Dry Wedding?

The only dry wedding I've been to was a Baptist one so there was no dancing either.
I went home shortly after dinner.

I went to a dry wedding and I have to be honest it wasn’t that fun. Of course I was happy to support my friend and I stayed as long as I could stand it. Most people left early. Of course you should be able to have fun without alcohol but it’s just not the same. It’s like a really long dinner. I totally understand your reasons and respect that. But definitely something to think about.

I would just make sure people know it's a dry wedding. I had a friend get married with a reception during a football game - and no booze. The only tv was in the bar area- but it was closed. Huge bummer and a lot of people who weren't expecting that went home early.

I've never been to a dry wedding but I'd assume it'd be a different kind of event. I'd just plan on having a nice dinner and people probably heading home after.

My friend just went to a dry wedding. She left the reception, went home to get booze, then people went out to the parking lot to get shots and fill up water bottles with alcohol.

We are doing this. For basically the same reasons in addition to that our venue has a pretty strict damage deposit stipulations. However we have been considering changing our minds due to the fact that regardless of our opinions others do drink. We are on the fence though.

Yeah...we already assumed some of our people would bring their own, and that doesn't bother me at all. Hahaha.

View Quoted Comment Glad I'm not the only one! I know it's extremely atypical, and I have a feeling most of our friends will being their own, which I don't really mind. I think it would just create unnecessary tension within my family if we were providing it ourselves.

View Quoted Comment The reason I am on the fence is that if they are truly there for us to celebrate with us they should not need it. I’m going to a dry wedding in may and that will sway my decision. My parents are very very strong on the aspect of not drinking. I drink but not often. It’s hard to make a final call on it.

Yeah, it sounds like we have very, very situations. Good luck in your final decision!

I would just say if you’re not providing alcohol, don’t bother spending money on a DJ. I actually fell in love with my FH at a dry wedding and that’s the only reason I can’t say it was the worst wedding I’ve ever been to. No one felt comfortable dancing which is usually my favorite part of weddings, and the whole reception was just awkward and boring. Don’t get me wrong, you should do what’s best for you; just understand that many people will probably leave after dinner unless you have other fun activities planned besides dancing.

We are doing a dry wedding as well. To have alcohol we'd have to hire a bartender to serve any alcohol at all as well as buy the alcohol. It's not in my budget for one and a lot of my family (majority of guests) aren't drinkers. I did speak with our venue and they told me if others want to bring their own that's on them. As long as WE aren't serving/providing we (and the venue) are covered.

That makes sense! That's how my FH and I feel. We aren't gonna like kick people out for bringing their own, but we aren't gonna provide it. And it frees up so much of budget for stuff we actually care about! We wouldn't have been able to afford the venue of my dreams if it we were serving alcohol.

View Quoted Comment Having a BYO alcohol wedding is quite different in my eyes than a dry wedding. The one I went to didn’t allow alcohol in the building or on the grounds at all. If I’d been able to bring my own that would’ve been perfectly fine! In fact, my cousin’s wedding was BYO and I had a great time! I say just make sure to tell your guests ahead of time to bring what they want to drink.

View Quoted Comment If you really believe your guests may bring their own alcohol, you may want to check with your venue how they handle it. Some venues will shut your event down and that would be awful on your wedding day!

View Quoted Comment That would be awful! Thank you for the head's up!

We are having a dry wedding. But most of our guests aren't drinkers, we don't drink and it's a lot of extra money for the alcohol deposit to even have it, we would have to hire security (venue rules), plus buy the alcohol. So if they choose to leave early, God bless them. But I'm not concerned about the alcohol thing.

View Quoted Comment Wow, security? That seems crazy! I understand higher insurance having to have a certified bar tender, but never heard of security. I appreciate your outlook!!

View Quoted Comment Ya. A small town, historic library. But they've had problems with people from other towns renting it and acting foolish/messing things up so now they require security. And that is costly.

We are also having a dry wedding for a lot of the same reasons as you as well as the fact that our wedding is being held at our church. A lot of people act like they can't have fun without alcohol but I think that's just silliness. Luckily most of our guest list aren't really drinkers so not many people will likely miss it.