Alcohol, tight budget open bar or cash bar?

The thing is though, i don't think it would be good for guests to pay for all drinks like soda and stuff ya know? it seems better to at least try to host some drinks.

I wouldn’t go over budget for a bar. We’re doing a cash bar and only providing a table for the wedding party, i would only provide an open bar if it was in budget. But other drinks such as lemonade or tea should be free and served with dinner

In this case I would do cash bar.

I was at a wedding last fall where it was cash bar but they offered 1 hour of open bar after dinner. This was announced by the MC and once people realized they could get drinks for free for 1 hour... a lot of people started "stocking up". Sounds terrible, but it's true. I couldn't believe it. In all fairness: they did not tell people in advance that their wedding wasn't open bar.. so a lot of people didn't have cash on them. It's the only non open bar wedding I've ever been to.. so personally I've never even brought cash to a wedding. The bride/groom ended up spending a TON of money on the 1 hour of alcohol. To avoid that, I say just do all cash bar but make it clear (unless it's standard in your area/social circle).

I was thinking the same thing Aleaj, I was thinking doing like $250 (just throwing numbers, not going to be the amount) for NON alcoholic drinks and the cash bar other wise. I agree with the soda and other non alcoholic drinks should be paid for for dinner. Im trying to please as MANY people as I can but I also know that NOT everyone will be happy. But its NOT about anyone else it is about us, this is OUR day. Hopefully we can agree on something soon and be able to know what we are going to do when we book.

I mean, at the very least, non-alcoholic drinks should be included. I’ve been to a few cash bar weddings (though not in a long time) but I’ve never had to pay for a soda. As a guest, that would especially annoy me.

We will have tea (hot and cold) water and punch provided and a cash bar. It is not in our budget to have an open bar and like pp have said, people will stock up if they know it is only for a certain amount of time. We will be letting guest know ahead of time that there will be a full cash bar available.

Maybe do a ticket system? Each guest gets two tickets to redeem for a regular non-alcoholic beverage and if they want to purchase alcohol they would need to pay themselves? My venue we already paid for two drinks(non-alcoholic) per guest and then keeping a tab open for additional non alcoholic drinks if any guest gets more than two for us to pay at the end of the reception. Maybe have a water and lemonade station in big jugs for guest to get during the reception at anytime. I've seen these jugs at Walmart for a decent price.

Jocelyn, this a good idea!!! I will def bring this to mh FH's attention and see what his thoughts are. I would have never thought of a ticket system!!

We are doing a cash bar. I don't think this is something to go over budget on. Our soda, tea are figured into the meal plan.

View Quoted Comment This— also not just annoyed, but I honestly think needing to pay for soda would encourage people to drink MORE alcohol. If I was being cheap I might go for a soda instead of purchasing an alcoholic beverage, but if I found out I’d have to pay for the soda to, I’d figure— heck with it, let me have the real drink! Once I’m opening my wallet, I’m more inclined to splurge on the booze instead of soda ...

You should see if your venue allow BYOB. With this you could stock the bar area with let's say $300 worth of alchohol and once you're out you're out.

Otherwise I think it's fine and reasonable to lay for maybe an hours worth or X amount of drinks and after that your guests pay. Just make sure you politely tell your guests there's a cash bar so they know to have some cash (or if they can take card even better!).

A think a ticket system or restricting the amount of time for an open bar would be appropriate if you feel apprehensive about having a cash bar. I think most typical open bar packages are 3-4 hours. But I think if you're not expecting a lot of people to want alcohol, a ticket system might be fine. You can also limit the bar to just beer or wine and no liquor.

The other thing you could do to save money on alcohol is to ask your caterer/venue if they will allow you to bring your own beer or wine. Some wholesalers will allow you to return whatever unopened bottles your guests don't drink.

I agree that it's probably more important to have free non-alcoholic drinks.

We negotiated with our venue and they are going to provide 2 mimosas (brunch reception) to each adult guest for a very reasonable cost. Then we will have a cash bar for those who want additional drinks. If you are on a very tight budget I personally wouldn’t spend the money on an open bar.

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I think this is a good idea. Guests should not have to pay for non-alcoholic drinks. So, try to figure out how much it costs for 2 non-alcoholic drinks per person. If you can afford that in your budget, do it. The alcohol can be cash bar the whole night.

I understand same here. I would provide tea lemonade or soda and have a cash bar. Just be sure to norify guest in advance.

So, we're telling people its a cash bar but we are secretly having a partially hosted bar which means we pay up to a certain cap and then it switches to a cash bar. This way we won't go over budget and the first 1-2 drinks are free for our guests.

Seems like a win-win. This was one of the more difficult choices of the planning process so far though.

View Quoted Comment Oooh. This is going to be awesome. I wanted a brunch reception but I couodnt find a venue to work with us. It sounds like so much fun.

My wedding planner have specialty drink like maybe your favorite 2 drinks and then offer like soda or juice or wine. It cuts down on the liquor bill

Have you thought of having a dry wedding? You can still have the soft drinks, lemonade, etc., but it's A LOT cheaper. Then you dont have to worry about anyone drinking too much and the guests won't have to pay anything out of pocket. Just make sure you mention it on your website or in the invitations so that the guests know beforehand.

Maybe do a cash bar and an hour of an open bar to cut down the costs. Or have 1 or 2 specialty drinks and offer that all night.