How to serve soda at buffet style reception?

That sounds incredibly unorganized and unprofessional. Have you talked to whomever is in charge of the bar? Ask what their history is of how sodas have been served in the past. If they have not and they have never been served, that would be a red flag because non alcoholic beverages are a requirement. Are you able to pay a bit more to have a separate bar with server for non alcoholic beverages? That’s the only way you can serve them professionally.


We have attended weddings and other parties where cans of soda are in a cooler, and most were semi formal/casual so it was easier to pull off. But unless guests know where it is, they will not seek it out.
Go back to whomever is serving alcohol and don’t take no for an answer and don’t leave until they give you an acceptable solution. That will mean talking in person or on the phone because emails are too easy to ignore.

I would ask whoever is providing the bar how they’ve handled this at other weddings. If you have coolers of sodas, are you able to leave the coolers behind the bar and have the bartender hand them to guests?

The bar isn't serving soda? Like what are they going to do for mixers? I agree with Michelle, that doesn't sound right.

I've never attended a wedding with an open, attended bar that didn't also serve soft drinks. Is that because they would want to charge extra to add that to the package?

Our venue didn’t have a bar. But you could hire a bartender through them and they have a bar setup. So we had to bring ALL of our drinks. We asked and our venue provided ice and coolers etc so all we had to do was bring the drinks. I know venues used to be all included but a lot I find aren’t anymore at least in my experience. I would just ask them if you need to bring coolers or anything. Since they are providing other drinks I imagine they can just add your soda to their setup

Do disposable cups. No one will care and it's way easier