Closing the bar during dinner

Is your dinner plated or buffet? My fear would be someone would sit down from cocktail hour, finish their drink, obviously want a drink with dinner & go up to the bar only to be turned away. I've never seen a bar close during dinner, especially buffet dinners since people are always up and walking around and mingling.

I have never heard of that nor would I ever consider doing that.

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Oh that's interesting. I don't think we're going to do this, I just saw an article on how it's done sometimes and I was wondering if closing it during the meal is a standard thing that's done that I somehow missed haha

I’ve been to weddings when the bar is closed after the cocktail hour for the entrance, introductions, & toasts - I never paid attention to when the bar opened up again. Usually there is an announcement that the cocktail bar is closing & if anyone needs a drink they will grab it then. Then there’s the introductions, toast(s), etc.

I have heard of this but only if you still offer wine during the dinner (usually a few bottles are already on the table). The reason people do this is because usually the open bar package is only for a certain number of hours. Mine was and my venue actually suggested I do this. I chose to turn that hour and half (dinner time) into a consumption bar so I only paid for drinks at the bar that my guests actually ordered during dinner. No one knew the difference except me. So I had an open bar package plus a consumption bar package with tableside wine during dinner.

ETA: We had "white glove service" so none of our guests had to get up for anything if they didn't want to. Instead, the servers brought the guests their drinks to them at their tables so there was no disturbance of guests getting up during toasts or anything like that.

I have no idea and I do not want our bar to close at all lol. Thankfully, it will not.

Some of the venues I looked at offered to close the bar during dinner to save money on the bar cost, usually saved about $5 per person. Other caterers who do the bar as well will have to close the bar during dinner because the bartenders are also the servers. I was at a wedding that closed the bar during dinner and not many people noticed. I think they made an announcement that the bar was closing during dinner so that people could get a fresh drink beforehand.

We are closing our for dinner for two reasons. One being our cocktail hour and reception total 6 hrs and our open bar (or any other bar package) is only for 5 hrs. So instead of cutting people off an hour early we decided to close it during dinner, since there will be water and champagne. Two because I really don't want to be distracted during entrances, first dances and speeches with people walking up to the bar to get drinks.

I’ve seen it done at a wedding with seated dinner & it was executed seamlessly. I actually prefer people not walking around to the bar to get a drink during dinner, especially if you’re doing toasts, speeches, dances etc.

If budget is not an issue, I would offer wine with dinner, which waiters can pour. Choice of one white & one red is nice.
If budget is an issue, eating a good meal without alcohol is 100% acceptable, especially since you have alcohol before & after dinner.

View Quoted Comment Oh that makes a lot of sense actually not wanting people to be distracted or getting up during speeches! That’s a good point. I had never even realized this was a thing before haha so nice to hear the reasons for it!

We will be keeping the bar open all night. We are having a buffet and want everyone to be comfortable. I guess if wine was served with the meal it would be okay to close the bar at a super formal reception but we are doing casual and don't care if people get up during dinner to go to the bar.

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Yeah. I wasn't going to do it, but we decided for a longer reception so we decided to close it during dinner. We will have the DJ make an announcement before we do entrances so people who don't know/forget the bar is closing for dinner have time to grab a drink. I've been to one wedding where they did this and the bride and groom never told us nor was it ever announced so my FH was upset lol. I feel like as long as people know and it is announced it wont be a big deal.

I have seen it closed during dinner before. Usually the dj will make an announcement “bar will be closing in 10 minutes for dinner” and then people will usually go get a new drink then and after dinner it will be open again.

Every wedding I've attended (Chicago area bride here, btw) this has been pretty standard - at least at venues that include the bar as part of their package. Now, what happens when people supply their own, I don't know. But I know for most weddings I have attended, the bar is open for cocktail hour and the first, say, 30 minutes of when the actual reception room opens up. Once the guests are asked to be seated for dinner, the bar closes down. Generally everyone has their drink from the bar for dinner and/or there is wine at all of the tables. Once dinner is over and the dance floor opens back up, the bar is open once again. So I guess once again it's a "depends where you're from" thing, but in all-inclusive type venues around Chicago (which most venues tend to be) it's pretty standard procedure!

Yea I have never heard of it, and I would not ever do that

I don’t think this is particularly common.
I’d say I’ve made seen it at 1 out of 20 weddings, and at people weren’t thrilled (it clearly wasn’t expected by the masses).

ive been at fancy events that have done this, as they didn’t want people walking around in the way of service, but they still had waitstaff taking and delivering tableside drink orders

We have a full open bar but it will be closed for dinner and we will have wine served. Like Melissa above, I am also a Chicago bride and my venue AND planner said that this is what people do.

For daughter's wedding, there was a full open bar for cocktail hour (on a patio separate from the reception space), then guests were asked to move to the reception space, where champagne had just been poured and wine was served as guests were seated; the wedding party was announced and the first dance happened, after which FOB gave a brief welcome toast. The bar then opened in the reception space as salads were served (so, the bar was technically closed for about 30 minutes, but it was when there was a lot of stuff going on and both wine and champagne were available to all guests). The bar then remained open the rest of the night. I guess we could have paid to have the bar open for those 30-minutes as well, but the venue coordinator encouraged us not to because there is so much movement during that 30 minutes. She said not many people would get up in the middle of the first dance and toast to get a drink, and those that would would create a distraction. It worked fine for us. We wouldn't have wanted the bar closed for all of dinner though, as many guests preferred to drink something other than wine with their meal.

I feel like thats a strange thing to do, and on the contrary I'd much rather have it open during dinner while people are also eating. I'm planning on closing the bar at 7:15-7:30 since our exit is at about 7:45-8, that way guests aren't grabbing a drink right before they head out. We will also have the bar open during cocktail hour so it will be open 4pm-7:15 or 7:30 and I feel like that is long enough

I have been to A LOT of weddings that had a closed bar during dinner. My venue is inclusive and we will have to close our bar for an hour worth of time or pay for an extra hour. However, our venue is flexible and said we could do a half hour extra instead. My coordinator said they usually close the bar for a half hour during dinner and a half hour at the end of the night. It would be an extra 8 dollars per person for an hour of added bar time. I don't anticipate a portion of our guests to stay late or drink a lot. So I'm not sure if I can justify it. Maybe we will add an extra half hour for 4 dollars. No set plans yet lol.