Beer and wine reception?

[diamondgirl4382]

What are your thoughts on offering just beer and wine, vs a full(er) bar? What did you do/are you doing? It is getting to be the time where I have to tell the venue for sure what we want. My parents really just want to stick with the beer and wine (they are not big drinkers--as far as the wedding guests it will be half and half) but I would like to have more variety. But I''m not sure if it is an issue worth pushing. It is a 5:00 wedding, plated dinner if that makes a difference. Any thoughts are welcome!

 

[musincy]

We''re doing just beer and wine for our wedding. We''re not big drinkers, and I don''t think any of our guests will mind one way or the other. I''ve been to weddings that have had full bars, and weddings with just beer and wine. I don''t think guests cared either way.

Personally, I''d prefer to have just beer and wine than to have a lot of drunk guests!

 

[tlh]

beer and wine is fine... honestly. I''ve been to many weddings where wine was served w/ dinner and bar opened afterwards. Dont worry, people can still get plenty drunk on wine!

So, if they aren''t wanting people to get drunk... serving only beer and wine isn''t going to prevent that. However, if cost is a factor, limiting the options to just beer adn wine can be a sunbstantial savings per person!

Is it that YOU don''t like either beer or wine? If that is the case, I''ve even been to a handful of weddings where there was a bride''s punch provided... which was a mixed drink - that she liked... and was served as the only other non-beer non-wine option.

 

[Elmorton]

We had beer and wine and soda hosted. I really wanted to have a signature cocktail since, at the time, I really didn''t drink either beer nor wine, but it was killing our catering budget. Then my caterer pointed out that I can run a tab for whoever I want. That was a lightbulb moment, haha! So, that''s what we did.

My friends who wanted to drink harder stuff brought flasks and got the soda for free (tacky for sure, but fine with me!). We kept the bar open past the scheduled last call, it was a great time, and I''ve heard no complaints EVER that it wasn''t an open bar.

 

[Rhea]

We did just beer and wine. I think it''s nice to provide people with something to drink, but I couldn''t afford to supply everything and really didn''t see the point in providing any other types of alcohol.

 

[neatfreak]

I think it''s totally fine as long as it''s not a cash bar.

 

[happygolucky851]

I''m not sure what your reception style is like but ours is a dinner and dance. We are going to have beer and wine. We will have about 15-20 kegs depending on how many people come. I know that sounds like a lot! but whatever we dont use, we can sell back. anyway, a good idea might be having the beer and wine and sodas then letting people bring their own liquor to mix. this way there isnt a large price for you getting a liquor license, extra money for the liquor etc. I think we will be doing this for our reception. I''d hope the reception site will let people bring in outside liquor. hope that helps!

 

[katamari]

We are only having beer, wine, and champagne at our reception. I think it is fully dependent on the venue. If it is very fancy and elegant, I would feel that beer and wine would be awkward. But, if it is more of a standard, normative venue (but still beautiful, I am sure) or outside, I think beer and wine is a-ok!

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

We are doing beer, wine and bar shots (including soda). We are not covering other fancy drinks like martinis, cognac''s etc... we simply can''t afford it! We are getting married at a restaurant and there is no open bar option, which means we are paying FULL price for drinks (i.e. 40$ per bottle of wine, and 7$ per drink!)... We are def. spending more on drinks than anything else!

 

[marchswallowbird]

We''re only doing beer and wine, plus regular beverages like lemonade, soda, coffee and tea (our wedding is in the afternoon).

 

[diamondgirl4382]

Thank you for all the responses! It''s not that I personally don''t like beer or wine (I will probably drink wine all night anyway) but I just want to make sure that all my guests are happy. (I don''t think the venue will allow outside alcohol since it''s not an outside caterer--it''s at a country club). I can think of a couple of friends that would choose a mixed drink if it was offered--but I do think they will be fine with either beer or wine. My parents realize that people will drink just as much regardless of what is offered. They''re not against drinking or anything, they just aren''t big drinkers themselves so they don''t see why a full bar would be necessary. I do love the idea of a signature cocktail though--I''ll have to put some thought into that, it might be a great compromise!

 

[Octavia]

I think we''re doing just beer and wine (maybe a signature cocktail, but undecided about that) and some good cognac and whiskey for after the meal. We''re supplying our own alcohol, so we can basically do whatever we want -- hence why I still haven''t decided. But I think beer and wine is just fine.

 

[PearlDahhhling]

We''re only doing beer and wine (maaaybe a bottle of champagne per table) because of $$$ issues. We have to buy alcohol from our venue anyway, and beer/wine is going to be the most affordable way to go. Plus I really don''t want my wedding to turn into a huge drunken party.

If you want more variety you might consider having a signature mixed drink?

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

We are going the beer and wine route, in our case it was simpler and cheaper. We are picking a white, red, and sparkling wine as well as a regular and lite beer. This is in addition to sodas, peach iced tea, and raspberry lemonade (which I''m sure some of the flasked groomsmen will spike

I don''t think it takes away the elegance from an evening at all. You are inviting people to a hosted party, I''m sure they will be happy with whatever you have to serve, just as you would if you went to a smaller dinner party.

 

[anniee19]

We will be doing beer, wine, champagne and soft drinks for our 7:00 reception. The vendor''s charge for liquor is really, really high and so we''ll keep that to cash if guests want it. The last 3 weddings I''ve been to has had the same setup, and I think it''s completly fine.

