Liquor vs beer/wine ect

Hi Jamie - you are correct that tickets are in bad taste. Actually, anything that requires your guests to pay during the reception is also in poor taste.

I would stick to beer and wine since it is the cheaper option. You can get a couple of options of each and call it a day. People can act picky about drink availability or not having their drink of choice, but guess what! They'll survive. :-)

Would you do beer and wine and a signature drink that includes a hard liquor?

@2016beachwedding Maybe, but I'm not sure about choosing one drink that most guests will enjoy.

Just stick with beer and wine and don't offer cash bar for liquor. For 50 guests, factor in 2 drinks per person for the first hour and 1 drink per person per hour for the rest of the time. This is just the average guidelines. I think statistics also figure 60% wine and 40% beer.... But again these are just stats. Judge your crowd and make some tweaks, but these are generally good templates. Good luck!

Ask your venue for suggestions on picking one if its something that will work . They will not what's popular ;-)

I think wine and beer is fine. I agree that its hard to pick just one cocktail that will suit liquor lovers.

As a guest, I think its great people offer beer and wine. I would appreciate it however, if cash bar was available. I prefer to drink mixed drinks and if open bar isn't in the bride and groom's budget, I wouldn't mind paying for my preferred drink. That's just me though.

Tickets/cash of any type is in poor taste. We were originally going to do a beer/wine wedding to save some money as well. FH works for a company that represents one of the largest wineries in the US, and he gets about 40-50% off wine. Once we calculated the cost of wine and beer and hiring the bartender - required in most states - we found that going with the full open bar through our caterer was only about $400 more. $400 is a lot for not having to deal with lugging around and worrying about beer and wine on your wedding day, in my opinion. Now if your caterer has a package for beer/wine (mine didn't; it was bring your own beer/wine & they provide the staff/glassware), that might be cheaper. If you have to provide your own, you really may find that using a full open bar through the caterer may be barely more expensive and will save you a lot of peace of mind. If it makes you feel any better, I read that at weddings 40% drink wine, 40% drink beer, and only 20% of guests drink hard liquor. So you won't be inconveniencing too many people if you just do beer/wine!

I have been to plenty of weddings with a cash bar and no one seems to mind. We are doing drink tickets because our budget is so tight. Everyone knows and I haven't heard any complaints.

And personally, if it did bother a guest, I wouldn't care. It's my wedding and not theirs.

Private User, it stopped being all about you the moment you decided to invite people to this event. Host your guests properly. If you don't care enough about them to do so, why are they being invited to your wedding? ETA: of course you haven't heard any complaints, no one will complain about it to your face...

I agree with Kelly. I don't personally enjoy beer or wine. If that's all that's available at a wedding, I'll probably just volunteer to be designated driver for the night. I'm completely fine with paying for my mixed drinks, though, since I get that alcohol is already being provided, just not the kind I prefer.

Do beer and wine. That's perfectly fine. But don't do a cashbar or tickets. While I personally prefer mixed drinks, I would be fine with wine for the night, and I'm sure most of your guests will have the same way of thinking.

We're doing wine and beer but also buying some whiskey, vodka, and rum (Malibu for me) and some sodas, orange juice. Alcohol really isn't that expensive. We're going to buy ours through SAMs and ask our bridal party for suggestions then just go with what we like also because we'll be "stuck" with the leftovers.

Beer and wine is just fine; I see it all the tiem. . Maybe add a sangria mix to it. Having some of a cash bar is just confusing to guests and time consuming for the bartenders.

Mrs. Coakley is spot on with her quantities too.

Private? It's not your wedding if you have guests. Cash bars and tickets are grotesquely rude.

"And personally, if it did bother a guest, I wouldn't care. It's my wedding and not theirs."

This is a super nice way to think about the people you supposedly love and want to surround you on your wedding day. Gross.

Don't do any cash bar. If you can afford to host an all open bar, host whatever you can FOR FREE. don't give any option that requires guest to pull out their wallet. So beer and wine, and I would do one signature drink for those that don't like beer and wine. I'm not sure what good ones are but I've heard of margaritas, martinis (a kind that the colors of the wedding) strip and go nakeds, hurricanes...

