No Alcohol at our wedding?

You're going to get people telling you that your guests will be miserable and will only come out of obligation or won't come at all but I really think it depends on your crowd. We are having minimal alcohol cause none of our guests are really drinkers (I actually can't drink at all) but we want to toast. If you think your guests will miss it you could do just beer and wine or something like that.

I agree that overall it depends on your crowd. We've got a lot of drinkers, and while it would be cheaper to do just beer and wine FH and I don't drink either of those so we're getting liquor too so we can actually have a drink at our wedding lol. I think if most of the people you know aren't drinkers, and you include some other activities to do other than dancing (because let's be honest, some people only dance if they've got some booze in them 😂) you should be just fine.

If you're worried about people disliking that and actually care about trying to do something about it, you could always have an earlier wedding with a lunch reception and alcohol will probably be missed less.

The way I see it is a wedding is a party and I’d never throw a party without providing alcohol. So, I wouldn’t throw a wedding without providing alcohol. Same goes for food. And food is expensive too! But I wouldn’t throw a party without it, to me it’s just part of the cost of hosting an event

View Quoted Comment I agree with this. But I'd rather go to a wedding that had no alcohol than a cash bar wedding. I think if you are looking to cut costs with the alcohol then no alcohol is the way to go.

View Quoted Comment Same here.
For an evening wedding (especially with dancing), alcohol is typically needed. Beer & wine are fine, if you’re looking to save money. Or, you could do a brunch wedding (cheaper food options too), and skip alcohol or provide a mimosa bar.

View Quoted Comment I feel the same way. Hosting a wedding reception is hosting a party.. and I would never host a party without food and alcohol.

Thank you everyone, we haven’t made a decision but I wanted to ask. (:

It depends on your crowd and what type of reception you’re having. If it is a daytime celebration it’s definitely easier to get away with. We considered it for our lunch mini-mony but decided that we, as well as a few guests would still enjoy a couple glasses of wine. We definitely splurged on this as there weren’t many drinkers and it was…noon… but I’m still glad we did.

Many people skip alcohol for various reasons (religious beliefs, recovery from alcoholism, out of their budget and guests don’t drink either) and there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t make you a bad host to skip because it has always been optional. If anyone makes you feel bad because you are not serving alcohol, they are the ones with the problem. If someone decides to stay home instead, maybe they aren’t as a good a friend as you thought.


People go hours during the work day without alcohol and they make it through just fine. So spending 4-6 hours at your wedding without alcohol is no different and people can still enjoy themselves if they choose to. I love to drink as much as the next person (I don’t drink beer or wine though..never liked the taste of either which is taboo on WW) and the most fun, lively weddings I have attended that people still talk about being the most fun they ever attended actually didn’t have a single drop of alcohol, and they were all completely different social circles as well.. Again unheard of on WW but it does exist and depends on your crowd.

I’ve been to plenty of weddings without alcohol! It’s not that rare.

Have you found your venue? If not, I suggest finding a venue that lets you bring in your own alcohol - that’s what we’re doing and it’s cutting the cost significantly. We were also able to add on bartenders thru our caterer so it was also less expensive than going directly thru a bar tending service.
If this isn’t an option, I would stick to just beer and wine. This is a cheaper option.
Honestly, I can’t imagine attending a wedding with no alcohol. But that’s just me! And I know my guests and they would be surprised if there was no alcohol as well lol. But, you know your guests so only you know what’s best!

Weddings without alcohol are over immediately after dinner.

If you want your guest to leave, to go to the bar, then choose no alcohol.

View Quoted Comment Yes we have our venue! I will definitely talk to the venue more about it. Thank you (:

I personally would rather pay for my alcohol at a cash bar than have no alcohol at all. But I also like to have a couple drinks! Lol!

Technically it's not against etiquette to have a "dry" wedding. If you choose to do that, just keep your expectations in line with it. In other words, it will likely end early just after dinner. You can't expect a full dance floor etc...

I'm skipping alcohol and have been to mostly dry weddings-- I live in the south and my crowd has been mostly Christians. Honestly, until I came to this website and saw people completely offended at the idea of not having alcohol, I didn't know that so many thought of it as a "must have" thing. Or people assume that people can't dance without drinks. Basically, many of the responses I've read is... brace yourself for lame night and warn your guests of lameness.

I do feel like it is a matter of knowing your audience. My audience won't expect alcohol... and being as a large portion of my friends group met through a West Coast Swing Dancing group, I know people will be on the dance floor having a good time.

View Quoted Comment Agree with this completely.

View Quoted Comment

Maybe I'm just not fancy enough, but I host parties all the time without alcohol. If I am hosting something, most of the time... my friends ask what they can bring. I tell them what we will have and say if there is something else they would like (alcohol included) then they are welcome to bring it.
I feel like if it is something you prefer both at parties you throw and you attend, then that is definitely up to you. But for me and my friends, this isn't an expectation and wouldn't be for many people.

As others have said, this is a know your crowd thing. I didn’t even know dry weddings were a thing until joining this site. All parties in my family/social circle have alcohol at them- dinner parties, holidays, kids birthdays, etc. Weddings are no different for us. If your crowd wouldn’t expect alcohol at a function, I don’t think it’s an issue.