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Karilyn
Dedicated September 2018

Drink Tickets Logistics

Karilyn, on March 27, 2018 at 5:05 PM

Posted in Wedding Reception 230

Okay, first, I know how many of you feel about drink tickets and say it's rude. Please know we've pretty much made up our mind based on the details below but wanted feedback on a few logistics. It doesn't appear we have another option unless we had a dry wedding so do not try to talk us out of it (a...

Okay, first, I know how many of you feel about drink tickets and say it's rude. Please know we've pretty much made up our mind based on the details below but wanted feedback on a few logistics.
It doesn't appear we have another option unless we had a dry wedding so do not try to talk us out of it (a friend got married at the same place and it turned out her open bar tab was $10,000 for only a slightly higher guest count). And no, beer and wine only are not something we're interested in, nor much cheaper anyhow since they charge by the drink and house wine is $8/glass; even soda is $4/ea. I've been to plenty of weddings and never expected an open bar so maybe it depends on where you're from.


Now, the reception package already includes complimentary wine service with dinner and a champagne toast. We are currently thinking of giving 2 drink tickets per person to use as they please. We will have a beverage table with lemonade, iced tea, coffee, water. Our main questions are:

1. Do the tickets move hands pretty easily on their own? (I know 2 drinks seems low but we are hoping/assuming some will likely drink nothing and they'll get passed on to the heavier drinkers).

2. How do we distribute the tickets? Right now we're thinking to put them on/under the name card that gives them their table number as well. We'd prefer for the reception hall not to get a hold of them to avoid unnecessary overcharging and we don't want to leave on the table since we're only doing assigned tables, not seats.

3. How should we communicate the fact that some wine and champagne will already be offered in addition to their tickets? Just put a simple message under their name placard with the drink tickets?

4. For those who have attended an event or wedding with tickets, how was it overall?


This isn't fine-tuned, but just a rough idea..... "Below are your tickets to be used for two complimentary alcoholic drinks. You will also receive complimentary wine service with dinner and a champagne toast will occur later in the evening."

230 Comments

  • P
    Devoted July 2018
    Precious Stone ·
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    Smh. Great stay home, cos I will not want someone with your mindset at my wedding anyways if you cannot appreciate what I can offer. I should prolly have gone with this ticketing idea to get people who think like you out of my day.
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  • S
    Expert July 2017
    SaraBear ·
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    Do you and your husband have to use drink tickets too?

    Drink tickets remind me of frat parties in college. A “cute” sign telling me to pass my tickets along if I didn’t want to drink makes me feel like I’m being monitored like a child. If I received a wedding invite with a note about drink tickets, I would laugh and I wouldn’t go. Your invitation is an indication as to how hosting is going to be and I’m not in college anymore. If I arrived and there were drink tickets, I would use them and leave shortly after because I would be annoyed I got all dressed up with a nice gift to have my drinking monitored.

    Also, idk about your wedding but I went to a wedding where there was wine service with dinner and that didn’t mean one glass of wine. It meant if your glass was empty, it was refilled, once even to the brim. Same at our wedding, wine service meant glasses were refilled multiple times throughout dinner.
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  • B
    Expert September 2018
    Brittany ·
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    We are not expecting anyone to spend any money... we are having a cash bar to give people the option to drink and defiantly aren't forcing anyone to buy a drink.... I'm sure people who really need a drink would rather have the option to pay for a drink themselves instead of not being allowed any alcohol like a child... if people come to our wedding and not drink they will have water, soda, ice tea, coffee, appetizers, dinner, dessert, and late night snacks without spending any money.... that's more than enough... it's funny on here people say hosting a party means hosting alcohol... I have never been to a wedding with an open bar and when we go to my fiancés extended family Christmas party (half our guest count) there is no alcohol in sight all day... it's just not something our family needs to have a good time... maybe if we were inviting a bunch of college kids but we are in our 30s...

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  • Kiley
    Super February 2019
    Kiley ·
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    Would you be able to do an open bar to a certain price point, then switch over to a cash bar? So say you only want to spend $3,500 on the bar (roughly $30p/p) then after you reach that point you can switch to a cash bar. I think that is far because the light drinkers will get some drinks, and the heavy drinkers will eventually have to pay if they drink as much as you say they will.
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  • B
    Master April 2019
    Brittany ·
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    This is the one thing that stuck out to me

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  • plangalCG
    VIP May 2018
    plangalCG ·
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    You’re forcing them if they want a drink. It isn’t that I think alcohol is required, but paying for what you’re offering your guests is. I’m in my 40s. I don’t plan on having a raucous party, and some guests may not drink at all, but it’s there and I’m paying for it for those who do. I’ve never been to a celebration where I was expected to pay for food or drink. Of course none of this is relevant to the OP’s question.
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  • BB-H
    VIP September 2018
    BB-H ·
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    Hi Karilyn, I like your idea of doing a combo of things, and I think you've got some great ideas from some people here on how to do that. I wish you luck!

    for those lurking: I've been to two weddings with tickets. The first one, they put the tickets at each place setting, and some jerk immediately set upon the place settings that did not have people at them yet. Those late comers didn't have any tickets. The other one, was rather confusing, as the FOG kept going around passing out tickets, and then showing up at the bar when I bought a soda and said it was on him, after I tried to pay cash. So, these things can get difficult.

