Do I NEED alcohol my wedding?

OP, I'm doing beer and wine only. Because I mentioned earlier that a lot of our guests don't drink, I know the hard stuff would go to waste. Your crowd, however, could be different than mine.

If your guests don't drink that much, a consumption bar (that you pay for) shouldn't be too much of an extra cost. If it's just beer and wine, that would be a little cheaper than if you offer hard liquor as well.

Beer and wine is perfect!

Okay so the venue offers beer & wine, and organic margaritas ($150 for 20 glasses) & organic sangria ($120 for 20 glasses). Should we offer all of the above unlimited? Or beer & wine unlimited, and a set number or number per person margaritas & sangria?

I always use this as an example of why non drinkers should still have free alcohol. I'm a vegetarian. It would probably be much cheaper to only offer vegetarian entrees because "I don't eat meat and fiancé can do without it and people are coming to celebrate US, not have a steak, right?" I feel like that sounds ridiculous and of course we are offering 3 different meat entrees along with a vegetarian one because, lets face it, most guests do prefer meat. Does that help put it into perspective?

Do what your budget allows you to do or feel comfortable. Beer/Wine only is perfectly fine. If you like to add a bit more, you can just add 1 signature drink if you like on top. No need to add both if you don't want to.

Glad you are open to this, your guests will have much more fun as well.

Oh and as others say go with consumption bar and not open bar. Just means you pay for what is ordered and not per head cost. We did consumption and saved a TON of money since we did not have big drinkers.

I think beer and wine is all you really need if you're watching your budget. I've been to amazing weddings with only beer and wine and been totally happy!!

I'm having a small budget wedding and my venue doesn't permit alcohol, that was awesome for me since I've always wanted a dry wedding.

We are only having around 70 guests. The venue is a New Mexican restaurant. I like it because it's very rustic & charming, with a lot of history. I added some pictures so you could get an idea of the "feel". Now that I think about it, maybe my out of town guest might want to try the famous "authentic" margaritas. So beer & wine, plus margaritas as signature drink? Or sangria too?

Wow thank you for all of the comments!!

Oh given ur venue margaritas for the win!!! Sounds great!

This is what the venue information packet says regarding alcohol choices:

We offer the following bar service:

Cash bar - each guest is responsible for his or her own alcoholic beverages served cocktail style

Open bar- unlimited, served cocktail style with an itemized ticket at the end of the event

Limited bar- where the beverages are pre-selected and set up on a private bar for your party

There is a bar setup fee of $75.00

Should I do open or limited?

I'm doing free beer and wine. Can you bring your own alcohol to your venue? That was a lot cheaper when we looked into it and some places let you take back anything that was unopened.

Thanks!

And OliviaP- I had my date set as a Monday, until I looked at enough forums (lol) to realize that that might be too difficult for people. I really wanted it on that day because my fiancé asked me to be his girlfriend on 6/4/2010, and proposed on 6/4/2015, so I though it would be cute to stick with the 6/4 theme. I really don't want to inconvenience people if I can help it, even if it will be a bummer to choose a different day.

Lindsey- Unfortunately, we can't bring our own alcohol. I guess I'll just pray what they have isn't too expensive, lol.

Ugh don't be that person

Yes, you need to have alcohol.

No, you cannot do drink tokens. No cash or limited. Open bar.

@LuckyAK If someone is a vegetarian, I would not expect them to provide meat. That would be silly. No one is going to die because they don't have meat at one meal (note, I didn't say protein). Many carnivores are choosing to have some meatless meals at home these days.

No. You don't need to serve alcohol. If you want to serve alcohol you can. But it is not mandatory.

Sounds like Limited Bar is your best bet. Just choose the wine and beer and margaritas that get served and just oay at the end. Should be much cheaper than open bar option because you can control proce point of drinks. So instead of someone bein able to order a $15 glass of wine you can limit it to $10 etc.