should i have an open bar or a cash bar for my wedding?

Question

or when you put a certain sum of money behind the bar, and once that's up, the guest pay?

Answer 1

You have to have a lot of money to have an open bar!! Friend had one and the bill was over £5000 (250) guests. People tend to drink a lot at a wedding, well they have at all the one's I've been to! Although you are with family and friends, I've noticed that people do tend to take advantage with a free bar, having expensive drinks they wouldn't usually have, drinking more than they usually do as they're not paying. No body minds a cash bar at all, most expect it.
You can do a bit of both, we provided drinks on arrival, bucks fizz as well as wine on the tables and then in the evening bought the first round for all our guests.

Answer 2

I would do something like a bottle of wine/champagne on the table for the toasts and after that people pay their way, the only thing is if its a really expensive venue people might grumble about that. Was at a wedding recently and the drinks were £10 a glass no matter what u ordered, people were talking about this all night and hardly any1 was commenting on how beautiful the bride looked. If you can afford it have an open bar but provide your own alcohol as many places charge a fortune.
Or if there unwilling to do this agree a price list with the organizers, something you feel your guests wont mind paying.

Answer 3

You can do a limited open bar with drink tickets. I went to a wedding recently where all guests over 21 had 3 alcohol tickets to redeem at the bar. After that they had to pay themselves, but alot of places will let you provide your own liquor and mixers. The bar charges a small fee, and for labor but your not paying for each drink, just for the price of the alcohol and labor.

Or do the beer and wine thing.

But personally I think cash bars are tacky, its true what others have said about guests complaining about it and how you wouldn't charge someone for a drink in your home.

Answer 4

OPEN BAR!!!

Seriously, this is wedding guests' major pet peeve. Unless you have some moral thing against drinking, but want to provide for the guests that do.... Food and drink are the essentials to keeping your guests happy.

These are your guests. What other party would you have that you expect people to pay for their refreshments? They are already taking time out of their lives, traveling to your wedding, buying a new outfit, and bringing you presents. They may have already gotten you engagement and shower presents as well. Throwing a wedding is about showing your hospitality, not grubbing for more money.

Cash bars are TACKY. What's even tackier is when the bride has spent $4,000 or over half her budget on her dress or a horse and carriage, yet they don't shell out for the open bar. People will remember your wedding more for the food and drink than what dress the bride was wearing or what flowers were decorating the church. I, as well as everyone I've talked to about the subject, firmly believe that the food and drink should come first and be the most significant part of your budget.

If you want to keep costs down, buy your own wine and champagne along with liquors and mixers. Maybe just offer one or two cocktails. They could be "signature" cocktails that somehow refer to your marriage or the theme of the wedding. Find someone you know who has experience with bartending or perhaps a college student with a bartending license to run the show. That's what my mom did at her last wedding, and it was great. Providing an open bar doesn't have to be that expensive.

Answer 5

You should see if the place that you are having has a open bar and if they do see how long you have to pay for some places have per person 20 dollar for at least 3 hours and if that works out for you then go ahead.

Answer 6

My budget is pretty small, only 5000 for 100 people for the whole wedding. My place where I am having my reception charges around 16 a head for a four hour open bar so we are either going to have part of the reception be open and part closed or we are talking about asking guests to pay 10 for their drinks since they are unlimited.

It was important to us to have a nice party overall than a bunch of drunks with crappy food. People should respect your limitations and that it is about bieng with your husband and starting your new life, not about how many shots they can do for free.

Answer 7

ANY form of cash bar is RUDE.

If you have limited funds, then stop serving alcohol at a certain pre-set time (like maybe 1 hour after dinner ends) and switch to non-alcoholic punch or soft drinks. NEVER switch to a cash bar.

Guests should not have to pay for ANYTHING being offered at your wedding. Not tips, not drinks, not parking, not coat check, NOTHING. That is ALL the responsibility of the HOST(s).

Answer 8

Open bar. If you can't afford a full open bar, try going with 2 or 3 beer choices and 2 or 3 wine choices.

Cash bars are just plain rude. The people you invite to your wedding are your guests, and you're expected to entertain them in the same manner as if they were guests in your home. Would you invite someone over for dinner, ask them if they'd like a glass of wine, and then charge them for it?

Answer 9

i guess it all depends on how rich you are?! if you have an open bar, your'e inviting people (some you may not know too well) to drink themselves stupid, which could lead to a spoilt day for you and your new wife. why don't you just put a certain amount behind the bar for a celebratory first drink, and then it's up to your guests to spoil you two! good luck for your special day.

Answer 10

I am sorry to say that if you have an open bar you might be paying more than you would like to at the end of the night. I would think that a cash bar would be better