Drink Tickets Logistics

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I wondered about this as well because I've never been to one with wine service but this makes me hopeful then. I guess I just figured it was safe to assume the minimum and hope for more. :-)

And as far as the tickets, if we go with them I really wouldn't want anyone that would be that offended to show anyhow, keep your gift, save your time, I know the guests on my guest list would not care in the least. The tickets are meant to be "gifted" drinks on top of the wine and champagne and there are plenty of non-alcoholic drinks to choose from as well. No one would be monitoring them as in some previous users mentioned places handing them out and such. Are we limiting how much we spend/give? Yes. But this doesn't mean any one individual is being monitored. It does mean, I don't mind being responsible for getting you tipsy but I will not be responsible for getting you drunk -- that's on you if you want to keep going.

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That's pretty much what I'm leaning towards now after all these suggestions. And if my estimates are correct, we either won't hit the number or we won't hit until late in the night when everyone is pretty well liquored up anyhow and the light drinkers/older family members already left. I was concerned about how to communicate it and another user said just to have the DJ announce last call when we're getting close to the cap. We're looking at probably $3,000 since the 20% fee and 7% tax will add up real quick. The ones who are staying there are likely going to pregame in their room before cocktail hour even starts anyhow too haha.

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I don't trust any of them fully. That's a personal flaw.

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Thank you! Pretty positive it's gonna be capped-consumption and if not, then tickets and people can deal or go home.

Those are exactly the concerns I had! That if we couldn't execute it correctly then I wouldn't want to do it. I'd be avoiding the place settings for that exact reason and go with with the seating-arrangement table or whatever instead. I would never go around and pass out tickets either lol and would make sure the DJ was reminding everyone frequently how it all worked (along with having signs at the bar and such). But, because of all this, I might just say forget it and say I'm paying for what I'm paying for since apparently that is more acceptable than tickets even though its the same premise and actually less fair to some of the guests imo. But hey, less on my shoulders!

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Ha, we don't want to, but it is what it is. But someone earlier said that an $8500 tab should be doable for me? 0_o

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So glad it worked out for you guys! If that was included in our price or is was a reasonable cost-cutter we'd do it and just have a bottle set aside for us or something but it's not unfortunately. Thanks for the input!

View Quoted Comment Uhh that’s almost as much as our entire wedding. Like honeymoon and all. Congrats to the people with that kind of money but I do not fall under that category 😂

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This is pretty similar to our situation as well, but yes, it's our "fault" for picking the venue that was available and we decided on when we wanted to get married. Minus the flashing part hahahaha!

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Don't we wish!? It definitely adds up! It's just hard to balance wanting to buy some drinks but not all of them for people to be bottomless all night.

I'm so annoyed with your venue! This is unnecessarily hard when most people won't have more than four drinks (and they know it). Can they really not do better or even give you suggestions on how to handle it? I'm perfectly annoyed. (But not with you, who are trying to deal with this.)
If you have to do tickets I would station someone at the door to disperse them as people enter. And be annoyed with this. Talk to some of your key, gossipy family members so that people will know what to expect and you won't have to print it on your invite.

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Honestly, I can't afford to have a full open bar either, but I'm doing my best to make the budget work so my guests don't have to worry about their drinks for the night. Have you talked to your parents about the complications of adding more people without being able to provide drinks for them? Perhaps even a beer or wine only, or modified bar would be an option?

And as for the incident at the open bar wedding, I think that sounds more like a lapse in judgment on the guest's part rather than a fault of the hosts. I only mention it, because the implication seemed to be that open bars may cause people to behave in an unruly manner.

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Karilyn, I will be blunt: No sign will make up for the drink tickets. My first in laws tried to pass this off as a good idea back in the early 90's and my mom and I were like, no. You seem committed to the idea but the reality is: It is hard to police (who says I can't give my four tickets to someone else? Or go get drinks for that person?) it comes off as tacky and cheap. No one will tell you to your face it is a bad idea but most people here are telling you it is a bad idea. I get a feeling you already sent out Save the Dates and are committed to inviting 150 people, but if you haven't, please reduce your guest list so you can properly host the wedding with no tickets. Earlier you said people can deal or go home, be prepared for people to leave early. Is that what you really want for your wedding reception? Upset people leaving early? I am older than a lot of WW brides so I am saying this to like you are a niece or something: please reduce the guest list and host a consumption bar.

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Good call. It will be more of our friends than our family that will even care, open bars aren't an expectation with our families. We're meeting with them soon, but I needed to have an idea of what we wanted so we didn't get steamrolled. They definitely cater to larger groups or more unlimited budgets so their pricing reflects that... we have a budget for alcohol, it's just making it work. They did advise that the hourly open bar does not make sense for us with how much we expect everyone to drink.

I’ve actually never heard of this idea before! I’ve been to numerous weddings and all have been open bar! I just thought that was the norm?!

Not sure if I personally would appreciate 2-4 tickets at a wedding to drink, including soda. Idk. But it’s youre day and you’re wedding, you know you’re guests better than all of us, obviously.

Personally I think your rough draft is perfect, where I come from every wedding I have ever been to has been a cash bar! So I say iy wonderful just the way it is!

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Unfortunately the people that have been added are being added to avoid drama with aunts and uncles. We are at roughly 130ish guests and that's mostly family with a few friends placed in there. I didn't want a lot of people invited but these people are being invited to avoid drama. My FI and I have discussed the possibilities of beer, wine and signature drinks(and obvi soda) but my parents basically stated that if we can afford the bar, we can afford to help them with everything else.

It's a complicated situation. Even though almost all of our guests are used to cash bars, I still would rather do what we can to make sure it's not fully that way.

And you are right in that it was a lapse of judgement with my brother's GF, however because of that we are getting bullied around to not have an open bar because it is, in my parents' words, difficult to police.

I'd rather just elope but my FI doesn't want to do so. I reached out to the venue we decided on to get their bar pricing to see if it is something we can afford.

I’ve literally never heard of drink tickets for a wedding. Is this a regional thing?

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Wow you are so right if alcohol is the only reason you are coming, don't come. We also chose the tckt option 150 guest we know of 50 that don't drink at all, and there may be more. The tickets are for the hard stuff 1 per guest, soft drinks are free for 2 hours, and we paid for 250 bottles of wine (individual). After that you are on your own Cash Bar! We are calling the cocktail hour a social mix with refreshments and flavored waters for the guest who choose to go directly to the venue, the bar will be open for those who desire something harder, once we enter the venue we are into the dinner hour and wine will be served ,the bar will open after dinner is served. Get your drinks (hard) and enjoy the wine or buy some more hard stuff. The Venue owner also stated this was best " you are not trying to get people drunk just a thank you", let them be responsible.

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That sounds like an awesome plan! So true.

Despite what others think, I think drink tickets are fine. I live in Wisconsin and have been to multiple weddings where they were used, and I did not look at the couple as cheap or disrespectful. Also, no one left after dinner due to the drink tickets. It might be my friend group or my area, but I have found that usually people are pretty understanding that the hosts are not going to be able to pick up a $10,000 bar tab. I am also looking at hosting around 150 for my wedding, which is considered on the small side for my friends and family as well! I think putting them with the name card is probably the best bet if there are no assigned seats.