Dry Wedding

@Swin Yours is one of the few instances in which a dry wedding is totally appropriate- it's a religious belief, not a case of poor hosting or an assumption that grown adults can't handle their alcohol (e.g., "I hate drunk people so I'm not paying for our guests to booze up and ruin my special day!").

Definitely not using a cash bar. This is just open in the air. I was originally planning for alcohol, but the dry option was brought to my attention.

Yeah, I totally get that!

And I think that's something that anyone who is having a dry wedding needs to realize: It will NOT be this extravagant all night dance party. It will be short. And very very "somber". If that's what they dream of when they think of a party then...

The only wedding I have ever not enjoyed was a dry wedding. However, there were so many things wrong with that wedding that it is hard to say if that was merely the straw that broke the camel's back or not. I went out to the closest place serving alcohol after it was over and got a giant drink (and dinner, the food was vegan and prepared by the bride and groom and terrible...there are so many layers to how this was the worst wedding ever).

I'm going to answer your question even though this thread is going to end up being trash.

I have been to 3 dry weddings. All 3 where christian. 1st one was at a church and then they had an after party at the house where alcohol was served and the after party went till 3 am. The church ceremony was at 11 and the reception at the church ended at 7. Yes people stayed that long at the reception, during the day, without alcohol. There was a good dj and most of the guests don't drink.

2nd one had a church ceremony and then the reception was at a separate hall. Ceremony was at 2. reception started at 4 ended and 8. This was still my favorite wedding despite the lack of alcohol.

3rd wedding ceremony started at 1 and the reception ended at 5. No alcohol, no d.j, no music.

Also, for the last part of your post, tips on providing alcohol would be to do a limited bar instead (beer and wine), see about bringing in your own alcohol, maybe a second job for extra cash. I will add that if you typically drink and/or your guests typically do, you should probably provide alcohol. DH and I served alcohol because it would've been weird to be like "Hey, I know we like to drink at parties together, but I'm too cheap to provide it for you. Come celebrate though!"

Thanks @Dora and @Mrs.F. Also, does Sam's Club have a liquor section where I can buy in bulk? I'm not a Sam's Club member, but I was wondering where we could get a great deal for beer and wine.

I'd check online for that. Sam's had similar deals to Costco for me. I find Costco is a great place to buy alcohol. But for my wedding I found deals at other stores too, Total Wine, Bevmo, etc.

I'm from Utah. I've never been to a wedding with alcohol. People show up, eat and leave. If you want partying, dancing, and a send-off you need to lubricate your guests.

I have to go to one this weekend ugh!

Helpful tip: Cut your guest list to the point where you can afford to offer adults with which you are celebrating a nice drink. Even if its only beer and wine, that is a great compromise.

The only exceptions to this are if the couple are recovering alcoholics or religion prohibits alcohol.

End of story.

My friend had a dry wedding. The weird thing was, both she and her DH drink but his parents didn't want alcohol for religious reasons so they gave in to them. They had it during the day and it was over by 5. Unfortunately, hardly anyone danced and also lots of guests brought flasks and were pouring drinks under the tables... it was sooo not classy

Okay, so from reading all of these posts I'm not going to do a dry wedding. I want it to be a party atmosphere, and don't want guests to leave.

Dry weddings are typically, ok always, looked down on. If you are having a dinner reception, you should really try to swing beer and wine. I would think you could more affordably avoid the dry wedding also by doing a lunch or brunch reception. For brunch you could offer mimosas and for lunch, people would drink lighter so maybe you could provide your own alcohol or leave the selections very limited.

I think that people will but slightly upset. They are paying to come to your wedding, buying you a present (well most of the time) so I think the best way is to provide alcohol for them.

I seriously considered two venues. One didn't allow alcohol. That was one of the main reasons we chose the other venue over it. Both our parents & several guests are non drinkers but we drink & so do our friends so...alcohol it is!

I went to a dry wedding once. They were christian, they were young and they were on such a tight budget that they ran out of food! I was only about 19-20 years old myself so at the time, I didn't care but if I were to attend a dry wedding now---We'd leave as soon as dinner was over. Do we need alcohol to have a good time? No. But we need alcohol to have an OK time at a wedding

If you're on a tight budget, have a brunch wedding and offer mimosas and blood mary's. Not everyone will drink either, but at least you offered something and a brunch wedding will help you save your pennies.

Adding to my opinion.....

Honestly? The best reason to go to a wedding is knowing you can have a free drink or two or five But this is coming from someone who just had 2 beers, a glass of wine and TALL white russian on a Monday night.

Yup.

Cheers.

My family and FHs family are very religious, I don't usually drink (occasional glass of wine), and FH is in recovery, but we are still having an open bar at our wedding because that is how you properly host guests. Offer beer, wine, and maybe a signature drink. Buy in bulk, and I think some places have a buy back option for unopened bottles? Unsure about that, but worth looking in to. Do NOT do a dry wedding

We've budgeted that beer and wine for about 75 people would cost us around $500… you should really try to make at least beer and wine happen