Limited Alcohol Receptions / Dry weddings (UPDATED)

Oh Lordy!

Guests should never open their wallets for YOUR event and there should be alcohol available for those that drink.

Your friends who drink WILL be offended, you said it yourself. Having dry/cash bar is not proper hosting. You can save money by only supplying open beer/wine, and still be a good host.

If you're having a dry wedding due to cultural/religious reasons, I think your guests should understand that and not be all judgy & annoyed.

I went to a dry wedding once. In fact there was no dancing either. But nobody complained because we knew it was for religious reasons and we understood that. Everyone still had a good time.

Even though half of our guests don't drink for the same reasons, we are still having an open bar for everyone else. And who knows!!?? Maybe the dry half will decide they want a drink or two And it's included in our reception package price per head, so we didn't have to pay extra.

Please host properly and provide alcohol, even if it's just beer, wine and a signnature cocktail.

But it would be like...literally 5 people out of 200, so hence my situation.

@natalie - Um...that wasn't an answer?

Do a consumption bar, you pay for the alcoholic drinks bought not per person.

Not touching anything else.

You can still have a full, open consumption bar. The few guests that do drink will be able to, and all other non-alcoholic drinks will be added to a tab. At the end of the night, you just pay the tab. It is still much, much, much cheaper than a per person open bar and you do not offend anyone. Win-win!

A dry wedding due to cultural reasons is better than a cash bar. As far as a cost standpoint it depends on your venue. Some only charge $4.00 per person for coffee, tea, soda, etc. What about a limited bar of just beer and wine?

Beer and Wine bar does not cost 'thousands and thousands' so just do a small selection of beer and wine and call it good. Having mocktails will probably cost you way more than it should, easier to just have some kind of sparkling something for the caterer to handle and call that good. But yeah, definitely beer and wine.

No one will ever have as good a time at a wedding without alcohol and dancing as compared to one with.

@jessica - I see, I didn't realize they include it in the reception package. That's the sort of detail I wanted to know. Thanks!

So the issue is that if there IS alcohol, 75% of the guests will be pissed. If there ISN'T alcohol, then 5% of guests would be pissed. The other 20% wouldn't care either way, since this would be an Indian Hindu wedding and they would be used to it.

You should host a consumption bar (not a cash bar) which means you only pay for the individual alcoholic beverages that your guests consume. Since most of your guests don't drink, the bill should not be too high. Ask your venue for their price list.

@Natalie, really? hmm, I've been to dry weddings before, and the dance floor was packed! Maybe we should just splurge on a great DJ/emcee?

We are only spending about $1000 for a full bar for 100 people. It doesn't cost thousands. Pick a venue that lets you bring your own. Order 2 kegs and a couple cases of wine and then have all the basic drinks like teas, lemonades

How do you have three stars and you haven't read the billion posts on dry weddings? As in, nope, not with any justifications that always come up.

Do a consumption bar for both non alcoholic drinks an alcoholic drinks. Skip the mocktails. They don't fool anyone. Skip the cash bar; it's rude. Once you have one guest who drinks, you supply it.

@MrsWrs good to know! I guess better to go completely dry than partially dry with a cash option.

I have only been to one Indian/Hindu wedding and there was booze all over the place!

@FutureKL - good idea! I thought open bars charged guest in attendance, no matter how many actually drink. I'll be sure to ask venues how they charge and whether it can be per drink instead.

And as for Indian/hindu weddings - it really depends on the family. Some families love alcohol, but a lot don't and are very strict/would get very offended if there was alcohol present. We both belong to the latter camp lol. To be honest though, we barely ever drink ourselves (like literally twice a year), so this doesn't phase us. We both love to dance and party though!

UO here. Obviously there is a fee to hire a bartender to fix non-alcoholic. Cost of non-alcoholic drinks will cost far less. If you research the pros/cons of having a non-alcoholic wedding & decide to go that route...just know that some guests may decline & most dry weddings will have a shorter reception/guests don't stay as late.

Obviously, everyone prefers an open bar; but personally, if I attend a non-alcoholic hosted event...I'd still appreciate a heads up on a optional cash bar (on wedding website). This would at least allow me to get a drink if I wish.