No Alcohol?!

We had a dry wedding. We still did toasts. People left earlier than they would at a wedding with alcohol.

We went in knowing these things and were perfectly happy with it.

Thats not managing who can and cannot drink. If they want alcohol, they can bring their own flask in. We are in our early 20s and paying for the wedding by ourselves. The cost of alcohol would total up to being almost half of our budget. We both dont drink so i find it ridiculous for us to spend the majority of our budget on something we dont even want to spend it on just to please our guests. You dont need alcohol to have a good time. If people leave early, thats fine by me. Means they werent there for the right reasons in the first place.

Out of the last 5 weddings I've attended only 1 served alcohol. At the "dry weddings" the guests still danced and there wasn't a mass exodus as soon as dinner was over. The 1 wedding that did serve alcohol did have a large number of guests leave directly after dinner-mainly due to a flash flood warning. In the end, all of those brides still enjoyed their day and so did their guests.

I'm personally not a big drinker but weddings are when I like to have a couple and dance all night. So I would personally be disappointed. Guests usually count on it at a wedding, is there a way to move some things around in your budget so you make sure they have a great time? Like others have said, you'll have less of a "party" mood. Depends on what kind of wedding you want though!

You asked people's opinions. The fact you asked what guest "reactions" were implies to me that your guests would be expecting alcohol. FH and I are both early 20s and paying for the whole wedding ourselves also, not sure why that matters.

If you've already decided and determined that that's what you need to do then any of our opinions are just going to make you feel bad about your decision. I think most people expect alcohol at a wedding unless it's specifically against the religion of the couple. That doesn't mean that you have to provide a full bar. Two buck chuck from Trader Joe's would be better than nothing. Have you already set your wedding start time? A shorter afternoon wedding between meals would save you money on food costs and it wouldn't feel as odd if there isn't any alcohol.

I've never been to a dry wedding but I don't think I'd mind that much if I knew ahead of time. I think most people expect parties to have alcohol of some kind so I'd just let people know by word of mouth. You do what you can do. Yes, I'd rather have a couple of drinks but if my close friends were getting married, I wouldn't bail because there was no alcohol.

So then why invite anyone at all if you don't want to properly host them. I don't eat pork,that doesn't mean my guest don't. Your first explanation was rude and your second is bitchy. If you can't afford it fine,own it no need for defensive excuses.

I've been to a lot of weddings and only one has ever had alcohol. Nobody thought anything of it and pretty much everyone stayed late and had a good time.

Pretty much everyone is paying for much of their weddings themselves. That's not a valid reason to pass on anything, especially the bar. A limited one is fine, but if you posted to hear a majority of people tell you that it's okay, you're probably not going to hear it.

Adults, for the most part, like a glass of wine at a party. I don't think it's an outrageous expectation.

Can you do like wine with dinner? Or maybe at least use real champagne for a champagne toast. People can't really get drunk off of it but it may be a nice buzz and not as expensive for you to pay for. You don't have to do a full open bar but offering a little isn't bad. We are doing beer and wine, setting a limit of $1k (people can purchase liquor drinks if they'd like) then if we start to get close to that limit we can decide how close to the end of the reception we are and if we'd like to extend our max or turn it into cash bar at that point. We don't have heavy drinkers in our family so we are lucky in that we don't think we'll really have to go much over $1k. Do you think you could squeeze maybe $1k out of the budget for drinks??

Anyway, I have been to a dry wedding. The bride was mormon so it was against her religion and nobody expected alcohol. The reception had no dancing, it was more like house party with like meat and cheese display and cupcakes. People just stopped by to say congrats. I was a bridesmaid so I stayed until the end and I was only 21, I hadn't really found what kind of alcohol I liked yet anyway so I didn't miss it. Neither did anyone else because they were almost all Mormon too. However now 5 years later I'd prefer a little wine at least with dinner.

I'm not sure why you're getting defensive. You asked about people's experience with dry weddings, they're telling you. Personally most weddings I've been to have been dry, for religious/moral reasons. So to me I don't think dry weddings are that weird. But it is less of a party atmosphere and people don't stay late. If most of your family and friends are social drinkers, I would look into offering at least beer and wine, or wine for dinner. But if most of your guests abstain, or otherwise won't expect it, then don't worry about.

I personally have never done a dry wedding, but ya know what people do a dry weddings? They bring their own and from run inside to outside drinking in the parking lot.

All this fuss over a beverage

Do as you please.

I'm in my early 20s and paying for everything ourselves as well, that's not a frickin excuse to not have alcohol. When I chose my venue I kept in mind that I couldn't afford a per person bar tab so I found A venue that I am allowed to hire my own bartender and supply my own alcohol. I'm supplying alcohol for 150 people for around $500 and that is mostly liquor so it's definitely doable at a cheaper price! Get creative!!! I wouldn't just dismiss alcohol for money reasons though.

It's not 'a beverage'; it's a hosting issue. She's going to do as she pleases anyway, guaranteed.

I have been to two dry weddings and I was in one of them. I would have really liked to have a drink as a member of the bridal party and was not happy about it. I did notice that the party never really got going - a lot of people left early. On the flip side, the other wedding had a huge guest list (300+) and it didn't stop anyone from having a good time (a great DJ helped). I still missed the alcohol. I think this is going to depend on your crowd. It could go either way. Are you having an evening wedding?

My venue doesnt allow outside bartenders and their bartending service starts at a minimum of $500. I asked about just having champagne for the toast and they said no alcohol is allowed unless going through the venue itself. I am having an evening wedding but no one in the bridal party drinks alcohol and the people we spend time with arent really party-type people anyways. And to say i have a hosting issue is really rude. It has nothing to do with a hosting issue.

Why can't you buy champagne by the glass through them? They could pre pour that and it wouldn't require a full on bartender -or at least it doesn't based on what I have seen.

I wanted to have Virginia wines on every table. My caterer said that it was cool, as long as we made them the table numbers - as in - they were part of the decor. We did, and they were drank during the party anyway. We had open bar, but the caterer ran out of vino. I don't recommend a dry wedding. Adults expect to have some alcohol, even those that don't normally drink. The alcoholics will either leave early to hit the bar, or will bring their own...and yes...it's a hosting issue. It's totally a hosting issue. You're throwing an adult party. Throw it like an adult.