Cash Bar

I would cut from other places in your budget to provide open beer and wine.

Keep it at beer and wine as it is cheaper and then have the guest pay if they want liquor. Have you considered 1 hour open bar? Would that be more cost effective?

View Quoted Comment Providing open alcohol the whole reception is just not feasible for us so we were thinking of covering cocktail hour.

View Quoted Comment We have and are! Did not consider beer and wine being cheaper.

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I have been to a couple of weddings where that is what they provided because it was more affordable and I like wine and FH likes beer so it works lol.

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the feedback!

I am doing a cash bar as well. If you feel as though you have to contribute something, talk to your vendor about tickets for each guest for a couple of free drinks then they have to cover any additional drinks. I would do that instead of only doing a specific time. That way they can space it out through the night.


My FH and I are not a huge drinkers and I absolutely cannot stand people who drink and drive so I will not contribute towards that by giving them free alcohol.
I am sure I will get a lot of negative comments and that is fine, this is my personal preference and other people have theirs.

I would just contribute whatever you can to the bar tab. Make it wine/beer only so it’ll last longer. Then when your amount is used up, it’ll become a cash bar.


We did this for our wedding because we just couldn’t afford the open bar. The venue also really screwed around with us and misled us to think certain things about the bar so it was unfortunate it had to work out that way, but it is what it is.

We put $2200 into the bar, it lasted until the last hour of the reception which was great. Then it became a cash bar.

It’s nice to provide drinks for your guest but it’s not worth going into debt over. Just pay for what you can.

Whatever you can afford is what you should contribute. I'd just have the bar keep track and after a certain consumption amount, switch the bar to a cash bar. Or pay for beer & wine, then make other alcohol available for purchase.

I love the idea of what my cousin did a few years ago. Every guest got 2 drink tickets that could be used for whatever drinks they want. After that, it was a cash bar for the alcohol, but non-alcoholic drinks were still free for guests. I think that is a fair way to provide some alcohol without the hosts (bride/groom or family) going into debt.

Ultimately, you should do what you can afford. If you can't afford to provide any alcohol to your guests, I would just make sure it is known before they come that it is a cash bar (on an FAQ if you have a website maybe), or like other have said, maybe just provide beer and wine.

We're doing beer, wine, and like 2 punch type drinks that will be pre-made (rum & coke and something else I think). Plus soda, water, and tea.

Don't let anyone guilt you over the cash bar. FH and I are saving about $2000 by doing cash bar. It's actually something both my mom and FMIL suggested when I said I was stressed over the open bar cost, so if they approve I don't care about anyone else lol. We did confirm our "cash" bar can take cards so no one has to stress over taking out the right amount of cash ahead of time. I also think I'd rather have a cash bar where they can choose anything they want rather than limiting people to beer/wine if that's not their thing.


If you have something left over to contribute, go for it with a ticket system or something like others have said. If you don't, I wouldn't stress over it.

Open beer and wine would be a good option for you! It would be more affordable.

View Quoted Comment I haven't thought about drink tickets, but it's a great idea. I'll talk to the bar and see what their policy is. Thanks for the feedback. I'm also not a huge drinker and don't feel like I need to pay other people to drink at my wedding.

View Quoted Comment May I ask how many people $2200 covered??

View Quoted Comment Did she include the tickets with invitations or hand out at reception?

View Quoted Comment We had 100 people and drinks were $10 at our venue. So it covered around 2 drinks per person.

View Quoted Comment Sorry, that i do not remember, it was quite a few year ago. I want to say it was at the reception though, maybe as we walked in? Ot even with the escort cards.

View Quoted Comment Sorry, that i do not remember, it was quite a few year ago. I want to say it was at the reception though, maybe as we walked in? Ot even with the escort cards.