Sober wedding

I would plan a really nice dinner party. People tend to leave a little earlier with a dry wedding so doing a dinner only thing kinda sets that expectation for you. I love a good dinner party.

Congratulations! You're really brave for taking the steps to do what's best for you.

I'd think that most of your close family and friends would know this, right? I'd try to include that the wedding will be alcohol free in a couple of places (website, invitations) and count on your family to spread the word too. If they can pass on registry information, they can band together to be supportive of this.

You could also consider altering the time of day or length of the reception, but only if it makes you happy. Ifyou've always wanted a big evening party with family and friends then don't compromise on a brunch wedding.

If it was me in your shoes, I'd consider some kind of mid-afternoon garden tea party kind of a deal. You could have a lot of fun with tea varieties, lemonades, etc.

The bottom line is that people who love you don't need to drink to enjoy your company.

First of all, CONGRATS on choosing recovery! That is no small thing and should be celebrated at every opportunity!!

Second, a lot of people here are gonna be weird about sober weddings. But there are also a lot of us who are also choosing to have dry weddings for one reason or another. I've also been to a handful of dry weddings, and have never had a problem with the absence of alcohol. People still danced, celebrated the couple, and had a great time.

You definitely need to do what's best for you in your recovery! Plan other activities - have fun non-alcohol drinks (we're doing punch, lemonade & iced tea), have a quirky element (we're doing a coffee & donut bar, because coffee is my lifeblood). But ultimately, your guests should be celebrating your recovery and won't care about the lack of alcohol.

Congrats on your journey to recovery! I am sure all of your close family and friends understand your path and wholeheartedly support you. As PPs have suggested, a nice dinner party would be wonderful!

We're having an outdoor cookout type wedding, I really like the tea bar idea as well as having other fun non alcoholic drinks! Thanks for that tip.

Congratulations on your start of recovery! As you are saying you are having a cookout type wedding maybe some lawn games. Cornhole, Giant jenga, Things like that.

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Yeah, we are actually doing all of those as well as some others and karaoke. I am trying to keep it fun.

Good for you!! I have seen the struggle with both of my parents so I can only imagine how hard it is. I don't know how casual or fancy your wedding is but I would deffenitly suggest something to keep your guests engaged. I have been to a dry wedding before (I'm not trying to be mean just want to give my honest opinon) I was bored out of my mind.. The couple didn't have any other entertiament with a home made DJ setup it was just very awkward. People don't NEED alchohol, its actually quite a rediculos thing and just makes people stupid haha. So a dry wedding is totally fine, just have other entertainment for your guests; yard games, get to know eachother games, maybe even a comedian or hypnotist??

I'm having a dry wedding. It's a personal preference. I personally don't have to drink to have a good time. If guests feel they need to drink to have a good time, that's on them.

We're having some games to play outside, a DJ so people are able to dance while we're doing pictures and during the reception, yummy food, etc. I've also thought about some "paper games" to put on the tables for entertainment. Our wedding is pretty casual though. A lot of the weddings I've seen people just sit around and chat during the cocktail hour so even if they have lemonade they will probably still do the same. If your guests don't know anyone it may be more awkward for them.

There is nothing wrong with having a dry wedding, if that is what you want. The overall mood doesn't get as "crazy," sure, but there are other ways to have fun. Depending on the type of venue you have, you can provide lawn games: corn hole, giant jenga, giant kerplunk, etc.

Can you have a brunch wedding instead of dinner? Easier for a dry wedding. An evening wedding is much harder especially if you want guests to dance; some people enjoy alcohol and remember we know all our guests but our guests don’t know each other and weddings are often awkward for them, especially if there’s dancing.

Food action stations help too! Fun, interactive & encourage guests to get up/mingle. An omelette station for brunch, a pasta station for dinner. A fancy coffee/tea bar for either wedding time would be yummy & fun too.

Your guest should understand what you are dealing with and know it is your day and they will have fun either way! Your DJ will keep them entertained, have good food, etc!

And HELLO! CONGRATS you are so strong! ♡

Congratulations on your recovery! We're having a dry wedding. We're doing the ceremony at 3, with the reception ending at 8 (and fully expecting most guests to leave early). We're providing a diy photo booth and we're getting married at a botanic gardens, so people are invited to visit the gardens throughout the reception. It's about 2/3 family, and they'll mostly want to visit and catch up, and our friends are already planning an after party at a hotel (that we're not hosting), so they're covered. It's about getting married, not wasted. You may want to let your friends and family know by word of mouth that it'll be dry. We noted it on our wedding website, in the menu section.

You don’t have to have alcohol for it to be fun. It Will be fine .

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I agree or have a brunch wedding

Maybe put some money towards a smoothie bar.. THAT would be so good!!

LOL, we are having a sober wedding. We're from Utah...like 99.9% of my FH's family is Mormon. While we ourselves and my side are not Mormons, we decided that a bar does not seem work financially for 10 people LOL!!

I'm not happy when I go to them, but it's never stopped us from going to a wedding. We tend to not stay as late when it's a dry wedding, but we stay for the important things.