Cash bar...to Have or Not To Have

We did an open bar for beer and wine and cash bar for hard liquor.

View Quoted Comment The experience includes the alcohol. You don't have to feel like it's rude for it to be rude. I don't know how cash bars started, but there is a widespread consensus that asking your guests to pay for anything at a party you're hosting is rude.

I’ve only been to one wedding with a cash bar and it was very annoying to scrounge for cash to get a glass of wine. Just offer beer and wine to cut costs and keep it moving.

Because giving to someone's honeymoon find is a gift to the couple. Charging for drinks where the proceeds go to pay for your vacation is a fundraiser... you're basically forcing people to pay for your vacation if they want to have a drink. That is incredibly rude and distasteful...

We explored the idea of a cash bar or just serving beer and wine or even a shortened open bar simply because we had a lot of guests that don’t drink and we didn’t want that money to be wasted. If you feel like that may be your situation, I’d say go for it. I’ve been to open bars, limited bars and cash bars and I’ve never considered the people rude for doing so, especially if those people don’t put a huge value on the alcohol. My FH doesn’t drink so he could care less if anyone else does, to be honest. I however like a nice glass of wine. Our venue included a top shelf open bar with their price so we just did open bar. I don’t know about taking the money for a fundraiser for honeymoon though. I’d feel a little weird about it.

View Quoted Comment It’s not the same thing, but I’m not a fan of honeyfunds either.

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Depending on your state, you may need to have a liquor license to *sell* the alcohol - something that would be taken care of for you if you were going through a vendor for the cash bar/alcohol. Charities, etc. who sell alcohol for fundraisers have liquor licenses which cover the fundraiser. Yes, a cash bar is legal, but in your case, you aren't really talking about a cash bar - you're talking about a fundraiser. This is extremely tacky and in poor taste. If you can't afford a honeymoon, and no one gifts you one, then you don't get to have one. If you can afford a honeymoon, and you're just looking for a little extra for experiences, do a honeyfund - because then it's a gift not a purchase.

However, your responses seem to indicate you're set on doing this - make sure you check the legalities ahead of time, otherwise you could end up with a big mess.

I think it depends on your friends/family circle. I've seen people do it before at weddings though not for the honeymoon but just to cover expenses for providing the alcohol.

In our circle guests don't pay for anything and it would be considered rude.

Girl, do what you want! Its your wedding! I been to cash bar wedding and didn't think nothing of it.

I do not like cash bars. When hosting an event, you should provide everything! However, a cash bar where the money is then going towards a vacation is even worse. If you would like people to donate money towards your honeymoon, have a honeymoon fund so people can choose to donate. Don't charge them for a drink forcing them to donate. This idea is in very poor taste.

View Quoted Comment This too! In my circle, asking for money for a vacation is considered rude and not in the spirit to a wedding. This may be unique to my circle/culture because we tend to have younger marriages and people don't live together beforehand, so we typically register for basics. Still, I think honeyfunds are basically asking for money, which is always rude.

First off congratulations on your big day! Secondly in my personal opinion, I think cash bars make guests feel like they’re at a carnival concession stand. I plan on having open bar. If you’re worried about people drinking too much, I was worried about this too, but the bartender will do their job and cut them off if needed. Typically venues have a flat fee for open bar and don’t necessarily keep an open tab. As far as the whole funding your honeymoon idea is concerned, as much as I would like to be supportive, I have to say this really isn’t appropriate. If you choose to do it however, I would strongly advise you to NOT tell your guests that it is going to your honeymoon fund. As you can tell by the previous posts it may rub many of your guests the wrong way and they may actually get a little offended.

View Quoted Comment I hear ya. I’ve been to cash weddings too and it wasn’t terrible. Except for the fact that we did bring a fair amount of cash on us. We thought we brought more than enough cash, but many of our friends didn’t bring cash so we ended up just buying drinks for everyone the whole night. I just think in order to have your guest think back of your wedding day and be like, wow that was an awesome wedding, open bar is definitely a KEY aspect. Hope this helps♥️

View Quoted Comment That's doable and may work. TY

View Quoted Comment TY...I was starting to think I was the only one who's been to one.

View Quoted Comment This comment may be my favorite..lol. I didn't know this was such an issue for most.

If you already don't have a registry people are going to end up a.) getting you things you don't need or want or b.) just giving you money. I'm not sure if you're having a wedding in a venue but usually laws require them to purchase and sell the alcohol or you purchase the alcohol and pay them a bartending fee. I think a cash bar if fine as long as you tell people in advance so they can bring some extra cash. I'm just a little confused if you're purchasing the alcohol and charging for it? I'm not sure you'd make that much off alcohol i you're also purchasing it to pay for a honeymoon.

While cash bars in the traditional sense are not my favorite, I've been to weddings with them and I just pay for a few drinks. However, the money for a cash bar is usually not being given to the couple. It is the same as when you go to a regular bar. You are paying for the drink to the establishment. This, however, is not what you are proposing. It seems like you want to buy alcohol and then charge your guests for it. As others have said, you may very well not be allowed to even do this because you need a license to re-sell alcohol. What you are asking about is not a cash bar. You are asking if it would be ok to charge your guests money during your event to fundraise your honeymoon. It's the same as frat parties that charge $5 a cup upon entry to the party. I'll be honest, if I saw that someone was doing this, I may pay for a drink or 2, but probably not drop the $200 check I brought as a gift into their envelope box because when you start nickle and diming guests to fundraise a vacation, I become less generous.

I would recommend limiting to just wine and beer if budget is an issue. I would avoid doing a cash bar at all costs

I don't think cash bars are ever a good option. If you want to limit alcohol I would say purchase a set amount and serve it until it's gone. That's what we're doing with our signature sangria. We'll have 10 gallons of that plus wine and beer and when it's gone it's gone. There's great tools online to calculate the appropriate amount so that you can avoid a cash bar