Is a cash bar tacky?

Instead of a cash bar, I'd suggest a limited bar. For example, you could provide wine, beer, and a signature drink. You could also consider having the bar close an hour before the reception, to let people sober up before leaving.

Thank you, that's a good idea, but I'm curious as to what prices others are being charged?

I think it's kind of tacky personally, but you should ask about a cap of whatever you can afford. Some places will do open bar for up to a certain dollar amount and then to cash bar after that. Or do beer and wine only.

You could shut the bar during dinner and just serve wine, although i think that's standard. I supplied everyone with two drinks and then charged $2 a drink after that.. I felt cheap, but it prevented people from wasting drinks and it helped pay for the bar tenders and some of the alcohol.. people didn't mind, it wasn't like I was making a profit off of it and some people in my area understand that the bride and groom are just starting out and don't have a lot of extra money for that. I also let the guests know before hand that it would be a cash bar.. people hate showing up at a wedding and not have cash on them, esp. since most halls don't have an ATM close by.

(my hall let me supply my own alcohol and drink mix so that helped cut costs as well, and I had someone uncork the wine... the hall would have charged $50 for that.. my friend's hall was going to charge some ridiculous price of $10/bottle if their wine wasn't used.. so watch for that as well..)

Personally, I find it offensive but many here have different opinions. Use the search bar on the top right, there have been countless threads on this -- so you'll find a lot of info.

You will get many different opinions here some harsher than others. Do what feels right for your area and what is best for you.

Is your estimate for the open bar only? if you are seriously considering a cash bar, i would look at the people i am inviting very closely to gauge what their drinking habits are. they you and your fh can decide on what combination you want to do.

i wouldn't do cash bar only honestly, esp. with the number of people you expect to attend. and i personally don't think it's tack or offensive to do a cash bar for a few hours.

the last cash bar wedding i went to have great food, and an awesome band; i was dancing all night and only had a few drinks because i didn't want to stop dancing

I don't think a cash bar is tacky especially if these people are your friends and family. If you can't afford an open bar, don't do it. Personally I am probably going to have a limited bar or something like that. I can't afford an open bar.

Cash bars are seen as a no no. But venues usually charge around 4 to 5 drinks per person. So depending on their prices of drinks it should be any price from 20 >. I think the average is around 30iish. You can ask for a consumption bar where you just pay for what is drank. This usually saves you money because most guest don't drink but one or two drinks, and some don't drink at all. Also the under 21 crowd and the over 60 crowd usually don't drink. You can also just have the bar open for certain hours or have just beer and wine. Hope this helps.

Technically I know that cash bars are seen as tacky, but seriously, consider your friends and family; I have only EVER been to one wedding that was a total open bar, so if I were to do a cash bar, people probably would not be surprised. For my at home reception, we are probably going to have a toonie bar (in Canada!). You could try something like that. It also discourages those who get a bit crazy. But then, I know no one would be offended by that. Do what makes sense for you.

Thanks guys, all great comments and feedback. We will have a mix of heavy, moderate and light drinkers so it's really hard to judge if a consumption bar would be any cheaper. I think my FH and I will decide what we can afford and have an open bar for a certain amount of hours maybe mixed with a limited bar.

No cash bar, choose a few signature drinks that compliment the style and colors of the wedding.

No cash bar, choose a few signature drinks that compliment the style and colors of the wedding.

It really depends on whats common in your family and region.,however even if open bars are common, if you cannot afford 20k just for drinks then do cash..it is irresponsible to go into debt or use money you need to use elsewhere just so people don't get annoyed about an open bar..We are having an open bar but ours is like only 13$ pp for 4 hours (but I'm not in a huge city)..if you really want the open bar I would seriously consider cutting the guest list..but if you are okay with spending the money then go for it..I'm guessing for somewhere like Atlanta that price is about right.

If you do the open bar personally I think you don't need 6 hours..as people mentioned close it during dinner/an hour before the reception ends. or just do certain drinks.

I am only doing soda and beer open and the hard liquor is cash. Until I came to WW Ive never thought cash bar was tacky but thats because the weddings I have been to have always had a mixture of cash and open. When my sister got married the only reason she had an open bar was because they still had quite a bit of the minimum that they had to meet. What I think was tacky was another wedding I went to they made everyone pay for even soda. So in my opinion have at least beer and for sure soda as open and the rest as cash if thats what you can afford.

That sounds really high. But yes, I think a cash bar is tacky since you asked.

We did complimentary beer, wine, soda and lemonaid. If people wanted something else, they had to buy it themselves but there was a stocked bar. most people only drank the complimentary drinks but others who wanted to drank the hard alacohol. We thought about doing only the wine and beer, but we felt it was better for people to be able to buy thier own. I think a lot of this depends on your croud and what they expect. I have only ever been to 2 weddings that were truly open bars, but then the hours were limited and so where my choices. I would rather pay and get what I want but have the option.

MY TAKE... you're going to get lots of different opinions on this for a few reasons....1 we dont allllll live in the same areas and different places do different things, PERIOD. 2. PPL can take THIS topic as a HOT TOPIC and it CAN get testy..... 3. thats a lot of money fot JUST bar, so is that 45/50 quote, for the bar and the food!??!?! cause if thats BAR then NO....like someone said, do not go into debt for alcohol. HOWEVER. i think you should provide a guest list that large and diverse with alcohol. SO limited bar,beer and wine option, just a signature drink, tickets....etc.... i've seen brides go the TICKET route and that works, cause if you give 2 tickets per person, and I DONT DRINK, i can give mine to someone else.. not everyone will drink. IDK, maybe that will be cheaper?! IDK. im doing beer & wine!

Why do the same questions keep being asked? I don't know how many times "Is cash bar tacky?" and "No kids at the wedding" has been asked ... it's YOUR wedding do what YOU want to do. Yeah some may not love the fact of having to pay for their drinks, but hey they're not footing the wedding bill. There are MANY views on this topic as you can see - just gotta do what works best for YOU.

We're doing a cash bar, but plan on buying the first round for each of the guest. We're also buying all the soda for the night for the guests (our venue only charges $300 for the soda for the night, and with 300+ guests its a great value) We know we have lots of friends and Family that LOVE to get their drink on. We know we cant afford a full open bar, so we're not going to even consider trying. i've never been to a wedding with a full open bar, always been cash, so around here, not considered Tacky, just saying