Alternatives to A Cash Bar At Your Wedding

Today, more and more couples are choosing to have a cash bar for their wedding reception to reduce costs on their sometimes limited budget. Wedding etiquette clearly states that a cash bar is a big "No, No". Ask yourself this question... would you charge your friends and family for a glass of wine when they come over to your home for a dinner party? Of course not.... so then what makes it ok to do this at your wedding? Your guests will be travelling to celebrate your special day with you, they will be purchasing a wedding gift, possibly buying a new outfit along with the possibility of hiring childcare services if its an adult-only reception.... so they should not have to incur the cost of also purchasing their own alcohol at your wedding.

Here are some alternatives to a cash bar at your wedding:

• Have a smaller guest list



• Create a "signature drink" to offer your guests and serve that as your alcoholic beverage



• Choose a standard bar service instead of premium top-shelf alcohol



• Limit the hours of bar service



• Have your wedding on a Sunday afternoon as a brunch reception, and serve champagne mimosas



• Offer only beer and wine to your guests



• Have a unique themed bar instead of alcohol [such as a coffee & cappuccino or smoothie bar]



• Bring in your own alcohol and pay a per/person corkage fee instead
  


• Have an alcohol free wedding [Yes, this is ok!]

There seems to be a huge misconception that placing drinks tickets in a wedding invitation is acceptable. Again, this is a BIG wedding etiquette "No, No". If for example you were to place 2 drink tickets into a wedding invitation; this basically implies to your guest that they are only worthy of two drinks, but perhaps another guest may receive four drinks tickets. This is an offensive way to handle the cash bar situation with guests. You would be better off not placing any drink tickets in the invitation at all.

If any of the above suggested alternatives are not options for you; then please ensure that you list on the wedding invitation that it will be a cash bar so that your guests are informed and will bring cash with them to the wedding reception.