Drinks/ hosted? non hosted?

@veronica, trust me, opinions are just opinions, I am just asking what other people do to get an idea, if people want to be rude they can keep their opinions to themselves...........

@Salisott and @Veronica...no. Just offer what you're offering and call it a day, don't hide behind "oh but they can buy more if they want to." It's fine to just serve beer and wine, don't offer other things for people to pay for. That's like "hey here's the buffet I can afford but there's a filet mignon station over there if you want to pay for it."

@ Emmy- that's rude! It's my opinion. People can take it or leave it but I am going to keep posting my opinion.

LMac, I took it to mean where the bride and groom can bring the alcohol, not the guests?

@Jeanne- If that was an option here I would do it. That would fly far worse than a cash bar in Wisconsin. I have no problem paying for beer/wine/soda all night- no matter how much they drink, but if the other people can't buy liquor they would freak out! They don't have stereotypes about WI for nothing!

You could just do beer and wine. You can also only do the bar for a certain amount of hours. Since you have't found your venue yet. Look for a venue that will allow you to bring in your own alcohol. I had a venue that allow me to do so. I paid around $2000 for a full open bar for 100 people. That price also include a milkshake bar.

I'm sorry you think it is rude, but I don't think you should be giving bad advice.

Posting to a forum then saying we can keep rude comments to ourselves?

Like there is no filter here. You don't select that before starting a discussion.

When creating a discussion you can't click a box that says "check here to make sure no one is rude and disagrees with me."

Lol @Salisott probably 60 percent of the weddings I've been to in my life have been in Wisconsin, that is definitely an option anywhere. Don't blame poor choices on a made up "stereotype."

I think when NowAMrsSept said BYOB, she meant that they could BYOB for their guests, so they weren't paying the venue.

Cash bars are rude. The people telling you that aren't rude just because they're saying something you don't want to hear.

Yay Emmy is out to play

No! Guests shouldn't feel like they have to open their wallets to upgrade their experience. Just offer beer and wine and some non-alcoholic options if you can't afford the full bar.

Oh I'm ok with people having their own opinion. But to tell me to stop posting is rude.

We had a open full bar from cocktail hr and on. We budgeted for it and it was about $26 per person (varies by state and location I know). We did a consumption bar, so what was not consumed was returned to us because we had to pay in advance. We received $140 back.

I like the option of beer or wine only for your case as you stated you didn't want the full open hosted bar. In my opinion (as with a lot of people on here), either host them properly or not at all.

Have a dry wedding or have an option that isn't a cash bar or tickets in order for your guests to be able to drink.

OP said she like the beer and wine option. It seems like she is taking advice. Lets not scare her away and make her team cash bar for life.

@Jeanne- fair, but I stand by knowing my family. Where everyone else on here gets heated about full on cash bars, my family would flip if the only options for them were beer/wine/soda. This is standard for 20 or so wedding's I've been to in WI.

Now, this is one of the reasons I'm looking at a venue that allows me to bring in my own booze. If we go with that venue we will have old fashioneds for people to drink.

I'm on board with having to supply your guests with free drinks all night. We just do things a little differently here I guess.

I don't think we are even going to bother with alcohol. Our venue won't allow us to bring our own alcohol, we have to go through their selected companies and bartender and they charge so much. Sorry but I really don't think it's that important.

OK, to answer OPs questions: yes, it is tacky to have drink tickets. You have a few options to keep your costs low, while still hosting your guests properly. Cutting your guest list will have the biggest impact to your budget. Another option would be to change the time of day for your reception and/or to make it a shorter event. And of course, as others have suggested, limit the offerings to beer and wine only, as these are the most economical. If you find a venue that lets you bring in your own alcohol (instead of having it supplied by the venue), this is another way to cut costs since its relatively inexpensive to buy a keg or two of beer and some cases of wine.

OP, we are pre-purchasing beer, wine, and a pre-mixed signature cocktail from our reception venue to be served by a bartender. I would encourage you to hire a bartender because otherwise you could be liable for any underage drinkers or DUIs. Getting sued after your wedding would suck. Consumption bars or fully open bars are extremely expensive, but buying in bulk is much more reasonable. If you find a place that lets you bring your own booze, it'll be even less expensive. I've heard of ladies on here with leftover alcohol for 100 people who spend less than $1000. Sometimes the liquor store will even let you return leftovers.

@LMac and @Michelle, I also took BYOB to be the hosts can bring alcohol purchased elsewhere.

@FinallyMrsGee How many people were at your wedding, and were there a lot of heavy drinkers?? Our bar is going to be the same as yours, prices by consumption, and I'm so nervous about getting the final bill and it being way more than our deposit... We're required to put in a $20 pp deposit which covers 3-4 drinks.