Open or Cash or none at all?

I will be having a open bar. It will be open starting with the coctail hour and ending towards the end of the reception.

I paid for 5 hour open bar.

No bar, only champagne for toasts. Neither me nor FH has ever had a drop of alcohol, we're not going to encourage it at our reception. My theme is Birds of Paradise (oranges, greens, and hints of purple) so i'm thinking i'll have non-alcoholic fruity drinks with a tropical flair at the bar.

We're having open bar. Even though most are closet alcholics...lol. But since the place made a mistake on my contract & accidently included it, we're not being charged. So hey..u get drunk or act up..ur getting tossed out..simple as that. They can choose their exit..forced or willingly.

I am having my own bar set up,so I get to choose the drinks I want.Open all the way.

P.S if I had to tell these people they have to pay for their drinks some would want to know what kind of madwoman I am.The wedding is in the Caribbean.That says it all.lol.

We opted to have no bar (because we don't drink) but my mom say's it's not...hospitable, so we agreed on having a Signature Drink (instead of buying various types of alcohol).

That was a good idea having one signiture drink. I dont believe I ever heard of it. My fh family drink like fishes. If I decided to have a cash bar, girl they would be going into the envelopes they were giving us to pay for there drinks.

If you don't want to have a cash bar or would not like to have an open bar (can get pricey) do just beer, wine (or one of the two) and pay for a round of a signature alcoholic drink (or non-alcoholic) of you and you FH's choice. This can save A lot of money on alcohol at a an open bar. Some people would not like a cash bar but it can save $$$ We won't be having ANY alcohol because our reception is early.

That'a a good suggestion, however if it was up to my fh we all would be drinking henessey.

We are not having a bar but we are having champagne.

Not having a bar at all. But I may consider the signature drink idea.

[quote="Musikana"]No bar, only champagne for toasts. Neither me nor FH has ever had a drop of alcohol, we're not going to encourage it at our reception. My theme is Birds of Paradise (oranges, greens, and hints of purple) so i'm thinking i'll have non-alcoholic fruity drinks with a tropical flair at the bar.
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Hmmmm thats a good idea, my dad is not paying for an open bar and I have quit drinking so its not a big deal to me and definately not worth the expense but a signature fruity drink would be cute.

We are having a limited open bar.
We are putting up just a few hunderd dollars on the tab...once that is gone, guest will have purchase their own drinks

[quote="Cinamin1"]We opted to have no bar (because we don't drink) but my mom say's it's not...hospitable.
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Same problem here, both FH and I dont drink. However he feels that its not sociable for us not to provide drinks for those people who do drink. I'm still adamant though that I don't wanna be paying for alcohol when I could be doing something worthwhile with the money.

I don't plan to have an open bar. There are family members on both sides that would love to take advantage of the "unlimited alcohol supply". Plus, I'm sure a fight will break out. We may offer a little champagne and beer.

My issue is that he and all my friends drink, I have as of the past couple months quit drinking so I'm kind of the odd man out. I have been putting the blame on my dad. I said he is not paying for a reception with alcohol.

This is always a hard one at times. Me and DH both drink occasionally, but DH insisted there be no alcohol because his many members in his family has alcohol problems.
IvyPrincess, with the concerns you and your dad have, I think a cash bar (with notice on the reception card) would be appropriate...that way if they HAVE to have a drink, then they should pay for it....

I think thats one example a cash bar would be appropriate....
I think having a bar or not is a personal choice, and not having one isn't necessarily rude...sometimes its a matter of economics (cause they are expensive), and matter of who you are dealing with....Like my DH's family....I wouldn't have minded having one, but he knows his family, and wasn't about to argue that one:)

DeeLove, I think that you all may want to consider a "signature alcoholic drink" that can be made in bulk at a discounted rate, and when it runs out, then its all gone:)

Our price per person included 4 hour open bar. It will be open for cocktail hour closed for dinner and then re-opened after dinner. The owner who will also be our maiter'd will have extra help on hand to monitor drinks. That's another reason why we chose to do adult reception only(to prevent underage drinkers) because some our friends have kids that look older than most and could probably get away with ordering drinks.

[quote="MrsRobinson2b"]We're having open bar. Even though most are closet alcholics...lol. But since the place made a mistake on my contract & accidently included it, we're not being charged. So hey..u get drunk or act up..ur getting tossed out..simple as that. They can choose their exit..forced or willingly.
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My reception hall included an open bar in the contract also. Security was included too. I have a 6'5" son and 3 others just like him to help those who choose to give in to the urges of the "Ignorant-Oil".

