Not having liquor or guests purchasing their own

Dry is good for me

We are having a beer and wine reception. of course I have FH's brother say well I am sneaking in _____ and this person says I am bringing _______.... I cant stop them. I have to get a liquor license though, they have to pour it in cups. as long as they follow the rules we are good. even if I told them no they would bring it anyways, lol. that is just how they are. these are all the people that are also wearing jeans and their "dressy" polo to the wedding!

I agree with you stichingbride. I guess it's something about holding a drink in your hand that somehow makes the party more fun!

I drink wine but definitely wouldn't say I NEED it to have a good time. We're having an open bar, because that's our type of crowd and they would appreciate it.

Find I'll jump in on this thread.

I am not against a dry wedding but your post says that you are worried "we don't have a hotel near where our reception is going to be and I don't want to responsible for anything." If you allow them to bring their drinks and drink it on your location you kind of are responsible for them. I was just told by my DOC that if there was an accident the guest(s) (god forbid since these are supposed to be friends and family) can possibly have a lawsuit against you especially if you don't have a liquor license. At least where I'm at. You might want to do more research on liabilities and such.

If you are worried about their safety either have a dry wedding or pay for their alcohol and provide them taxi service.

I drink maybe once or twice a year. I used to drink till I was drunk 2-3 times a week! I pretty much quit drinking for a couple of years because I was afraid of becoming an alcoholic like my father! I think my wedding is one of those once or twice a year occasions! Plus, if my family found out I wasn't having alcohol they wouldn't' even bother to show up.

We had free beer for guests and they could purchase other items they wanted. It worked out fine for us.

Yes, some people left around 9 pm instead of staying late, but plenty of people had kids to get back to or are over 75 years old. My husband starting buying drinks for people who stayed later and wanted to dance. It worked out fine, and people absolutely loved the wedding and reception. We served them a full meal, appetizers, cake and beer. The wedding isn't all about alcohol.

My sister's wedding had no alcohol. They were in the country at a barn and didn't want people to get drunk. They had a budget of $5k. I was a little annoyed and wished I brought something myself, but people still had fun there too. Around here we seem to focus more on our friendship, not so much whether someone is buying everyone alcohol at their wedding.

Go dry. We did, because we have people with drinking problems on both sides of our families AND DH's parents had a nasty split, so we wanted them on their best behavior. Of course, it depends on your crowd, but if you and FH don't drink, I'm guessing your friends don't much, either, and it won't be an issue. Our friends stayed the whole time, the dance floor was full-- it was terrific.

I'm not against a dry wedding, to each their own.. but having some sort of option is always courteous to guests who do enjoy a drink. It is a celebration after all and some adults enjoy alcohol when celebrating. I think just having the option is nice. If you obviously have a crowd that cannot control themselves around alcohol then that is a different story but I don't think alcohol (At least with my friends and family) is that evil in a party atmosphere.

To me its like the equivalent of not offering dessert, just because you do not eat dessert. (I actually hate dessert but I would still ALWAYS serve it because I know that other people consider it a celebratory treat.) Everyone loves options !

I would love to offer drinks to our friends. But we have family issues and are doing a dry wedding.

I'm with StichingBride. Alcohol is not necessary to have at a wedding. I understand some people need it to unwind. So, maybe you won't be jumping up to join the dance floor. I get that. That's fine. I understand.

But if you HAVE to have alcohol at my wedding and won't come otherwise or leave once you find out there is none or sneak some in to the reception, you've shown me the kind of friend you are, which is to say, not one at all if you can't understand or respect my wishes or support me on my wedding day.

I agree that everyone has to decide for themselves what they are going to do for their own weddings. but I'm always surprised and how often people act like you are commingling some horrible act for not offering it at all.

I do drink, but there's no way in heck that alcohol is going to be served at my reception where it's my worry.

I don't imagine that anyone invited would not be responsible, but I'm just not wiling to take the chance and have bad consequences on my head. if others bride want to take on that chance and responsibility, then it's their choice.

I think at least offer the option. I would rather pay for them than have no option of it. Just me.