Kids and an Open Bar?

Every wedding I've been to has been open bar and probably 50% of the weddings I've been to have had children. It's never been a problem.

These kids exist in public right? They go to restaurants, family parties, etc correct? In that case, they've seen adults drink... I've never understood kids being at a wedding as an excuse to not serve alcohol. Makes no sense.

I had 28 children at my wedding and an open bar. Truthfully, I never thought a thing about it. These kids are around alcohol a lot (family holidays, July 4th parties, grad parties, out to dinner at a restaurant, etc.). None of my siblings/cousins who had their children at the wedding thought a thing about it either.... nor did they get a babysitter for later or leave early. The vast majority of the kids at my wedding (between ages 2-12) stayed until at least 11pm and had a great time dancing / using the Photo Booth, etc. Occasionally I do see someone in WW ask about alcohol at a wedding with kids and it always perplexes me.

We had an open bar and kids at our wedding. No issues whatsoever. These are the same kids who have seen beer at summer picnics, or family parties or on vacation. It really wasn't any different.

I have been to parties with tons of alcohol and tons of kids! Small & big kids. The kids are usually in groups playing and stuff while the adults drink. I think it should be fine! I will have an open bar as well and kids!

We had modified open and kids at the wedding.

Didn't care. The kids are not my responsibility, they are their parents. If their parents didn't want them around drinking, they could stay home. Kids see drinking on holidays. Why is a wedding any different?

I actually grew up going to weddings with open bar and never even noticed the adults behaving differently! Wasn't a problem at my wedding either.

We are doing kids and a open bar. I have never seen a problem with it. If a parent wants to drink more then what they would want to In Front of there kids or they don’t want their kids to go they will get a sitter. Now that being said I am not ageanst no kids at weddings uh that is your choice,

No biggie hun. Think about it, the holidays are here and kids are exposed to folks drinking. I wouldn’t worry about it. Parents will need to determine if that is an appropriate environment.

I had this same issue. I'm thinking of calling the parents who RSVP with their kids (we've had two RSVP for our Save the Dates saying they are coming without their kids) and letting them no our venue has a kid's room with a hired professional childcare provider from 5 PM - 8 PM who will bring games & crafts, as well as what the kid's meal will be. I'm going to nicely say something like "we will have an open bar so I'm not sure how kid friendly our event will be when the dance floor opens" since we have a lot of young single men who drink heavily. Usually parents are aware of what is safe and unsafe for their kid, and will leave after dinner if things get too crazy. Most the time, kids don't notice when adults are drunk.

Every wedding I have ever been to has had a hosted bar and kids present. It has never been an issue. Considering a lot of your guests would be the parents of said children (presumably) I would think they wouldn't get out of control in front of their own children but if they do, I'm sure their kids have seen it before.

Every wedding I've been to has had an open bar and kids. I don't see the issue. Do these kids never go to restaurants or other family parties?

View Quoted Comment It was same as when we were kids. I would notice sometimes but it was never inappropriate.

I also don’t see the issue.
This is for the parents to worry about. If they don’t want their kids around drinking, they can elect not to take them to a wedding. If they want to drink and not worry about their kids for night, they can elect not to take them to a wedding. If they bring their kids and it gets late and people get rowdy, the parents can decide its time for them to leave.

View Quoted Comment

That's what I was thinking! The only reason I'm warning parents is because some of my fiance's friends from the military drink heavily and depending on the night can get pretty vulgar and instigate fights. We obviously aren't anticipating that, and are 99% sure it won't happen. But we just wanted to let them know. Our wedding also ends at 11 PM and most weddings I've been to, parents left with kids around 9 PM.

This is why you should hire a professional bartendar. Checking IDs and cutting off drunks are part of their duties.

Of course they can't keep the kids from getting the alcohol from older guests, but let the parents worry about that.

If it really concerns you, then enlist everyone's help in advance to keep their eyes open, this way all your guests can help and have fun at the same time.

My main concern with that is teens/tweens trying to get alcohol. At my bro in law’ wedding, they ID’d all of us. I kept getting ID’d every single drink & I didn’t even have my wallet with me but the coordinator knew I was family & told them to stop asking me (I’m in my 30s lol). I thought they should have put a wristband on all the kids under 21 instead of killing the vibe by IDing us adults repeatedly. So that’s one idea.

In terms of adults gettin too lit, hopefully people with kids know their limit & leave early if needed. Also ask your DJ to remind folks not to drink & drive. I think kids are tooo busy to notice adults gettin lit tbh. My issue with kids at a party is when their parents let them run around like they’re at a playground.

Our reception only had 3 kids (ages 1-5) so that was easy.

I think that being a wedding, people (parents) know that there will alcohol (and lots of it unless specifically stated) and it needs to be up to them. You have enough to worry about as it is to have to worry about every single child and their parents... that seems unreasonable for you to do. You can tell people it will be open bar, or they will find out once they get there and decide on their own whether or not they wish to have a drink, or 2 or 20...

Thank y'all so much for all the advice! I work at a daycare for my job and I'm always thinking about the kids in any situation that comes up, so my worries got the best of me. I'll probably put a note about the alcohol, just as a precaution, and let that be that 😋