Sober Wedding - Include Alcohol?

Hi Y`all. My future husband and I are sober, as are many of our guests. However many of our family and friends do drink alcohol, and would probably not enjoy themselves as much if they could not have an alcoholic beverage. We plan on having a sparkling cider toast instead of a champagne toast, but what about the rest of the evening? Out of respect for those who do not drink, should the wedding be dry...or should we include a bar? I don`t want to pay for an open bar that only half of my guests will use. But I don`t want to force my non-sober friends to lay off the booze all night. Any suggestions???
Posted by sara; updated 02/15/04

Reply

We had this exact same problem. My fiancee and I do drink once in a while socially, but no one in my family drinks. We had decided not to have any alcohol at all at the wedding. This made his family very upset. We talked to the members of my family on their feelings, and no one said they would be offended by the alcohol being served. We decided to include an open bar. One option we had considered though was providing tickets for the drinkers there so that we could limit the amount each person imbibed. There also was talk of serving just wine/champagne with the toasts as well. I think you need to discuss it with the people around you and make a decision based on what you feel comfortable with. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Posted by Sarah; updated 02/15/04