Open bar... the norm?!

View Quoted Comment Yes it's expensive my venue told me 3700 so I will have my cash bar and they better not complain

Illinois wedding. We have a 2k cap on the bar. Anything and everything goes. After the 2k is up it's a cash bar. 100 people. 6 hour reception and the bar will be open for 5 hours.

I’ve only been to wedding with an open bar myself (Michigan)- but in my searches I’ve noticed some venues will include alcohol in their venues (specifically I’m looking for a barn wedding and there have been some vineyards that include the cost of alcohol in their rental price. Keep your eye out! Good luck!

I live in San Diego, CA- I don't think open bar is the norm- but providing some kind of free alcohol option for a period of time is the norm. Whether it is beer and wine with dinner, or a cocktail hour. We are doing beer and wine all night no hard alcohol as our group likes to drink and will help keep things a little lighter. I think the important thing is letting your guests know what to expect- so they know if they should bring cash or decide to uber instead of driving.

I am from Chicago. All the weddings I been to in Chicago were open bar. We are getting married in Miami. We will have 5 hours open bar which is costing us a pretty penny. I cannot see my guest being happy without an open bar at our wedding.

I’m not sure honestly. I’m from the Pacific Northwest and I’ve never been to a wedding that had alcohol at all. That may just be our social circle though. Drinking is not permitted in my religion and while I have been to weddings outside of the religion, they were in other churches.

In my area it is standard to do an open bar...

Yeah... I don't get why everyone is so stuck on the alcohol. I have been to ONE wedding reception that had alcohol at all. Any other wedding reception I have been to was dry. We are having a dry wedding. No one misses the alcohol. We never even considered having alcohol there at all.

I am in Minnesota, open bar is the norm. I have been to a few cash bar weddings and although I don't mind (I am not a drinker) it does give me pause as I invite folks to my home and they do not pay for a drink, so why am I paying for a Diet Coke (yes it has happened) at an event you are hosting? A gathering in your home is an event you are hosting, just on a smaller scale.

I've lived in central Illinosi and currently live in St. Louis, Missouri. I've only been to one wedding with an open bar, the rest were cash. I wouldn't blink twice, but here on WW it seems that open bar is the only way to go. People should do whatever they're comfortable with though. That's an unpopular opinion, but as a guest to weddings, I don't have high expectations. A meal and a happy couple is enough for me.

I live in Cleveland Ohio and I have only been to one wedding where there wasn’t an open bar....and the wedding was actually a dry wedding. I think open bar is crazy expensive but some venues will allow you to supply the liquor and mixers which can save a bunch of money.

I'm from Michigan and I have never been to a wedding that was not open bar. While I think it is normal, if you choose not to do this make sure it is known to your guests, since not many people carry cash with them.

I've never attended a wedding without some kind of open bar. I grew up in Texas, live in Louisiana, and have been to weddings in both of those places and also California, New Mexico, and Colorado. Even if the open bar was just an offering of beer and wine...it has always been free.

We r in central Illinois and we r doing a open beer, wine and soft drink bar. Not doing full open bar because our ceremony is at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I dont want people getting too drunk in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday.

I'm from the Midwest as well, and of all the Weddings I've attended, only one was Cash Bar, and people still complain about it 8 years later! I'm also getting remarried, and it will be open bar.

I'm in Florida and went to a dry wedding several years ago and my friends from NY still make jokes about it and how much FL weddings suck. Most weddings I've been to have had some kind of open bar, some full open bar, some partial cash bar (free beer/wine and pay for liquor or a set amount and then a cash bar) and some just beer/wine. I'd take a cash bar over a dry wedding any day.

I'm from the New England area, been to weddings in NH, RI, MA, CT and all were open bar. Currently live in the DC area, and all are open bar.

I'm from rural Oregon, and nearly all weddings I've been to have an open bar that includes beer, wine, and sometimes cider.

I disagree so much with what most people are saying here. I’m from New Hampshire and have been to a few different wedding from open bar to cash bar and that didn’t make much of a difference to me. People come to your wedding to see you get married and be a part of it. No one is forcing them to “open their wallets for your benefit” and buy alcohol. Just because you can not afford alcohol for all of your loved ones DOES NOT mean they should not be there to celebrate with you. If your guests are horrified like all of these people, about having a cash bar then they are pretty shallow. Do what you guys can do and not what others pressure you into doing, drinks aren’t worth a ton of debt. My fiancé and I will personally be doing open beer and wine for the evening, but I think it’s important to do what you want and what you can.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a wedding that had a cash bar. I’m from Western PA, live in the DC area, and have been to weddings in a variety of places including Ohio, which is I think the most Midwest I got as a wedding guest.