Dry Reception Ideas?

Definitely let your guests know ahead of time. The vast majority of weddings serve alcohol, so unless all of your friends and family know that there won't be alcohol served, they'll likely assume it will. Also, if you have guests who do enjoy drinking in social settings, be aware that they may bring outside alcohol into the wedding in the form of flasks (I've done this before at dry weddings, with the couple both knowing and not knowing). Figure out if this is going to be a problem for you or not early in the process.

Fun mocktails arent that fun.

My friend is having a dry wedding because of her parents. I plan on sneaking a little something in.

May I ask what time of the day is your wedding? As you may know, dry weddings create a completely different atmosphere.....which you may be going for. Coffee bars can be fun along with mock drinks.

I personally don't have an issue with either type of wedding and don't understand peoples inability to enjoy themselves without alcohol.....rather sad, but it is the society we live in.

Double post

Definitely let everyone know be it word of mouth or on your website. Like Joe said, some of your guests may bring their own, so speak with your vendor about how/if it will affect you and if you will need to let your guests know.

We are planning a 7:15 pm evening sunset wedding with a heavy appetizers and cake reception to follow in August. Everyone who is invited will probably be expecting the dry reception and be okay with it...now if I didn't have music that would be a problem lol

Welcome to weddingwire! OP - typically I would giving the side-eye attending an evening wedding without a dinner and/or drinks. If it were mid to late afternoon, I would probably give a pass; but, ultimately, you know your guests. I think you are on the right path with mocktails, coffee bar, etc. Be sure that you have plenty to entertain your guests.

I think it sounds great. I'd go with several different mocktails, maybe give them fun names and have the usual soda and water, coffee, tea.

I second what OriginalKD said, and would also like to suggest something fun like a variety of infused waters.

I love bars at weddings so I would be a bit bummed, so I might like something fun to replace it. I also don't know if I would want coffee that late in the evening. Looks like your wedding is in August. What about something like snow cones if it's still hot in your area in August?

I think that the mocktail idea is great! I don't necessarily think you need to let guests know ahead of time that your wedding will be dry - I recently attended a wedding for my FH's cousin and there was no alcohol, and I don't think anyone even noticed. A lot of people emphasize the importance of alcohol at weddings, but ultimately, you know your guests better than anyone else. We're not providing alcohol beyond a champagne toast at ours, and we know that our guest list will be perfectly fine with that. Just make sure there's a non-alcohol something for everyone - like mocktails, or coffee, or even just different flavors of lemonade.

Good luck! You know your family and friends better than we do and obviously the reaction depends a lot on the guests involved. If your social circle is one in which very few social events involve drinking, I suspect no one will give a dry reception a second thought. However, if you have friends and family who drink socially, a dry reception might invite some grumbles and raised eyebrows. If you do get a lot of pushback from potential guests, you may want to schedule the wedding for a time when people won't expect alcohol (e.g., a morning wedding followed by a brunch or lunch reception). Also, be prepared for those guests who do drink socially to not stay as long as other guests - not saying whether it's right or wrong, but it will likely happen.

If your guest already don't expect alcohol then why point it out? If your doing a website I would put it on there. I never look on a wedding invitation to see if they are serving alcohol or not because it isn't that important to me. I would mention that it is appetizer and cake reception only so they know not to expect a full meal but your time is late enough to that. Baristas are fun and many have the option to add fruit smoothies. Old time soda fountain drink setups are fun if they offer that in your area. Just google drink catering for your area and see what pops up. My wedding is also dry, on a Sunday at 1:00pm, and I am also doing appetizers and desserts. My caterer is offering lemonade, tea sweet and unsweetened, coffee, pop, and water. If your using a caterer see what they offer before contracting separate because it could cost more or it could save you money. You have the time to do some shopping around. Good Luck!!!!!!

I would have a daytime wedding. Maybe a Sunday afternoon. For some reason I feel people aren't as interested in drinking on Sundays lol.

I think your issue won't be with a dry wedding or how to go about it - it's that you should feed your guests a meal at dinnertime.

There will be food....not gourmet steak and lobster, but my guests won't be hungry for sure.

Maybe just mention it on your wedding website. It sounds like you know your guests and they wouldn't be expecting a full bar anyway. While we had beer and wine, we had many guest (including ourselves) that don't drink. We had sodas, infused waters, and a coffee bar that was a big hit.

I really would consider switching to an afternoon wedding between lunch and dinner. The lack of alcohol and heavy appetizers would make more sense. However, cocktail style evening weddings are done. I researched it a lot when planning my wedding. I decided to make sitting down for a meal work into my budget since I am not as comfortable at social events where I have to balance a plate and a drink in my hands and there aren't enough seats. You don't have to put on your invitations that it is a dry wedding or anything. Word of mouth should be fine.

We're doing a dry reception with just a champagne toast due to costs (up to $22 per person for 100 people, that's almost twice as much as it costs us to rent the venue). It will be mentioned by word of mouth if someone asks, but I don't think our guests are really expecting a bar. We do plan on having a sparkling punch during the cocktail hour, tea, lemonade and water during dinner. Our wedding is early enough that the guests can go out and enjoy the New Years Eve festivities in town after the reception and buy their own drinks.