Watered down bar service?

Ah....no, that is not normal. The couple n guests are getting ripped off :o

Was it cash or open bar? If cash... ouch. There's terrible. If not, it may have been because they were low on supply. Horrible excuse, but it's a possible explanation.

It was the beginning of the night (like first 10 mins of cocktail hour) so i hope not!! And it was an open bar not cash bar.

If that was my wedding I'd be having a shit fit over that. That's definitely not normal.

Hm.... Sounds like the bartender wasn't given enough supply to begin with, so they had to make a judgement call and water down the drinks or else run out of everything from the get-go. Definitely NOT normal.

Make sure your bartender is well-stocked and you won't have that problem! We're having beer, wine and 2 signature cocktails, which is much easier to stock than a full bar with mixers and spirits.

Well good to know it was just that particular bar/venue. Its hard not to get jaded at the cost of it all sometimes, so I half thought this was something that just happened!

I could see if it was your fourth drink in an hour ... but no, that's not right. even more messed up if it was a open bar and bride and groom was paying for juice and not liquor.

I would have had them re-make, did other people have this issue at the wedidng?

No this is not normal. As a bartender we had to use a shot glass to pour out drinks or a jigger. We actually aren't supposed to free hand pour because if a liquor inspector comes by, the establishment and bartender can be charged.

Doesn't matter if cash or open, it is wrong, and fraud. These days, most venues will use some form of measured pours.

Wrong and unusual.

No, this is not normal or standards. I will shortpour if we can tell a person is quite drunk or offer water. If a bartender and venue are doing this they are being deceitful.

"Excuse me, why did you put water in my screwdriver?"

Definitely odd and - as a guest or as a bride - I would have been most upset

Definitely not normal.

Happened at a wedding we attended a few weeks ago. This was a six figure wedding and I was shocked! The watering down wasn't as blatantly obvious as what you saw, but over the course of 5 hours my fiancé and I drank a ton and we weren't even buzzed. My gin and tonic tasted like straight water.

Are you sure it wasn't club soda/soda water? Some versions of screwdrivers call for a splash of soda.

It wasnt fizzy, so I don't think it was club soda. I was just ticked off that after 4 drinks over 2 hrs, I wasn't even a bit buzzed. I'm not the greatest social butterfly, so having a bit of help keeps me partying. As it was, FH and I left early because we were just being lumps and sitting at our table.

We are being very clear about our alcohol demands with our venue because there are many things that wedding venues do to limit consumption when you are paying for an open bar (i.e. bar placement, alcohol content of drinks, limited amount of bartenders, etc.). For example we have heard complaints about the bar placement at our venue and are adding a rolling bar more centrally located and a tiki bar outside for the indoor-outdoor cocktail hour.

Oh the horror!

Just asked a coworker who bartentended through school and said there are *some* venues who pressure bartenders to stretch the budget. She told them to stuff it and got the word out.

Ew -- water??