Open bar... the norm?!

Do not do an open bar.. put a limit on it
And then have you're guest pay.. it's not worth you and you're partner being broke. Plus you don't want all those sloppy drunks...just sayin..

I have been to prob 10-15 wedding my whole life and have been in the wedding part of five weddings: I’ve never been to an open bar wedding before but I have been to one dry wedding . I know it’s considered etiquette on these websites and I didn’t even realize it was a thing until I started on these wedding sites.

I’m in Massachusetts btw .
But some of the weddings were SC, NH and Brazil

I'm from Toronto, Ontario and open bars are a MUST. It would be unusual to go to a wedding with a cash bar unless it was in an unconventional location (even then it's assumed it will be an open bar).

I wish it was possible to ask in advance, because personally I wouldn't go to a wedding that was not an open bar (with the sole exception of people who are in recovery.) You don't need to have top shelf liquor and/or all options available. But, my friend even did a farm/field wedding and provided the booze in big dispensers. We're outside of Philadelphia, and weddings are expensive to attend as a guest. My whole theory was if I couldn't afford an open bar, I wouldn't have a big wedding reception or I'd limit the amount of people until I could afford it.

My wedding is in Buffalo, NY and a lot of the wedding packages at the venues I looked at automatically include 4 hours of open bar. But I've been to all types of weddings: open, cash bar, beer/wine/soda only, etc. Open bar or at least some type of free alcohol is great for your guests, but at the end of the day, it just comes down to what you can afford.

I’ve never heard of kegs at a wedding, very cool! I am from WNY and every wedding (which has been at least 12) has been open bar with the exception of my parents wedding (they had a beautiful backyard reception, but did have alcohol available).

I have only been to one open bar wedding in my life! In my area they are definitely not the norm. I didn't know it was expected until ww. But I know my family and friends do not expect them. We are hosting beer, wine, and having two signature cocktails, mostly because we have so many people traveling so I understand not wanting to have our guests pay. My family's thoughts on it are that you don't have to pay for people to drink, you are paying for their meal. So if FH's family wasn't all traveling for our wedding my family would be putting a lot of pressure on us to not host alcohol.

Most weddings I've been to have been open bar, never experienced a cash bar. However, I have been to weddings where the DJ has announced a last call for open bar at about 10:00 or so and the last hour of the reception was cash bar. Open bar is lovely if you can afford it but if you have a set budget for alcohol, it's not unreasonable to set SOME kind of limit (whether it's a limited drink menu, a window of time or up to a certain spending point). In the end, it's up to you! 😊

My wedding will have an open bar but oknly because it's included in the price of our venue otherwise we would have done either cash bar or gotten some some a beer. My cousins wedding was BYOB

Will say, I live in the Midwest and have never been to a wedding that wasn’t open bar in some form. All but one were entirely open bar, with the one exception being beer and wine only. I would say unless things are really tight budget wise to at least try and do beer and wine for your guests. Even if you need to cut budget from somewhere else to accommodate it, I still just think it’s a nice gesture versus making people spend more money when they come to your wedding. That being said, if you really cant swing it financially, then people would understand, but I think it would peeve some people off if you were to spend a ton of money on say your dress, a crazy nice venue, etc but choose to skimp on this area and not at least offer some kind of bar that is paid for.

Yep, all but one wedding in the last 5 years has been open bar. The one that wasn't people were not happy about having to whip out their wallets to buy a drink...and it was a much more low class event as well, not the kind of wedding I would want or want for my children some day.

I have not seen a keg visible at a wedding in my life. Maybe behind the bar, but never a "kegger" at a wedding.

I have lived in Miami, Seattle, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and all are open bar wedding areas.

View Quoted Comment An open bar for a 16 year old? That’s not cool, like breaking the law and stuff, I think it would be inappropriate to host an open bar for a sweet 16. I don’t think you’d want to encourage drinking around easy influenced teenagers.

View Quoted Comment Mitzvahs and Sweet 16s often have an adult bar and a mocktall bar. 80% if the guests are adults. Makes total sense especially since these are large gifting events (just saying..). I come from the hotel world, there is always booze at these events and the first birthday parties we have hosted as well.

All weddings need an open bar of some sort. Beer and wine + what ever else you can afford. People are spending a ton to be ther you can atleast host them for beer and wine. Cut the guest list if it’s an issue.

I just think it’s widly inappropriate even if 80 percent are adults. I still think it sets a bad example. But to each his own I guess. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Most of the sweet 16s I’ve been to, are not adult guests. Maybe that’s why I was confused, same thing with bar or bat mitzvahs. Never really thought about it that way. But the latter- definitely more adults than children there.

Open bar is expected here. I’m in STL. If it’s not a full bar, it’s at least beer and wine. If you don’t have an open bar around here, it’s for religious reasons.

I have lived in both Pittsburgh, PA and eastern WV, and open bars are absolutely the norm, at least on the east coast. IMO, your guests are are already paying to travel (at least some distance) to partake in your 6+ hour event. I've been to weddings where the alcohol was limited or had even run out, and trust me, they are not nearly as fun as the ones with open bars! I realize that there usually is an overhead cost on each guest (for food, dessert, etc.); however, keep in mind that some of your guests will have to pay for hotels, plane tickets, etc. for your big day. The least you can do is provide them with endless booze! Lol.

Yes, free alcohol is the norm. It doesn't have to be a full open bar. We did a modified open bar.

View Quoted Comment They ID people, obviously.

All big parties I've been to have free alcohol. My graduation from high school had free alcohol. My cousin hosted a fifth grade graduation party for her kid and there was an open bar. One year old birthday parties have free alcohol. I don't think that's strange.

For the record im from PA and live in MA rn and cash bars are always met with some varying level of side eye or leaving
early.