 

[Winslet]

I''m surprised at how many of you have answered that you''ll be serving only beer and wine at the reception. That said, I think it''s a great idea and I would probably be doing the same myself had my venue allowed me the option to scale back a little.

 

[Camille]

Wine/beer /special say bride's cocktail it's fine...............
I'd stay away from cash bar.

 

[VRBeauty]

Most receptions I've been to have been beer and wine receptions. One exception that comes to mind was a "traditional" Chinese reception -- there was a bottle of whiskey or some such on each table, in addition to the bottles of red and white wine!

 

[OUpearlgirl]

The majority of the weddings I have been to are beer and wine... Perfectly fine in my opinion!

 

[musey]

We had beer/wine/champagne (the champagne was important to me, I much prefer it to beer and wine - yet I didn't really drink at our reception, so there ya go!!) and it was more than sufficient

I don't think anyone was at our wedding to get belligerently drunk (and if they were, I'm glad we somewhat stunted that possibility by not offering hard liquor

haha).

Just please, unless it's a personal conviction or religious thing, don't have a dry reception! I went to one recently and I knew the wedding wasn't going to be fun... so I kept telling myself "it'll be fine - open bar, open bar, open bar." No alcohol at all. The hall was almost empty more than an hour before the scheduled end time (at an only 3 hour reception with sit-down meal and everything).

 

[jstarfireb]

My wedding (yesterday!) was going to be beer/wine only, plus champagne for the toast. At the last minute, my parents sprung for a signature drink (appletinis), which ended up being very popular. For soft drinks, we had soda/water all night and a coffee bar opened when the cake was served.

 

[Mediterranean]

CONGRATULATIONS, JStarFireB!!!!!!! YAAAY!


About the Beer/Wine vs. Full bar....here''s a funny story: My brother''s wedding had only beer/wine (with a champagne toast). My mother, my fiance, and I never even noticed there wasn''t liquor because we don''t drink it. It was almost 9 months after the day when my SIL and I were chatting about her wedding that the subject came up and she had to correct me and tell me there wasn''t a full bar. i know a few other folks who went to their wedding who didn''t notice either, because i guess none of us drink liquor.

Honestly? The only reason I''m having a full bar at my wedding is because it came with the package. It was bundled with a different "upgrade'' that I wanted, and i couldn''t have that one without also paying for the open bar, so I just went with it. But it wasn''t important to me. I''m mostly a wine drinker, and I know only a handful of people who love cocktails so much that they''d notice f they were missing...

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I am 100% in support of beer and wine only weddings. Unless you have the budget for full bar, there''s no reason why you can''t just do W/B. Weddings aren''t about getting drunk, and besides, I would rather just serve B/W if money was tight than have a bar stocked with cheap booze.

 

[lauralu]

I think that is just fine. I can't even remember the last time I was at a full bar reception.

we are having an 11:00 am ceremony and a brunch reception. We are going to have a momosa toast after the ceremony and bloody mary's with beer chasers at the bar.

Than of coarse with brunch coffee, Milk due it being a brunch and o.J and lemonade.

I think Beer and wine is perfect for your wedding

 

[Amandine]

We did beer and wine, along with a champagne toast (MIL insisted--and paid for!). It was fine, and I don''t think anyone really noticed or cared. In fact, I think the apple cider may have been more popular (October wedding)!

 

[Clio]

Date: 5/11/2009 10:15:21 PM
Author: musey

Just please, unless it''s a personal conviction or religious thing, don''t have a dry reception! I went to one recently and I knew the wedding wasn''t going to be fun... so I kept telling myself ''it''ll be fine - open bar, open bar, open bar.'' No alcohol at all. The hall was almost empty more than an hour before the scheduled end time (at an only 3 hour reception with sit-down meal and everything).

Eh, on the other hand, one of the most fun weddings I''ve attended, with dancing into the wee hours, was completely dry.

Just beer and wine is definitely fine, tough.

 

[bee*]

I think that beer and wine if fine. We''re doing that plus offering a drink of choice for the toast.

 

[DiamondsforDee]

Whether or not people will notice really depends on your crowd. And plenty of people who notice certainly won''t care. If doing a full bar is over your budget then absolutely stick with wine and beer. I would go wine and beer only with no option of liquor, because I do not like the idea of my guests paying for anything. But in my circle having anything other than an open bar is unheard of. So having your guests pay for something would be an even bigger faux pas.

 

[CNYHopeful]

We''d certainly consider the beer/wine option if it made that big of a financial impact. Our caterer offers a decent package for the open bar and we figure since the buffet is our food option, we''ll keep the open bar since both families enjoy it. Our open bar is only 3 hours so we hope there won''t be too much drinking going on in that time frame. If there was a $5 plus difference per person for having the open bar, we''d go with the beer/wine option if it wasn''t cash.

I''ve been to many beer/wine only weddings and people enjoy it just as much. Really, it''s about the people you enjoy it with and those are the memories people keep with them.

 

[elrohwen]

I''m perfectly fine with a beer and wine bar and want to do one myself, but the full bar comes included with our cost so we might as well keep it. If there was an obvious savings I would get rid of the hard liquor in a second. Everyone I know will drink either wine or beer (or both) so I don''t really see a reason to have liquor ... then again, I never drink the hard stuff, so I''m biased