Cash bar?

Our venue charges $30.00pp for wine and soda. I opted for a red sangria bowl at $125.00. Im giving pink sparkling wine as favors that cost me $3.79 each. Venue is ok with that IF no one opens the little bottles at reception. Here they are!

My family is full of alcoholics. My uncle died of live failure because of his alcoholism. Guess who is having an open bar? WE ARE. Why? Because adults are adults and we have licensed bartenders to stop people if need be.

Cash bar = You're a poor host. Stop making excuses. Fuck

ETA: we have 12 people coming that are under the age of 21. Again. Not an excuse

@Jordan. How do you have a cash bar with kegs? Generally YOU pay for the kegs to be ordered and you have a bartender fee which = open bar. Why would you order the kegs and then have a bartender charge per glass? If the venue paid for the keg then that kinda (still honestly doesn't) make sense. If I were a guest at a wedding that had a cash bar for kegs, I would honestly think of how tacky it was. In addition, we are having 2 kegs, 2 cases of wine (24 bottles each) and paying a $50 bartender fee, but we paid for it all which states open bar for our guest and making sure they are properly hosted.

ETA grammer, words.

Yes and it's also rude. I've never tried alcohol ever in my whole life and I was also 10 weeks pregnant at my wedding. We still had an open bar.

Honestly, I don't think they're tacky. I think a cash bar is totally fine, as long as SOMETHING is provided. Normally I see beer and wine hosted. We are doing a cash bar, but we are also hosting beer (we just don't have many wine drinkers). Open bars can be expensive. With our venue the open bar was going to be another $9,000. Each venue is different and I think another $9k on top of what I'm already paying is ridiculous for alcohol.

Most weddings I have been to have been a cash bar with beer/wine hosted, I don't like beer or wine so I always end up buying something else and have never been upset about it.

If you're hosting a party you should provide something. I only had beer and wine and champagne.

@OP I agree that a consumption bar might be your best route. It's a know your crowd vs economics situation. For my group it's more cost effective to just have a hosted full bar. We have about half of our group that are heavy drinkers & the other half either don't drink or will only have one or two over the course of the evening. But based on the consumption vs hosted price at my venue (estimates came out about the same), we figured we'd rather be safe, fully host, and spend the fixed amount than risk people drinking more than we estimated. However if your group are light drinkers or you don't have a lot of drinkers in attendance it might not make sense to spend a fixed rate. There are companies that will provide you alcohol & only charge you for what's opened + bartender/set up/delivery. Or I saw that your venue doesn't include anything- Costco will usually allow you to return unopened bottles of wine & your caterer would be able to recommend a staffing agency for a bartender.

Well, I'm happy to see that pretty much EVERY single bogus reason for a cash bar has been used as a rational. I'm thrilled I could gather them all in one place.

Because that's what they are. Bogus. It all comes down to money. To treating your guests poorly by using one of the reasons (or some of your guests) as a smoke screen.

Your alcoholics (whether they are or whether you have decided they are) will drink, whether you provide it or not. Your friends who won't tell you to your face that it's disappointing. And hopefully, your kids won't be served, whether they have cash or not.

Sure then I'm disgusting. Like I said, idc what everyone on here thinks about me or my family :-)

This was a mutual decision between me, my FH, and my whole family.

And if you read it all, you would have seen that there is a keg being provided and after that or for hard alcohol they pay. The family members I spoke of won't bring cash to the wedding or credit cards (which my venue doesn't accept).

Maybe, just maybe, some people CARE about their family and not what your opinions on here are :-)

People really need to start using the search engine on this forum. There have been at least 100 threads on this topic since I joined a few months ago. Yes, it's tacky and rude to guests.

Personally, I'm not having alcohol. We do not drink and it's our wedding and about us. If an invited guest is not happy with our decision, they don't have to attend. It's about celebrating us coming together. We will have, juice, soda & water.

The search engine doesn't work on mobile

Rhoyal Diamond, your wedding isn't about you once you've invited guests. Then it's important to provide for their needs. Otherwise you're hosting poorly.

We are doing a token system where each guest gets 2 drinks be it soda or alcohol( water,tea and coffee are free) then it's cash bar that they can use at their discretion. It's not tacky, it's your wedding. You could also offer a signature drink that guests are welcome to have and then a cash bar as another option. Best of luck!

OMG, Maranda. No. No tokens or tickets. You don't want your wedding to look like the local beer garden. And also after two sodas your guests have to pay for more? Hard no. That's a really rude plan!

Oh god...tokens? For SODA TOO?

That is crazy. When was the last time YOU stayed at a party for four hours and had two beverages??

If you can't afford even the most basic bar and soda, you can't afford your wedding. It's just that simple.

This thread is flat out depressing.

OMG Maranda. Why don't you just friggin charge for water?? It's YOUR wedding after all. Make a profit! Two tokens for soda. Talk about CHEAP. Unreal.

I don't think is tacky specially is most of your guest don't drink. We thought about it but our venue does not have that option.

Oh well at least water is free...

Yes. Tacky. A cost effective selection would be just beer and wine.