Cans of pop to serve

I'm with jay, I'd be out after dinner, maybe even before the cake honestly. I'd be wanting to be leaving asap if I knew I wasn't going to be there for the night (which I know I wouldn't be no alcohol = sitting around because no one wants to dance without some liquid courage)

Yeah, as soon as the cake is cut at least half of your guests will be slipping out because they want something stronger than root beer.

Dancing isn't even encouraged in many churches. (makes me glad I don't shoot many church weddings)

If you're having your reception at your church, that's totally cool.

But don't plan for a 4-5 hour reception....why not just do cake and punch, if you "can't" serve alcohol?

Otherwise...I'd find a new venue.

If you're dead set on having no alcohol because it's at your church, I would literally just serve cake and punch for an hour or two. People will not stay.

I'm just going to leave this right here.

We are having a church ceremony then a reception else where for this exact reason. People want to celebrate this means drinking alcohol!

We have mimosa brunch bible study at my church ...didn't on know no alcohol at church was a thing

I think Unitarian and maybe Catholic allow alcohol in moderation. Baptist and church of Christ, not so much. It probably depends on denomination.

Lutherans love alcohol

I went to a baptist wedding last month, and let me tell you the liquor was flowing from the two open bars...and it was on a Sunday!

Ahh that makes sense, mine is a non denominational cowboy church ( yes thats what its called) lol we also have bull riding and rodeos in the arena out back i guess thats not common eithor

You know your CULTURE .... Ive been to plenty of wedding/receptions at Church and there BETTER not be any alcohol anywhere near the church!!!! It is paramount to the worse sin ever and you and the groom as destined to go to hell!!!!! .... LOL.... Again you know your people and YOUR church beliefs!

so unlike others I UNDERSTAND your dry wedding....

To answer your question.... I think you will need more than soda and water.... maybe add Ice Tea, Punch and Lemonade to the equation.......

If you are holding the reception in your church, which will not allow alcohol, your reception will not last 4-5 hours.

This will cut down the soda consumption. You may be better off doing some type of punch, rather than cans of soda.

As far as quantity, I cannot lend a hand there.

200 guests are not going to stick around for 5 hours without alcohol so you won't need too much soda.

I think the boo-ing is unnecessary here.

I just wanted to point out that at a wedding I recently attended which had a cash bar, 1/4 of the people cut out after the ceremony, and 1/2 cut out after the food was served. The rest of us had a lot of fun dancing, but it was pretty empty in there.

I think it depends. Are people just going to grab a can, or are servers going to be filling glasses? You said it was a church so I'm a little confused. Or is it super casual?

More cans if people are just grabbing them because people will grab, set them somewhere, grab a new one, etc. Less if they'll be poured into a glass.

Either way seems a little weird. Also, please don't assume that religious ceremony = obviously no booze. FH's family is super religious, and I don't think I've ever been to an event without a ton of alcohol. You aren't automatically a bad person for drinking. Come on.

I am not going to tell you that you have to have alcohol at your wedding because you already started that you aren't and you have your reasons for feeling the way you do but I would shy away from soda cans and perhaps do tea, lemonade, punch and water just because a lot of people don't drink soda. It also depends on your theme and what you will be serving during your reception, I would only expect to see soda cans at a barbecue type of function but other beverages can be displayed in the glass containers below. Just an idea good luck

We are doing pop and water, but we are also serving lemonade, sweet tea, and unsweetened tea. I would suggest adding some tea to your drink list. Lemonade is a good idea also. I've been to several dry weddings that did last a good 4 hours, and they were a lot of fun, so it can be done! I'd expect at least 2-3 pops/water for each person, at the bare minimum. It also depends on whether you are having an outside reception. If it's outside and warm, people will drink a lot more.

First, I have attended 3 dry weddings in the past and had a blast at them all. Of course you can't please everyone and someone is going to complain but its what you make of the experience.

2nd, I would get probably 3-4x the amount of drinks for your guests. I for one, am a drinker. If I have a pop, I am always getting refills! But not everyone is that way. You'll want to cater to everyone's tastes by getting a variety too... diet sodas, regular, rootbeer, orange, etc and for the non drinkers, lemonade, tea and water. Good luck!