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  • Ashley
    VIP December 2018
    Ashley ·
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    I can't imagine putting down a few thousand- I wish D: Alcohol is so damn expensive lol

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  • Michelle
    VIP September 2018
    Michelle ·
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    I get it. And I get it because we were considering the same thing but FILs told us they’d pay for unlimited beer and wine. So with that, our original plan was to have 4 drink tickets per person sitting at their seat at the reception- all seats, even kid seats (obv their parents would take them or they’d be given away). I get it, you want to give what you can. Don’t let people rip you apart over it. We lucked out with the in laws taking that bill but not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford an open bar even AFTER they cut their list.
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  • Stacey
    Super October 2018
    Stacey ·
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    Just stopping by to see what kind of post gets 197 comments. lol. Also, 150 ppl is not small.

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  • M
    Expert July 2018
    Melissa ·
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    I was thinking the same thing. I have no issues with how anyone choose to run their wedding, but if tickets cover soda too then those guest will need to keep their tickets so they have something to drink.

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  • M
    Expert July 2018
    Melissa ·
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    We opted for unlimited beer and wine only as well. We have a 125 guest wedding and 90 of those guest do not drink. Of the ones who do, I have a few family members who tend to get a bit rowdy or mean on liquor so we decided it against. I know the reception is for my guest, but I also need to protect the safety of my guest from family members I can't cut from the wedding but choose not to control themselves. I think sometimes people get to wrapped up on what they think they are owed as guest. Drink tickets are better then no tickets, but some guest are not going to share their drink tickets with the heavier drinkers if they need it to get soda.

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    Smiley xd omg I'm sending this to her now! LMAO

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    Good call!

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    If we go with tickets, there would definitely be plenty of communication like this. Plus the idea of leaving a bowl open on the tables for those to put tickets they don't need.

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    I have mentioned several times though that we will likely allow soda on an open tab but wouldn't advertise it, but if they ask, they shall receive. And there are still four other drink choices to choose from all night besides alcohol and soda as well.

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  • stbmrs2019
    Devoted September 2019
    stbmrs2019 ·
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    I just want to peek in and state that some of us can't cut down our guest list and can't afford to have a full open bar. I've tried several times to cut down our guest list but my parents, who are paying for majority of the wedding, keep adding more. My FI and I are looking into what we can do for the bar but we aren't sure how much we can cover.

    Also, as far as I know there has only been one open bar wedding in my family, which I didn't go to, and my brother's GF got so trashed that she ended up accidentally flashing everyone around them.

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    They will have wine service with dinner so they'll get one glass or more then, I don't know when the champagne toast is yet lol (maybe when we walk in?), we've decided on soft drinks included now, and then the tickets could be used whenever; but, this is was the part I wanted to make sure they knew about so they knew how to properly utilize their tickets when they personally thought appropriate. In my head, you'd probably have a drink before we got there and get your champagne, then fill up on wine at dinner, and then you have another drink to have after that. If you want to continue drinking, it would be self-pay or with tickets you found from others that were donating. Honestly, if I were a guest, my SO would be the DD so he'd probably just have the wine and champagne and I'd be stealing his tickets. Not as many guests will be staying at the hotel so they'll be driving home. Hope this explains a bit more. But after feedback on here, I mentioned I'm likely going to just take the money/budget we'd spend on the tickets and put it towards a capped consumption bar based on our estimates as they're pretty similar -- and just keep my fingers crossed that no one blows the rest of the guests out of the water. The thought was to have moderate-light drinkers be covered all night and the moderate drinkers might need to buy a round or two (if they choose). I think we'll be alright. But yes, wine with dinner is already included in addition to the tickets.

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    Thanks for the tip, I won't pressure him but more of a persuasion since we were pretty set on the ticket idea. And we are definitely in no way going towards a completely open bar; I would never try to sell on that one because it's also 20% service and 7% tax on top of whatever is spent. However, we've estimated consumption by individual guest on the high side and the cost equals that of the tickets. So really, our cost will wind up being the same. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that no one unexpectedly drinks twice as much as anticipated (yes, I've estimated up to 10 drinks for several couples in addition to the included wine and champagne). The original thought was if they would be the same money, why not let guests choose how they "spend" their tickets instead of someone unexpectedly plowing through our prepaid bar. They can have two late at night, two right when they get there, zero, give to a friend, whatever.

    The original post was to figure out if we could get the tickets to logistically work without guests stealing others' tickets, and that they would be shared amongst each other without any assistance from us and several users were very helpful is hashing this out. But now it seems like more of a headache than it's worth and if our estimates are correct, we should be fine. Thank you for the support and advice!

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    Love it. That's kind of what we were looking for on this post.

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