Open bar: Worth it?

What about a limited bar instead? We plan on serving beer, wine, some main liquors like rum, vodka and tequila. And we will have some sangria already ready for people to drink if they want to.

Our venue provides all the sodas and mixers but we have to provide the alcohol.

Beer and wine would be my absolute minimum. we had an open bar and I had a few guests pay to upgrade to top shelf ($2/drink) They were happy! LOL

Yea I agree with Miss S. Try a limited bar. My original venue didn't include alcohol we had to bring it in, but there was no corking fee or anything. The venue we switched to this week includes beer, wine, and mixed drinks in the package thank goodness. I'm like you....don't want my guests to feel like they have to pay for things at our wedding. Just personal preference.

It depends upon your budget and your guests. My FH and I, as well as our families and friends are all drinkers (we're Irish). My open bar is $2,630.00 including bartenders, and glassware. I am basically DIY-ing all my flowers in order to cover it. It's a trade-off.

I guess at the end of the day it's how much you want to spend. I would definitely see if you could do a limited bar. I was at a wedding where they provided beer and wine. If you wanted cocktails then you had to pay. I didn't hear any complaints. We just bought our drinks & didn't complain.

Can your venue include it in your per person package? Or maybe an "all inclusive package"?

Open bar was a must for FH. Our venue has all inclusive pricing which includes 6 appetizers (i hate spelling the actual name of these) salad, sit down dinner, table/chair linens, bridal suite, groom suite, open bar, ceremony all for $95-$97 depening on the plated dinner choices. It was a no brainer for us. We really are getting a SUH-WEET deal. Oh and the open bar is premium and top shelf liquors!

I agree with everyone above. Limited bar would be best option if your budget affords it. We are having an open bar bc it is at a private residence so we can buy it all for super cheap at Costco. Otherwise I doubt I would have a FULL open bar... Idk it really is a tough choice.

Cash bars are poor etiquette but lots of brides here are fine with them (I am not one).

You should host what you can afford - if that is a dry wedding, that is perfectly fine! But you could also do beer and wine, beer wine and a signature mixed drink, or full open bar. My venue offered beer and wine, "Rail" open bar, or top shelf open bar (or dry). We did the rail open bar.

Was it worth it to me personally? I ended up sober - people kept taking my drinks away!! But our guests had a great times and that is what was important to me. If your guests are drinkers, I think it is absolutely worth it. I would prefer beer/wine to nothing. I like my drinks

We're doing beer and wine, with a cash liqueur option. That way people who want to drink can drink for free, but if they want the fancier drinks they can buy them. It's what we can afford.

My venue has a difference of about $5 per person between open bar with a cake and an extra vegetable vs soda and beer. They also deduct $3 a head for people who are under 21 from the open bar. I have a long time to decide but I really hate the idea of open bar. FH may have a drink or 2 and I will be drinking diet coke. I will just have to figure it all out as we get closer I suppose. My brother got married a few years ago and provided NO alcohol or set ups etc. Not one person complained about BYOB.

We did beer and wine, because guess what! I only drink beer or wine! We put a bottle of gin behind the bar for DH, and told our wedding party and closest friends that if they wanted to bring a stash of what they wanted to drink feel free to. It sounds awful, but we had a pretty laid back wedding and it didn't feel awkward at all for them to ask the bartender to stash their bottle of vodka behind the bar

Plenty of my couples do wine, beer, sig drink. It's fine.

I guess it depends on how important it is to you and your FH.

We are having an open bar all night, at an extra $18per guest, including those under 21. However, our wedding is in Vegas (we are from Los Angeles as most of our guests) so we figured it wouldn't be fair to make our guests pay for drinks when they are already spending on hotel. Also, I feel like in Vegas, calls for an open bar lol

That being said, our guestlist is also staying under 65 so it is still affordable.

I don't mind a cash or limited bar for local weddings but if I am traveling, a few drinks would be nice

I think it's so worth it! As you mentioned, it's a way of "thanking them" for coming to your wedding.

It's up to you. If you're not into alcohol, then no. If you enjoy a few drinks, then have beer and wine. if you love shots and tequila, then have everything.

its you and your hubby's day (and close families)

$5 difference? So worth it! That pays for itself in one drink. I wish I had a deal like that.

I have only ever been to one wedding with an open bar, and it was only a non-cash bar for part of the night. All others have been a cash bar-- it's just not a big deal here. Alcohol is a lot more expensive in Canada and, at least at my venue, there's no package for a bar, it's pay for whatever drinks leave the bar. Our tab could literally be $20 000 JUST for the bar at the end of the night (our venue coordinator told us she has seen weddings hit this much), so we will be doing a cash bar.

Open bar for the win. Hands down. It's gonna cost us a lot because alcohol is expensive in a Canada, but I want to treat my guests. Cash bars do not fly in Manitoba.

We're only having kegs and maybe wine - but ours is a barbecue, so it works well. We can't afford an open bar, so it's not an option!

I think that a $30 per person dinner (where they could have paid much less in any restaurant) is thank you enough.

We are springing for soda and beer. Wine added a lot to the bill and we are limited on budget. If we had extra that's for sure where it would go, but definitely no hard liquor. Beer wine and soda is enough for me.

I have been to at least a dozen weddings and never once was there a complete open bar.