We're having two "weddings" - proper wedding in London and a blessing in St Lucia the weekend afterwards. We have decided to have a paid bar up to a certain amount and then guests have to pay for drinks! Unfortunately, almost near impossible to have a Caribbean wedding without rum!!!

Our reception hall has a "bring your own alcohol" policy, so my FH and I will be buying the alcohol. They provide the mixers, soda, and ice at no charge. We have to pay for bartenders through them, but it's only $50 per bartender, and we will probably need 2 for 200 people or so. So we will end up saving a lot of money by providing our own alcohol. Hopefully we will buy enough to last for the full 5 hours, if not, once it is out, that's it!

[quote="DiamondBride"]We're having two "weddings" - proper wedding in London and a blessing in St Lucia the weekend afterwards. We have decided to have a paid bar up to a certain amount and then guests have to pay for drinks! Unfortunately, almost near impossible to have a Caribbean wedding without rum!!!
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LOL diamondbride thats funny. My family is from the caribbean as well so lucky for me a non stop open bar was included in my contract.

We are having an open bar - we can also bring in our own liquor. My faily would probably be like the people House mentioned, removing money from their gift to buy a drink!

IvyPrincess, take your FH's feeling into consideration also. If him and all his friends are drinkers a signature drink may be in order (we are having one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic). My FH doesn't have many ideas or opinions so when he does I'm doing my best to honor them. I guess its his wedding too! LOL!

I also had to stop putting my fh's ideas down and realize that it is a special day not just for me, but for us. I had to incorporate his ideas in the planning process as well as mine.

[quote="housewife147"]I also had to stop putting my fh's ideas down and realize that it is a special day not just for me, but for us. I had to incorporate his ideas in the planning process as well as mine.
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House you and FMKU make a great point! Usually the men are mostly interested in the music, the food, and the liquor...If you don't prefer to have liquor there and he does, then a happy medium is often found once negotiating cost-effective things you all mentioned like those signature drinks, or spending X amount on liquor until it runs out, and bringing your own liquor to the party (I love all these ideas ya'll).....So I guess they feel like they made decisions "somewhere"....

we both agreed on no alcohol, maybe champaigne for the toast and that's it. we don't want our day ruined by those 3 or 4 people who will definately take things a little too far!

You can't always avoid it though.....At my brother's wedding this summer, there was no alcohol served, however, our friend from back home came to the reception a little tipsy....so tipsy that he danced with our 39 year old cousin so provocatively, that her 18-year old son grabbed him off the floor...okay like tackled him down...., but our fun-loving, mild-mannered friend wasn't upset....he did go on and on about how fine our cousin was...all of our other friends, clearly shocked at the attack, had to be assured that it wasn't a jealous boyfriend, but her son.

[quote="Bumblebeekee"]You can't always avoid it though.....At my brother's wedding this summer, there was no alcohol served, however, our friend from back home came to the reception a little tipsy....so tipsy that he danced with our 39 year old cousin so provocatively, that her 18-year old son grabbed him off the floor...okay like tackled him down...., but our fun-loving, mild-mannered friend wasn't upset....he did go on and on about how fine our cousin was...all of our other friends, clearly shocked at the attack, had to be assured that it wasn't a jealous boyfriend, but her son.
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DEFINETLY America's Funniest Home Video material!! LOL

My husband and I did not have a bar, we didn't even have champagne for the toast, we used Sparkling Juice. I don't drink but my husband does. From my experiences with some of the weddings I've attended, the people were ALOT easier to handle, they were really quiet and attentive while all the speeches, etc was going on and we had over 300 guests! So I'm glad we made that decision, everyone had a good time and nothing crazy happened....

I know my friends as long as I warn them ahead of time they will come prepared with their own in the car, which is fine with me but I'm just not trying to pay for liqour for 300 people. That's just not feasible with our budget. I think if they bring it with them they will be ok.

We're not having either an open or cash bar. We will have an abundance of our signature dring, of course, and champagne will also be in limited supply.

I think open but im putting a limit on the amount to be spent because i dont drink.But champagne is a must!

Okay, I guess I'm a little "touched" but I actually had a "Drink Up" attitude at my wedding. We had open bar all night and people stayed with drinks in their hands. We had no incidents whatsoever and everyone had a good time.