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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

  • Mrsbdg
    Champion August 2017
    Mrsbdg ·
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    I've been to about five cash bar weddings where everyone up and leaves after dinner... Advocating for a cash bar is advocating for making your guests pay for their own thank you
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  • Mrsbdg
    Champion August 2017
    Mrsbdg ·
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    I wanted Oheka castle. I could afford the off season price but none of the other costs like food and drinks...Should I charge my guests because I like really really wanted it?

    Im just saying that people need to have a wedding they can afford. If you tour a venue and realize you can't host properly without pushing costs onto the guests then it's time to find a new venue.
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  • NinjaBride
    Super June 2018
    NinjaBride ·
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    Are a lot of people staying at the resort? If it were me I would be going back to my room to have drinks there. Aka I would be missing from your reception for long chunks of time.
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  • Stephen
    Dedicated April 2020
    Stephen ·
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    I did not say I am advocating for cash bar and another thing this was my first reception I did not go to the wedding because I had to work another thing in my whole life I have never been to a wedding
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  • Mrsbdg
    Champion August 2017
    Mrsbdg ·
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    Communicating about the open bar and doing a few hours sounds much better than tickets! Dude good on you for actually taking feedback! Really, it's awesome when posters actually listen to the overwhelming comments.
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  • Stephen
    Dedicated April 2020
    Stephen ·
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    But at the reception I was at people stayed til eleven and they even gave out drinks that you did not have to pay for whiskey was 3 dollars but I even managed to get that free
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  • P
    Devoted July 2018
    Precious Stone ·
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    But she's giving 4 drink tickets. Shes not charging them for it. If you are a guest and want more than four it's up to you. Your shouldn't blame the couples for not being able to afford ur rate of drinking. Prolly four is enough for them like it is for me. Actually it's too much for me. I might just drink water and just one drink... wooow.
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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    I saw you commented a few times and I know I didn't get to all of them and some people were upset when I didn't reply. I'm definitely taking feedback!!!! What I wish was, if more feedback was given to what I asked for and then they could add their opinion. We definitely need to work with it and explore some more options since some valid points were made about a few things but tickets may just be a part of the plan instead of the plan.

    Back to the drawing board for me!

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  • Stephen
    Dedicated April 2020
    Stephen ·
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    You are right sorry if I was disrespectful
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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    Thank you. We're trying to accommodate for more, but right now fiance is leaning towards the tickets so I had to start to wrap my mind on how to execute it if we needed to go that way.

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  • Mrsbdg
    Champion August 2017
    Mrsbdg ·
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    Good luck ❤️❤️
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  • The Nuptials
    VIP July 2018
    The Nuptials ·
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    Four drinks is not a ton. Weddings are long, the avg person will definitely have two drinks at cocktail hr. Then there is dinner and dancing. People also put drinks down to say hello and understandably don’t pick them back up.
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  • Mrsbdg
    Champion August 2017
    Mrsbdg ·
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    It's for alcohol and non alcohol...I drink more than four cups of water if I'm dancing and there goes my drinks for the entire night

    Thumbs up for you and your one drink but the idea of hosting an event is to be sure everyone can drink however much they want without opening their wallets. When I host a party I don't walk around going "nah man you had water, two Cokes, and a beer. Gotta pony up $4-$7 from here on out."

    Shes rethinking her plan anyway sooooo...moot point anyway.
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  • P
    Devoted July 2018
    Precious Stone ·
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    Sincerely there's nothing wrong with that option. I have never seen it because I never really pay attention to food and drinks, especially drinks when I go to weddings. I'm too excited for the couple that I prolly forget there's a bar. You and hubby should do what you can, don't break the bank to please your guest. They go home after and you will be stuck with expenses. Four drinks is enough. Goodluck.
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  • Mrsbdg
    Champion August 2017
    Mrsbdg ·
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    So...they had free drinks so you stayed? Does that make the case for an open bar?


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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    Yeah we met with three different venues and one was booked up in the 4-month window we wanted and he didn't want to go into 2019. We had a set budget for alcohol for every venue we met with and (again with these) made a spreadsheet that laid out each section of the budget since some places include things other would not. It's really working within the alcohol budget that we set that we have to work out and because of the feedback here I realize there's more freedom and options than what I was thinking. The other venue we met with that was not booked, would have actually cost us more and offered much less in the way of everything else. Thanks for your comments, even if I didn't reply to each.

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    Not a lot, maybe 15 couples or less (and that's if every out of town guest showed). They're the ones who would most likely drinking the most though as well since they're the younger friend crowed vs the older family crowd.

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  • Karilyn
    Dedicated September 2018
    Karilyn ·
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    We will be getting coasters for guests to cover their drinks with to hopefully avoid the reception staff picking them up too soon. Better safe than sorry.

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  • PBiazinha
    VIP May 2018
    PBiazinha ·
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    That’s close to what we are paying for open bar.
    I’m not really following your line do thought tho,open bar you know the amount and that’s it, doesn’t matter if uncle Joe drinks 2 drinks and Mary drinks 7. At the end of the night the difference in consumption from one guest to another evens out in the amount you paid, and you’re not surprised by an unexpected number on your bill like you would at a consumption bar. Your venue seem out of touch as most venues and wedding coordinator suggest you use open bar to save money (for reasons above) - or more, they are trying to convince you to spend more (and so will your guests) on purpose.
    I don’t really have much opinion on ticketing system, I’m not really in favor of it (hence I have 40 guests because that’s the amount of people we could properly host) but I think you should try to review that math with an open mind.
    Good luck!
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  • Mrsbdg
    Champion August 2017
    Mrsbdg ·
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    You specifically stated it was a cash bar then said you had free drinks...Like how though?
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