Wedding Costs- Cash Bar or Open Bar?

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_stephanie0
_stephanie0 Posts: 708 Member
in Chit-Chat
Hi Everyone!!

I have been looking on the web for some answers and I get answers all over the map, but the answers are really old. I would like some opinions. My fiance and I just got engaged a week ago so we are now looking at a budget. I am 22 he is 25 and we are renting, and paying for the wedding ourselves so we don't have a lot of money... We are trying to cut costs and I'm curious on your thoughts about booze...should we:

a) suck it up and have open bar
b) offer unlimited beer and wine, everything else you pay for
c) give 2 drink tickets then they buy their own
d) have a toonie bar

or other!!

also, any brides have other ways to cut costs? We are looking at around 100-120 guests (95% family members)

Thanks :)
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Replies

  • KittieLea
    KittieLea Posts: 1,156 Member
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    I would go with unlimited beer and wine and have them pay for anything else.
    Congrats by the way!
  • myfitnessval
    myfitnessval Posts: 687 Member
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    My brother & SIL just got married in april and were also on a tight budget, they happened to have their reception at a place that had a bar on site which was perfect. we supplied champagne for the toast and free soda/tea/coffee/water and all other drinks guests paid for. and they were totally willing to pay judging by the hangovers the next morning lol.
  • Sarahsarahsarahk
    Sarahsarahsarahk Posts: 62 Member
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    Hey!! CONGRATS!! That is SO exciting! I am 23 and am getting married on March 23! We are having an open bar but youre right, it gets very expensive! I think offering unlimited beer and wine but guests pay for everything else would be a great way to do it if you're trying to cut costs. I know if I were a guest at a wedding that did that, I would be totally satisfied with that!!
  • Caffeinewitch
    Caffeinewitch Posts: 110 Member
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    I've been to 10 weddings in the past 2 years. I can tell you a couple of things:
    Weddings without booze need to give people a heads up
    Weddings with booze that you pay for will be talked about in a bad way
    Weddings with booze that is free will be remembered well even if the guests are drunk enough to forget.
  • trhjrh06
    trhjrh06 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    At my wedding we had a certain amount of fuzzy navels and whiskey sours available and you could drink as much of it as you wanted and then the rest everyone had to pay for.

    And congratulations!
    Good luck with the planning!
  • tedjr79
    tedjr79 Posts: 7 Member
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    We did beer and wine ( 3 kegs and 60 bottles...big wedding) everything else people had to pay for...Worked out great.
  • Il_DaniD_lI
    Il_DaniD_lI Posts: 1,593 Member
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    Toonie bar.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
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    paying for your own in early 20's? hell, your guests are lucky you didn't send them a postcard with a pic from the JOP asking for "we just got married" presents.

    Do what make the most financial sense.
  • ChevyChick88
    ChevyChick88 Posts: 356 Member
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    I just got married a couple of months ago. This was also a difficult decision for us as we did not have unlimited funds. We did unlimited beer and everythig else was cash bar. We heard no complaints at all. As a matter of fact, this is they way it has been at 99.9% of the weddings I have been to, Good luck! And, Congrats!!!
  • maremare312
    maremare312 Posts: 1,143 Member
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    I would say to just provide beer and wine, don't even need to have a cash bar, mixed drinks aren't necessary.
  • SoViLicious
    SoViLicious Posts: 2,633 Member
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    I went with unlimited beer and wine and cash bar. But my army of *****es (girlfriends) drank a ton of wine. A then end they all pooled together and got me a really nice gift.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    Personally, I find cash bar to be tacky, but it truly depends on what traditionally happens with weddings in your family and where you live.

    Another option is just to have beer & wine, and no hard liquor at all. Depending on the venue, you probably have some less expensive options! If you're bringing in your own alcohol, you can do it a lot cheaper than if you go through a banquet hall where you have to buy it through them (or pay per head).

    My wedding was at a place where they provided a bartender, but you brought you own stuff in. My father in law paid for all the booze, and he was able to return all unused bottles to the store he got them from (most stores will allow this as long as the seal isn't broken).

    Edited to add CONGRATULATIONS...and if that's your engagement in your profile picture..that's a very romantic place to propose! Props to your man!
  • Rosered3333
    Rosered3333 Posts: 171 Member
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    Congratulations! I would do unlimited wine and beer and cash bar for other liquors. That will also help keep most people in line and out of the liquor.

    Depending on the rules of your venue, you could talk with a liquor distributor and return any unused liquor after the reception.

    Also, as a note, the website www.weddingwire.com was the best resource I could use for wedding planning. It's much more user friendly than The Knot and the vendors all have reviews there.

    Good luck and have fun!
  • Im_NotPerfect
    Im_NotPerfect Posts: 2,181 Member
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    When planning our wedding, I learned this is a really regional thing so you're going to get a MARIAD of opinions.

    Where I'm from (NE Wisconsin), we have open beer and cash bar for everything else. We ended up giving our wedding party some "tickets" for other drinks of they wanted, because we knew that not everyone drank beer, and we didn't have them charge our parents.
  • Felicia714
    Felicia714 Posts: 21 Member
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    Congrats! I say go for the beer/wine... everything else they pay for!
  • azzkikin
    azzkikin Posts: 458 Member
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    My brother just got married this past weekend. They payed for it them selves too. One thing they did for the bar was to have it open for the first hour or a dollar amount which ever came first. then after that it was a cash bar. Also it depends on where you have the reception but some places will throw in the champagne and beer.

    The ended up having two receptions to allow for different groups of guests to attend. One way they saved money was in place of start your life gifts from the family, they had family members pay for some parts of the day. Like paying for the flowers, splitting the booking rates on the reception halls, and we even had two photographers and video specialist in the family. So it helped cap the total spending to a point.

    Hope this helps and congrats.

    Troy
  • BanjoKd
    BanjoKd Posts: 150
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    My vote is a keg...maybe 2 if you can swing it....and one or two bottles of 2 buck chuck for each table. THEN it is what it is...cash bar after that. Since it's 95% family they should know that's all you can swing.
  • superpapa16
    superpapa16 Posts: 244 Member
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    Weddings without booze need to give people a heads up
    Weddings with booze that you pay for will be talked about in a bad way
    Weddings with booze that is free will be remembered well even if the guests are drunk enough to forget.
    ^ This.
  • Erica0718
    Erica0718 Posts: 469 Member
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    run off and elope and spend the money you would have spent on a big wedding on a house or a nice vaction just for the two of you.

    Congrats!
  • _the_feniks_
    _the_feniks_ Posts: 3,443 Member
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    Open bar = better wedding gift from your guests
    Cash bar = gift certificate from your guests

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