Drinks budget

View Quoted Comment Yeah we’d defnitely make sure whatever we decide is listed on our details card! And I would hope that my guests wouldn’t leave because they’d rather drink a lot in the middle of the day than be at our wedding!

Definitely not #2. If you do that and people find out that's how it's going to work they will be ordering fast to try to get their drinks in while it's still free for them. I could see #1 going that way as well. People will drink as much as possible if it goes from free to cash bar. They will be trashed by the time the reception starts.

View Quoted Comment Yeah we already aren’t doing any of those things lol. No favors or photobooth, no videographer, no florist (I’m making my own bouquet), and we’re using the linens and chairs that come with the venue.

The food at our venue is a little pricey because myself and many of my family members have food allergies so we needed a place that could accommodate that. And we’re inviting 100 people and really didn’t want to cut our guest list because we felt like having the people who are important to us is our #1 priority. So that’s where most of our budget is going.

The event coordinator at our venue said drink tickets would be tacky too so I don’t think we’ll do that

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Genevieve, people won't leave because the drink well ran dry, they may leave because they have plans, they only allotted so much time, one may have to work, you never know. Some people, like, me will attend, drink Sprite Zero and leave because she has plans with friends later. Don't read to much into it. My husband would leave as he would rather come home and drink (in moderation) on the deck then head to bed. We would never sit and suck down a bunch of drinks just because they are free, most people don't, and please don't punish us who are respectful of these social norms.

And please no cash bar, lol.

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I actually agree here that if you feel like you want to avoid cash bar and its important to you and your fiance (it's not for some people), cut costs from somewhere else. If venue charges extra for lighting or some additional services - save there and put it towards the booze. My cousin did that - her venue which was beautiful on its own wanted extra $1200 for lighting and she told them to go away

View Quoted Comment No of course we wouldn’t be offended if people left early, I was just saying I would hope the bar being limited/closed wouldn’t be the deciding factor in that. Especially since the wedding is on a Sunday, and the reception ends at 6pm so if people really want to go home to drink they’ll still have all evening for it lol. I do understand that people will still leave early I was just saying I would be offended if the reason for that was the amount of alcohol we provide

View Quoted Comment I agree with that but we literally have no extra charges. I mentioned in my previous comment we are not having a florist, wedding favors, a photobooth, a videographer, my brother is officiating so we’re not paying for an officiant, my friend is doing photography for 1k, we’re playing music from an iPod that FH’s best man will be monitoring to make sure the music is appropriate for the moment, my dress was only $550. The majority of our budget is going towards our venue/catering. It’s $77 per head and we’re having 100 people. But good food and having the people we care about was our #1 priority

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Haha that's awesome! we will be doing the same thing actually - it's our 5th year anniversary/vow renewal/wedding (we never had one) and we decided to keep it very simple and will be doing ipad dj, photographer friend, and a good friend officiating

Sorry i didnt read your earlier post about this!

Well, I'd have some extra cash stashed for this purpose. You will likely get cash/check gifts at the wedding - which could pay for the bar if you have to pay extra. So even if you dont save for it, you could put it on the card if venue allows and pay it off immediately with the wedding gift money.

As a guest, I'd be happiest with the consumption bar. I'd just bring a sign for the bartender to put out with prices, so they can put it out when it becomes a cash bar so people know! Another option would be just beer & wine for the whole time if you can afford it?

View Quoted Comment That’s definitely true, good call! Hopefully it won’t be an issue. Watch I’ll be stressing about this for a year and then the bar will only hit like $500 hahha.

The 5 year thing sounds so nice! I have a friend who’s going to do that actually. She’s getting married in October since she and her FH have been together since the first week of college and he’s in grad school now, they have to be legally married in order for her to be allowed to live in his school apartment this year. They were going to wait till they could afford the wedding they wanted but they don’t want to wait 5 years to be able to live together lol so they’re having a small ceremony and reception in a restaurant with about 20 people in October, then a vow renewal in 5 years.

I definitely feel like so many of the extra things can be cut. At least for me, I am such a simple person I don’t feel the need for all the little extravagances at my wedding! Of course I understand why people do it if they have the money for it, but it’s just not necessary to me. I’d rather have all the people I care about and feed them well than have fewer people and more extra “stuff.” Will definitely regret not inviting people I care about... sincerely doubt I will regret not having a photobooth or wedding favors, so we had to prioritize!

