Cash bar after 3 hours of open bar...

I personally as a guest at a wedding would have no problem with this. In my area, this is common or it is even common to not have an open bar, but just soda and beer. I say do what you want to do for your day.

I see no problem with a cash bar as long as you notify your guests so that they can be sure to bring cash.

Ps I created a FB page for us WW december 2012 brides; there are a few of us on there ( I think 20 ). We still post on WW, but it is nice to have ladies to keep us on track and to share our DIYs and deadlines with. if you would like to join just let me know and I can PM you the link

Thanks Melissa!

Shelley, what do you think would be the most tactful way to let guests know... I would love to join your page! Send me the link please.

I would put it on your website. As long as guests know to bring cash, all is good.

You could perhaps have a cute saying.

I think it's highly regional, but no one in my area (NY?NJ) does cash bars. Could you do a wine/beer/sig drink bar for the whole time?

How long is your reception? Is there an option of closing the bar during dinner or starting it later? It's just because $5pp per hour sounds like an excellent price to me.

The last 2 weddings I have been to were like this. Here it is completely fine. (AZ) As a guest, I have no problem with it.

I just sent you a PM

I recently attended a wedding and it was supposed to be open bar all night, well about 2 hours before it was over they started charging us. Luckily, I had some cash on me and I never carry cash. It was FI's really close friends wedding and all his friends were there and they are drinkers! Me and the girls were drinking a bit too.. So maybe we just over drank? I have no idea why that happened.. On the wedding video they showed in there, the bride announced to everyone "enjoy that open bar because its costing us a pretty penny" as a joke though…

I really wonder what the reason was..

My advice, I had no problem paying for my own drinks at the end.. I was thankful enough to have eaten dinner, cake and drink! I think you would be fine. Alcohol adds up quick everyone knows that so do what ever fits your budget =)

I think 5 dollars a person per hour is a great price but 75 people times 4 hours is an extra 1,500. I am trying to keep my entire wedding under 6k. Which is really hard to do... I originally thought we could do it for under 4k but the venue is 3k without uping the bar. I had NO idea how things can add up. Lol

Thanks for the advice!!!

I would just post on your wedding website and maybe word of mouth can pass it around.

Hi Andrea ~ welcome to WW

Do they charge anything different if it is a limited bar instead of a cash bar?

Could you get away with just beer, wine, and a signature drink all night and cash for anything else?

I too am having this issue. I have NO idea what to do alcohol wise. The premium bar for my venue is $11 per person PER HOUR and my reception is 5 hours!! I have about 80 people...NO WAY is that happening!!! When my mom saw that she about had a heart attack! haha We too are on a budget of about 6k for the WHOLE wedding and so far we are doing pretty good, but that would take us WAY over. I mean, I don't want to be mean, but if people want to drink all night, I say make THEM pay for it. I'm not going to haha

Hayley, That is a good idea! I am going to ask if I can limit to just beer and wine to extend the open bar...

Morgan, I feel you on this... I want to offer a bar all night but at some point I have to trim the fat. I can't believe how expensive getting married can be!

Me either!!! I'm still in shock at how much somethings cost! haha I am meeting with the reception venue lady in September and making my mom come with so THEY can discuss alcohol haha I want NO part in that

Yea, I think it is fine. It is common too from what I have heard. We are doing consumption bar which turns to cash bar after that runs out. You have to do what you can do. If people want to drink they can bring some extra cash or chug a few beers before the last hour! I am planning on putting a notice on the wedding website before invites go out so those people can be prepared.

Like Celia said, it's regional. Our plan is to do a cash bar. We're offering keg beer, soft drinks, bottled water, coffee, punch, and everything else is cash bar. I am in Indiana, and this is the way that every wedding that I've been to goes. I've never been to a wedding with an open bar.

I think its absolutely fine! We settled on a cash bar, even though on TK they told me it was soooo rude. But its either that or a dry reception so we figured at least give people the option! We will be making a small not on the reception card saying something like "reception starts at 6:00pm, cash bar opens at 7:00pm" maybe not exactly that but something along those lines. Just so everyone knows to bring cash.

I think that's fine! Around here cash bars are the norm though. Most weddings are about 4-10k around here, so we're not really swanky enough to do open bar the whole night. No one has the money, except maybe some Chicago people who own Summer homes up here.

Honestly, I see the cash bar issue like this; what's worse? Having your guests pay for (some of) their drinks, or you paying for open bar when you really can't afford it. I know a lot of people will say you should cut things elsewhere to do it, but that's not really an option for some people. Like I could cut out all my planned decor and we'd only have a little over 1k for open bar, which would cover like 2 hours with 2 bartenders so what's the point? Might as well just keep the decor. Do what you can afford to do.

For our reception we are paying for the first 2 kegs of beer on tap. Anything else (mixed drinks, wine, liqour) and after that will be cash bar. I recently went to a wedding that was a cash bar and no one had been notified until the reception about this. It was a little confusing at first but my FH was a groomsmen and we talked to the bride about it and she explained that what they wanted for just an hour of open bar was ridiculous. With the cash bar you don't have to worry about people taking advantage and loading up on drinks. Most places will set up tabs for individual guests. With an open bar you can kind of control what people drink. Like no shots of Petron for the alcoholic uncle who likes to get out of control when drinking hard liquour. Lol. But its your choice.