Drink & Dessert Tickets!

I don't think drink tickets are appropriate for weddings to begin with, but drink tickets at a dry wedding? Yikes. That being said, I can't imagine that you'd even need these tickets to begin with. I doubt that guests would even have time to drink more than 2 mocktails during your mocktail hour assuming it's an hour long, and who knows if everyone would even want an ice cream cone to begin with. Me personally--I love ice cream but I'd voluntarily skip out on an ice cream cone at a wedding if I were wearing a nice dress. Especially since you indicated that there will already be a dessert bar with other options as well as other selections of non-alcoholic drinks, I simply don't think the tickets are necessary.

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Thank you! My concern was after a few family members and friends warned me about guests who would probably take advantage of wanting to try every flavor of drink/icecream which happened to a few of the weddings they attended. Our bartender will be sticking around another hour after during reception. So considering they are mocktails I wouldn't have to worry about them wasting drinks? We are preparing 2-3 per guest, I believe. As for the ice cream - our crowd really loves this ice cream place and usually they would have to drive up an hour to get there but they do often because they love it! I wanted guests who are from out of town or cannot make the time to do such have a chance to try it (since it's also a meaningful place to me & my fiancé). But since there are other desserts that comes with the caterer, I wanted to limit to one per guest.

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If you intend to be an excellent host then you must ensure there is adequate food and drinks and factor in that yes, some people will drink a lot, some people will eat a lot, and others will have eyes bigger than their stomachs.

I appreciate that you do not want to waste food or drinks but in my honest opinion, you will come across as 'cheap' if you give people tickets restricting them to a set amount of food or drinks.

The best comparison I can give you is this - you wouldn't expect at a buffet dinner to be refused a second helping of pasta alfredo solely because you had a serving 20 minutes prior and loved it. If someone has chocolate ice cream wants to go back to try the pistachio ice cream, they will think more poorly of the fact that you restricted them from going back for more than if they were unable to try the pistachio flavour because it was so popular it ran out.

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I understand! I don't want to come across as cheap (oh boy..) but also have to work within the budget I have while being mindful that all guest can have the same opportunities to experience the mocktails & ice cream which are more of an added bonus. There will be more than enough food & drinks & dessert from the caterers since we are adding buffer amount but I get what you are saying. The tickets aren't a set decision (because I'm having mixed feelings as well) - just wanted opinions! Thank you for your input!

What if you did a sign where they order? Like,


How it Works: 1. Pick your scoop. 2. Pick two toppings

The bartender and caterer, if they are experienced professionals, are good at estimating consumption at events. They do not want to run out of food, trust me, it will look really bad for them. If you give them an accurate headcount and they know their jobs, you won’t run out of food.

I don’t think you’re going to need drink tickets for juice unless you’re not providing any other beverages besides mock tails. Will you also have water, tea, soda, etc?

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Second that. As a guest I would feel a bit weirded out and offended by a ticket.


Since people know dinner is coming they probably won't fill up on ice cream and mocktails. I wouldn't worry about the mocktails running out if you plan two per person and it's just for cocktail hour. For the ice cream, maybe make a sign like someone else suggested.

If the mocktails are only for the first hour, I wouldn’t worry about needing tickets if you’ll already have 2 per person. People will be mingling and busy and I’ve never thought to myself “I need to try everything” when it comes to a drink menu. For the ice cream, my concern would center more on your guests and potential allergies. Like, some guests may not be able to have the ice cream at all or some guests may only be able to have the ice cream if your other desserts have gluten in them. I think it would be weird to go to a wedding that made it a point to hire a specific ice cream vendor and then be told I was limited to one scoop of ice cream.

One scoop does feel a little stingy to me...if I was going through the effort of hiring this place, I’d make sure to plan for each guest getting to try TWO flavors. Not everyone will want two, not everyone will even have ice cream. But the notion that they won’t get to taste more than one thing feels like a lot of rules for a party. Still, the Pp’s suggestion of a sign at the ice cream station for how to order sounds like the best option to me. If they want more they can ask the Scooper and if they’re told no, it sounds better coming from the Scooper than the host


Anyway , I don’t think tickets are a good idea (makes it feel like a school fair), and I also really don’t think they’re necessary here. I wouldn’t expect people to go crazy trying to taste every mocktail. Generally a set menu limits tastes so everyone has just a couple they would even be interested in. Again, some people won’t want any, and some people will certainly not want more than one. So I wouldn’t stress over quantity. I’d try a mocktail, but one would be plenty for me. Despite that, if you told me I could only have a limited amount, I’d find that annoying! Again, the no one wants to hear rules at a party thing. There’s also a weird psychology thing— I’d probably only want one mocktail but if I had 2 tickets I’d feel like I HAD to try a second, so there enters a new risk for wastefulness there

View Quoted Comment “ If someone has chocolate ice cream wants to go back to try the pistachio ice cream, they will think more poorly of the fact that you restricted them from going back for more than if they were unable to try the pistachio flavour because it was so popular it ran out.”


This!!

Tickets are never appropriate. Order enough food and drink for everyone or don’t offer those particular things.

As an example of people tasting different flavors, I attended a wedding years where the couple had a fake cake for cutting pictures (guests thought was weird and it really was) and 3 large half sheet cakes (at least 3 layers with fillings from the local grocery store) each in a different flavor. Guests were invited to pick one or all flavors and they could have standard wedding sliver of cake or a full birthday size slice cut to order in front of them. People went back for 2nds and 3rds and still cake leftover that was taken to the dance portion of the reception at a different venue (the church didn’t allow dancing). It was talked about for years as the best cake setup at a wedding anywhere.

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So I'm not too worried about mocktails at the moment if I were to get rid of the ticket idea but the ice cream truck isn't a caterer but charges per scoop per guest. Adding another scoop would cost us a thousand dollar more. There's also a fee for any left overs for them to deal with. So I'm thinking how to do the math to "have enough" ice cream while thinking some will skip, some will want seconds, etc. Also noting that there will be additional dessert bar.

View Quoted Comment In that case, skip the ice cream caterer

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Yes! We will have three other drink options and bottled water!

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That's true! We will have 2 hours for the bartender, one during mocktail hour and one during reception. And 2 hours for the ice cream truck or until it runs out (whichever comes first).

View Quoted Comment The ice cream truck people could only give one scoop and say something like “we’re doing one scoop per serving so everyone can enjoy the ice cream!”
If you have people you know who will demand more, mention a few times around them, in a lighthearted way “sure hope we don’t run out of ice cream, the caterer can’t fit too much in the truck!”
Unless these people are...rude or gauche...if they are served one scoop and gently refuse another scoop, they should be ok. And if they are the kind to cause trouble, they’ll cause trouble anyway, if it’s not ice cream, it will be something else!

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We have guests mention allergies or diet when they RSVP (like I need to know how much non dairy ice-cream to prep too!)

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Okay, thank you! Will keep in mind.