View Quoted Comment Yeah I was thinking of putting out a sign to begin with letting them know we have a “limited open bar” and that it will run out at some point. Hoping most people will respect that and not abuse the privilege and get drunk while it’s still open. Knowing my guests I feel like most will be respectful.

Just do 2000 then cash bar after it runs out. If people are only there to get trashed they aren’t there for the right reason. Weddings are expensive enough without having a responsibility to get everyone trashed and hoping they all drive responsibly. Enjoy YOUR WEDDING DAY! It’s yours no ones else’s. People who love you are there to watch you and you fh commit to a life of love and happiness.

Host an open bar for the entire event. Even if its just beer, wine and signature drinks.

Ditch the champagne.

Shorten cocktail hour down to 45 minutes.

Close the bar while the meal is being served.

Also have the bar close an hour before the reception ends.

With all that in place, you should be fine. If you go over have an emergency fund ready to pull from and cover the additional expense.

View Quoted Comment Thank you I appreciate that hahaha. Honestly if people are there to get trashed at my Sunday afternoon lunch reception then I hope they leave early? Lol. Our wedding is also in an Inn so there are 20 guest rooms right upstairs that we have blocked out for our guests. We’re also going to do a room block at a hotel that is about 5-10 mins away and there’s a free shuttle back and forth for that hotel and our Inn so I’m going to encourage people to book rooms!

No cash bar.

How many guests are are you having? I think for brunch/lunch just champagne (or a champagne bar to make mismoas) would be fine. If you don’t have a lot of guests a fun coffee bar for lattes, cappuccinos, etc would be nice but since cost is a concern as long as you offer coffee, you’re fine!

View Quoted Comment The only thing is with stuff like closing the bar early, I feel like I don’t want to prevent people from buying drinks if they want to? Like say we hit our 2k limit an hour before it ends, and there’s are some people who want another drink and wouldn’t mind buying it for themselves, it seems unnecessary to actually close the bar, why should I prevent them from using the service that exists at the venue if they don’t mind paying for it, you know?

View Quoted Comment The venue includes coffee and tea with the cost of catering so we’re good on that! We have 100 guests. And the venue does mimosas and charges it the same as “champagne”

I take it the venue won't let you bring in your own alcohol and just have a "corking" fee? Have you spoken at length with how the venue normally handles this sort of thing? Almost all couples have a budget, so the venue should be used to working within various budgets.

View Quoted Comment Yeah I have asked them about that but their corking fee is $20 per bottle of wine, and THEIR wine is $30 per bottle. So they deliberately do that so that you’ll use their wine, which is super annoying.

The event coordinator at the venue said most people in this situation would do option #2 that I listed in OP (consumption bar with a cap, and then it becomes an open bar after that) I’m just afraid of it hitting the cap too quickly and wondering if there’s another solution (such as just serving champagne) that would allow us to serve drinks the whole time while staying under budget since people would drink less if it was just limited to champagne. But then as pps have said, not everyone likes champagne, so that’s an issue too :/
I wish I could just take people’s drink orders on our reply cards and then have a drink or 2 for them prepped already to ensure everyone gets something they like on us 😂 but obviously that’s tacky and way too complicated lol

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Sounds beautiful and very accommodating. And yes you are absolutely correct you would want them to leave early. lol I'm doing a shuttle to a hotel that is a stones throw to the venue. I'm also doing both a 2500 open bar (beer and wine) then cash bar after that. I do not feel bad at all and do not let anyone else make you feel bad for spending 2000 dollars on drinks!! It's horrible that people think like that. Totally in it for the wrong reasons. I have been to a couple of weddings where it was byob and also open bar the entire time then there was open bar till a certain amount was used and not once did I hear someone say OMG they didn't pay for me to get trashed I only got two drinks. urgh.... lol They may leave there and say it to someone else but only because it's in poor taste. Even if you had a dry wedding it's not fair for people to think you have to buy them things in order for them to come and see your very special day that's an honor by the way to even be invited to. If you left them cold and hungry for six hours I see a problem. lol but not alcohol deprived.