Open bar for the whole reception?

I think it's fine.

And I love your avatar! Spring!!! I'm ready!

IMO, its NEVER ok to make your guests open up their wallets at a wedding. Can you talk to the hotel about other options:

1. Ask if its possible to "trade" the 3 hours of open bar to a 5-6 (depending on the length of your reception) limited bar with beer, wine, and maybe a couple signature cocktails?

2. Is the open bar premium or well liquor? If its premium, you may be able to downgrade to the well or call bar for a small charge

3 hours of open bar? Sounds good to me!

How long is your reception for? Or I guess better question, how long will the bar be closed before the reception ends?

We ended up doing a consumption bar for the final hour of our reception. It made sense for our crowd, since about half are moderate drinkers and the other half are light/non drinkers. I think the bar tab for the final hour was something around $75. I think what you are planning is sort of ok...but I know some of my guests (and myself) would've been frustrated if the bar had closed way before the end of the reception. It would've effectively ended the party.

I think that is fine. I have been to plenty of wedding where the open bar lasted till a certain point in the night and then the guests had to pay. Some people think it's absurd, but I think it's normal. Eh..

I was actually considering doing something very similar with a 3 hour open bar, but I'm also not sure how it will be received by my guests with a 4 hour reception and cocktail hour totaling 5 hours. Don't really have much advice, but I will be keeping an eye on this thread for opinions!

I think it's fine, my venue offers 4 hour open bar however that does not include the cocktail hour, We are trying to see if the budget would allow is to cover the cocktail hour but if not then guest will have to pay for drinks during the cocktail hour. Can you see if your venue would trade the open bar at cocktail hour? I think that a lot of our guest will just wait for the open bar and not buy any drinks during cocktail hour anyway.

I think its pretty standard to have the bar closed during dinner service (we are doing wine and champagne service with dinner, added on for extra cost of course) and I also think its pretty standard to have the bar close down a bit before the end of the reception.

I think your option is fine.

I'm going to have a BYOB wedding...haha KIDDING, just wanted to make Celia cringe :-)

I also think it's fine. Speak to your venue about other options.. beer and wine only or based upon consumption.

You did, lol...i almost spilled my vodka all over my keyboard !!!

How long will your reception be? I think 3 hours should be fine.

Celia- Thank you I can't get enough of tulips

Thank you everyone for the advice. I am only expecting the reception to last about another hour after the bar closes, so I think we will be fine. We don't have a huge crowd of drinkers anyways.

So after the bar closes, are you planning on having a consumption bar (where you just pay the tab at the end of the night), a cash bar (where your guests pay per drink) or no bar at all? And how many hours would this be for?

If your bar suddenly switches from open to cash, your guests are going to be in for a surprise. Can you imagine how awkward that would be to stand in line for the same drink that you've ordered without paying, then be told you have to pay $5? I wouldn't have brought my purse, so then I'd have to go back to the table and it would be pretty embarrassing.

If the bar closed totally (or even switched to cash), it would probably signal to your guests that the reception was ending, even if you wanted it to go on a few more hours. Just some things to consider.

ETA: just saw your post. If the reception is only another hour, then it wouldn't be that weird to close the bar down. I think that's standard in some states/venues. But it would still be a signal that the party is wrapping up.

Lori- Yeah, that's true about the bar closing down signaling the end of the party. Our venue told us after the 3 hours we could make the call about what to do with the bar. If the party is still really alive and we have a lot of guests still we could switch to consumption or possibly add another hour (Even though we will break our budget lol). I guess we will just have to judge how the reception is going.

Can you just close the bar? At most venues we looked at, the bar had to close 1 hour before the reception ended anyway. 3 hours sounds fine to me.

My only comment would be to do a "last call" so that people know when the bar will be closing. Same for dinner, just have the bartenders or whoever spread the word.

We have an open bar up until the last 30 minutes. That is standard at our venue. All drinks will be at the bar. We will have a pitcher of water at every table during dinner, but if they want anything else during dinner they will have to go to the bar.

I've been to tons of weddings -- almost all of them top shelf, open bar. What I have noticed is that during the last hour, a majority of people have, for the most part, finished drinking. Now they're having coffee and are getting ready to say their goodbyes and hit the road. I think it is absolutely fine to host a cocktail hour, close the bar for dinner (not unusual at all), and then have another two hours of open bar. Just let the DJ make the last call announcement.

For the poster who is thinking of charging guests for drinks during cocktail hour, please don't. That is exactly the time the crowds will be heading straight for the bar. The bar is never more crowded than during the beginning of cocktail hour (I've seen it at almost every wedding I've been to). They just witnessed a wedding, the thrill is in the air, they're ready to socialize, and most of them will want to begin celebrating. If you can only do a limited number of hours, cut the hour at the end. At that point, the drinking slows down noticeably. If you're going to get the biggest bang for your buck when paying for an open bar, schedule the hours so that they include the period of time in which the most alcohol will be served, not the least.