Drink Ticket Etiquette

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You should not be helping a vendor, friend or not, to make money off of your guests.

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Yeah I'll just tell everyone whos invited not to come anymore lol

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Well it also has to do with allowing guests to order any drink they want, I want them to have that option. If I have a limited menu and they want something more, I think its unfair not to allow that

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Thanks, thats true. HOnestly this was my moms idea so I assumed it would be fine but I wasn't sure thats why i posted on here. She said she's been to a lot of weddings with drink tickets. I don't think they are tacky personally. The bride and groom are literally paying SO MUCH fricking money for each guest to be there, so giving them one free drink from a vendor seems perfectly reasonable to me. But then again, I am a very lowkey person. Sounds like there are a lot of people who are very much the opposite on here lol! I might just delete the post...

View Quoted Comment Truthfully I think their comment was meant in earnest about reducing your guest list to what can be afforded. Alot of us did have to make those extremely trying calls during the pandemic as well.
These posters really are giving you pretty solid advice based on common US wedding etiquette. You are always free to use your judgement based on your community experience, but I do think you got a lot of really clear answers. Drink ticket = 1 paid for drink, and the additional admin burden on the poor vendor who has to ask for $1.20 on a 5.20 drink would slow them up and tick people off.

If you can't afford fancy coffee, serve flavored lemonades or sweet tea. Those cost almost nothing to make and you don't annoy your guests by making them pay out of their own pockets.

I would love to get a ticket at this espresso truck! Haha love the idea, but I personally would not put a dollar amount on the ticket! I would try to cut costs somewhere else. Who wants a latte without oat milk, without caramel, or whip- not me. Best wishes!

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the kind reply. Some replies so far seem a little bit insulting. I appreciate your comment. I think you’re right, if I’m to keep the ticket idea, I’ll just abandon the amount idea. Thanks!

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Some of the replies may seem a bit insulting but posters are trying to help you to not insult your guests.

The amount the couple is paying for each guest to attend is completely up to the couple and frankly shouldn't be used as an excuse to have the guests pay for anything themselves.

From my understanding, you have hired a friend to provide coffee services from her small business. You also want people to be able to choose what they like. In order for your friend to support her business, she must give you a quote for the amount that she needs to: cover costs, make a healthy profit. Apart from paying the quoted amount you no longer have to be concerned with its function. This is the best way to ensure that your friend is correctly compensated for her business and provides her with an easy template to apply to future events.
Tickets don't bother me per se, but take into account how much money/energy (printing/distributing/collecting) goes into making sure that everyone gets said ticket. Please do not put a price on the ticket. This will be aware and confusing and may reflect badly on your friend.

Id Say Offer 2-3 Drinks Only, And If They Want Anything Else They Pay. We Have An Open Wine And Beer Bar But If Guests Want Liquor Theyll Have To Pay.

Hi Madeleine, I know it’s a lot of negative feedback, but try to step back and look at the event from the view of your guest.


I have to agree the ticket/cost on the ticket probably isn’t the best way to serve guests. If it was anything other than a wedding, then maybe.
We are doing an open bar of beer and wine, but only three beers and three wines. We purchased a set amount and once it’s gone, it’s gone.
You can do a similar thing with your coffee bar. Have a a few options and maybe one “signature seasonal” drink and leave it at that.
Just communicate with your friend/vendor what you’re committing to pay and after that....no more stress for you.

Wow the comments on here are rude. I’m sorry.


Itis your wedding and your doing what you want and your simply asking for some help with the ticket. I say come up with a few designs with your friend and a menu like PP said. A coffee truck sounds like a cool idea and honestly, I’m a coffee addict and always look forward to it at weddings lol also Itis your wedding. I saw this on Pinterest and I think it looks so cool as a drink ticket. There must be a way to maybe make the dots into coffee cups ! Maybe they can try three different coffees on you and then there can be a menu of other things. If you get fancy you can make QR code that leads to her truck menu so that you don’t have to print so much !! I’m a tech nerd over here ahaha 😂

Talk to your vendor about creative solutions. My bartender had some great ideas about what to do to keep the cost down and not be "tacky." They may be able to limit the "extras" so nothing goes over $4. Or you could have your vendor come up with a list of choices that doesn't break the bank and your guests could choose from that. I absolutely love the idea of a coffee bar. If I mention it to my fiancé, he will want it!

Why does it have to be a dollar amount? Just list the drinks it covers on the ticket. "Good for (1) tea, drip coffee, or hot chocolate". If guests want cappucinos or whatever is outside your price range they pay for it themselves.

That said. The one thing people tend to remember from weddings tends to be the food and drink. You are already saving a lot of money by foregoing alcohol. If you can at all afford or save up the extra $240 to give all your guests at least one nice, premium drink each to sip on that would really improve guest experience at your wedding.

People in different regions have different ideas about what is considered tacky at a wedding, so if your mom has really been to tons of weddings with drink tickets, this may go over better in your area than it does other places. But I'd like to point out that most people on here are either in the process of planning a wedding or have recently planned one, so as a group, we're fairly sympathetic to the feeling of spending a lot of money on a wedding. Even still, you've gotten a lot of negative responses to your plan, which is probably a sign that you should do something different.
I think the best solution is to have a limited selection of complimentary drinks and give guests the option to pay for their own drink if they want something that's not on the menu. Ignoring the question of tackiness, guests are annoyed when something the couple does makes it harder for them to enjoy the wedding. Having to pay for drinks is less fun than being given drinks, being too hot or cold makes it harder to enjoy anything, etc. Telling people that you're paying for their drinks, but only a couple, and only certain drinks, is an unnecessary complication that will make it more difficult for your guests to enjoy your wedding.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! I appreciate the response and polite advice. These responses have made me realize I should ditch the dollar amount. I’ll still probably do drink tickets even though these responses made me feel tacky and cheap haha.

Can you or her make a display sign of what is available to guests that you will be covering costs of? If something is not included on the menu, guests will be ok with that and pick from the items that are listed.

View Quoted Comment Absolutely. ☕️ 💕

I am 25, so in your age range, and I get that weddings are expensive. Here's my take on this...

My first question is - do you have other stuff to drink? Water, soda, iced tea, etc.? You mentioned the coffee truck instead of a bar, so I was wondering if you planned to offer other drinks as well, which you definitely should. Lots of people don't drink coffee, coffee dehydrates, and one drink is not enough for a full reception. If you do, disregard my comment.

I would not put the $ amount on the drinks, but have your friend make the smallest size of fancy drinks for the people who order those. I suspect lots of people, if they even partake of the coffee bar, will probably just get regular coffee...not everyone, especially older people, like the "froofy" drinks.

Like others have said, if you're having guests, you should make sure they are well taken care of, and to me that includes not making them pay the difference on the drink. I know it's expensive, but tbh, the last two weddings I went to involved extensive travel (one was a flight and an Airbnb, the other was an 8-hour drive and an Airbnb, plus food, etc.). We spent hundreds of dollars and took time off of work just to be there, let alone give a gift (which we did). I think that deserves a fancy coffee, whatever size it may be!