Truth? I have never been to a wedding in which the couple hosts a soft bar only (I went to one with a cash bar, and it was gross). I really dislike beer. I'm not a huge fan of wine -- although I know many people are. With a guest list of 50, I have to admit it -- I'd be expecting an open bar that included liquor of most varieties, if not all. However, if a couple can't do that, stick with the wine/beer menu. What isn't cool -- for any reason -- is the hideously rude cash bar or drink ticket bar. The excuses for them are as yawn inducing and worn out as your socks from 1992. A cash bar/ticket bar says, "We know you want liquor at this wedding. So do we. We just aren't paying for it, but we are taking an exotic honeymoon vacation. We also want a kick ass party. We know the quickest way to a kick ass party is via alcohol. So, look -- there it is -- the bar. Make use of it and make our party count. Oh, on your dime, of course."

If my husband and I attended a wedding with 50 people with a hosted soft bar, I'd probably send him on a mission to find a bar on the premises that served liquor. I would have no problem paying for it (and neither would he). Why? Because the hosts aren't shoving the bar with a price tag in my face ("Hear ye, hear ye! Liquor is being served...right here...see the neon sign and the arrow? Just pull out some cash and a double vodka, neat, will end up in your hand!"). As your guest, I would appreciate whatever you were hosting as long as you didn't judge me for trying to find something a little stronger -- under my own steam, not because the hosts set it up. If we decided to find a bar serving liquor, that isn't on you -- it's on us.

ETA: I just reread your OP. Please, stop assuming that adults are going to "go crazy" on free alcohol. That is absurd -- absolutely ridiculous. We are talking about adults, not kids heading to a beer bash without their parents' knowledge or consent. Alcohol isn't a huge thrill for adults -- they can get it whenever they want it. An open bar -- one that includes liquor -- isn't something that causes an adult to jump up and down. If you can't afford to host adults with liquor, stick to beer and wine. But please, for the love of all that's holy, can we please stop pretending that adults being hosted with free liquor is akin to a bunch of five year old children being set free in a candy store? People attending a wedding don't look at your bar as "free liquor". They look at it as something they expect to see at a properly hosted wedding. If you can afford to serve an assortment of liquors, please do. If you can't, stick with your beer/wine. But please, don't assume that your guests are a bunch of alcoholics looking for a free drunk. Simply admit that you cannot afford to host hard liquor, do the best you can, and let the evening proceed.

I think and hope beer and wine will be enough for our guests. It's figuring out how much to get. Luckily our venue will keep two extra kegs available to tap if needed but we won't pay unless they are tapped.

Harsh and judgmental, or experienced? This line of questioning gets tiresome. A bride asks if having a cash bar as an option for people who don't like beer or wine is going to make people crazy -- as in, idiotic, destructive drunks throwing up and fighting with everyone. I say, based on years of experience, "No, it will not". What you obviously wanted to hear is that everyone will love beer and wine and a cash bar option. It isn't harsh to say that a cash bar is tolerated at best, judged harshly at worst. I could tell you what guests have said in the ladies' room, the ceremony area, and the parking lot when they realize that a couple isn't hosting alcohol, but I won't. You know that nasty rumor about people removing twenties from the gift envelope when they realize a gin and tonic is on them? Well, it's not a rumor.

The truth? Not one of your guests (beyond family who may have contributed to the cost of the wedding) cares about what you paid your venue for wine/beer and a cash bar -- not including tax, service charge, and whatever "etc." is. They care about the time and expense they invested in your wedding. Shoot the messenger if you have to shoot someone.

This is where I got "that" from -- YOUR words: "...is having a cash bar as an option for people that don't like beer or wine (myself included) how do make sure people aren't going crazy on the free alcohol since I hear tickets are in bad taste?"

Nastassia, do whatever you want. Make a cash bar an option. You certainly won't be the first (or the last). Honestly, it makes absolutely no difference to me. You asked. I answered.