Personally, I’m not in favor of cash bars at wedding receptions.  This is the first party you’re throwing together as husband and wife.  Would you charge if they came to your home for a party?  The reality however, is that reception costs (specifically alcohol costs) are a huge percentage of your budget.  Consider how important serving alcohol is to you.

Ways to minimize costs related to alcohol:

• Hold your reception earlier: typically, people do not tend to drink a lot during the late morning, mid-day, early evening hours.
• Ask permission to bring in your own alcohol (that you have found on sale or wholesale).
• Limit the choices of alcohol: keg beer, signature cocktails, gallon wine
• Set a time limit for an open bar.
• Ask a friend to be barkeep rather than guests serving themselves
• Don’t serve alcohol at all.

Of course, consider related factors i.e. do guests have to travel, are they spending the night, etc.?

Prioritize. Decide what aspects to the reception are most important and prioritize your budget from there.  Would you rather your guests be able to sip martinis all night or perhaps wear out their dancing shoes to really great music? Maybe delectable dishes are the most important feature…

So, what are your thoughts on cash bars?

Photo credit: Lovelight Photography, Jonathan Kirshner

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