Bar announcement for reception

In my area and my circle, cash bar is most common. I've never been to a wedding with an open bar. But if a person lives in a place where open bar is typical, I can understand making a different assumption.

^^This. Also, if it's something one is afraid of, cash bars 100% deter people from getting too wasted and causing a ruckus.

Which I am a little nervous about for the BM and GM- they can be a rowdy group

Yeah, sure. But with an open bar it can happen on a wider scale sometimes. I'm not saying this should be the main reason to not have an open bar, it's just a side note. I not only have been a wedding guest but I also work under a local wedding photographer as an assistant. The only weddings I've been to that had an open bar were weddings I worked at as a vendor, I've never been to one as a guest. And when you're a photographer or videographer you definitely are constantly observing people and compared to cash bar or limited bar weddings, open bar weddings have the largest number of rowdy drunks. If you're not concerned about this, fine. I'm just saying it's a side point.

Wow, I never expected people to get so harsh about this! I would never expect someone to have an open bar as I know they are very expensive and I don't think it as a necessity. I bring my wallet wherever I go so I wouldn't be upset if I wasn't warned before hand. How often do people really not carry a wallet or purse?

We are having a hosted bar for cocktail hour, wine with dinner and a champagne toast. We felt after that people could pay for their own drinks.

You do what you can, I'm sure it will be amazing!

Thank you for the positivity! We're also doing a toast and probably hosted wine with dinner, as well. We'll decide a few days out depending on the guest count.

And I agree as far as carrying a form of payment everywhere, I've never not brought at least my ID, some cash and a card with me everywhere I go. If I'm going somewhere without a purse, I use a phone case that has a wallet built-in. I suppose we may be a minority, though!

I guess so!

My sisters wedding was completely dry for religious reasons, but I felt like it would have been nice to have the option to pay for drinks. I really don't see the big deal. It's a day about you and your FH getting married and celebrating. You shouldn't feel pressured to spend ridiculous amount of money on overpriced booze!

I would have for sure preferred to be given the option over a dry wedding, but having a dry wedding for religious purposes is a situation where I wouldn't mind so much. I don't quite follow the logic of those who would rather have a dry wedding than a cash bar, but it's personal preferences, I suppose. I said in an earlier comment that if a close relative wants to not go or leave right away due to it being a cash bar, I don't really want them there in the first place! As far as the people who may change their gift, okay? You're there to celebrate with us, you're not obligated to get us anything. We're just happy people are there!

My fiancé and I don't really drink (not for religious reasons) so we considered having a dry wedding. It's earlier in the day and since it's OUR wedding, why not? But cash bar didn't cost us anything and we know that a lot of our friends and family enjoy drinking socially, so cash bar it is.

Dry wedding earlier in the day makes some sense, you don't want people going too hard that early in the day lol. In the end, it's whatever the couple really wants to do

Totally! I see nothing wrong with this! We are also a small wedding with mostly close family and friends (around 75 people), so to me people won't be offended or leave early. They will just buy drinks if they want!

I should clarify- I didn't mean I didn't understand dry weddings at all. I meant those that are so appalled by cash bars that they'd rather no alcohol at all. I'm just now realizing how that came off the first time lol

When I was looking at venues in our hometown (San Diego) I found some little quirks like that. Maybe because it changes the volume somehow? Or because they actually have to ring up each purchase? I wasn't sure how it could be more expensive outside of the labor of ringing that last part, but maybe I'm missing something obvious.

I'm doing a hosted cocktail hour bar and then cash bar and I put this on my website (I did a FAQ section):

"What is the bar situation?: There will be an open bar during cocktail hour and drinks will be available for purchase after."

Aren't you worried people will try to drink as much as possible while it's free, then you wind up with people drunk before dinner?

I had thought about that, too, when we were thinking of doing open bar for cocktail hour if we could afford it. If an open bar all night is out of the question but she can do it for cocktail hour, I think it would be worth it.