Oh yea... almost forgot. Nothing says love & romance like a bunch of boxed wines also... That'll slow 'em down...lol

Gardens35;503757 wrote:Has Muggsy scored an escort yet?

By December, who knows? If she's not remarried by them, we'll just draw the ex's names out of a hat.

Those lucky SOB's!

Skyhook79;503506 wrote:Don't serve alcohol and problem solved.

Terrible idea

^^^^Never been at a dry wedding that was any fun.

Just got done doing this last April. I'm not quite sure what the deal was with the bar as my daughter, the ex, and future sister-in-law set it up at the Country Club where we had the reception. I do know it was an open bar with between 150-180 people there for the reception. Buy the end of the night the I was out $3100. I believe I believe they kept track of drinks served, on a note pad, and then told us how much was owed at the end of the night. Which I payed right away. I guess that's kinda like a host bar that Justincredible mentioned.

The important thing was no one payed for a drink, so we didn't come off as being cheap.

I got married in January last year, my father in law (god love the rich bastard) spent over 800 dollars in booze kegs and soft drinks to mix them with. Needless to say, our 275 guests never came close to TOUCHING the bottom of all the bottles. IM guessing your target number would be 1/2 of that, 400 would do the party pretty good.

I just got married 2 weeks ago and we simply paid a flat price per person to rent the hall, eat the food, and drink the booze.

With 350 guests, the costs for the bartenders alone will be over $400 for a 4-5 hour reception, assuming the hall insists on 'professionals' pouring drinks for liability purposes. With that many guests you have to have at least 3 stations open or else people will be in line the whole night.

HitsRus;504238 wrote:^^^^Never been at a dry wedding that was any fun.

Yeah, it's impossible to have any fun whatsoever without alcohol.

OneBuckeye;503513 wrote:DO NOT set a time/cash limit for the bar to turn into a cash bar. This will result in heavier binge drinking and more chance of a friend making asshole of her/his self. Also you could cut one type of alcohol out. Do beer/wine, beer/liquor ect... that should save some money. I had 180 people at my wedding and had wine and champange only and spent almost $900. Probably 50 people were actually drinking.

This is basically what some of my friend's have done. One did open bar for beer and wine but liquor was cash bar and another did an open bar for wine, beer, and wells, and cash for premiums.

Yeah, it's impossible to have any fun whatsoever without alcohol

That's not entirely true, but if you want people to loosen up, stick around and dance, it is a necessity. I've had the misfortune of being at a few dry weddings....they are over early. In one case, the DJ was booked till 11PM...the place was empty before 10.

just went to my good friends 21st birthday at UPenn, about 25 of us went through a $1000 tab in a half hour

HitsRus;506460 wrote:That's not entirely true, but if you want people to loosen up, stick around and dance, it is a necessity. I've had the misfortune of being at a few dry weddings....they are over early. In one case, the DJ was booked till 11PM...the place was empty before 10.

I wouldn't stay at a dry reception any longer than dinner.

justincredible;506522 wrote:I wouldn't stay at a dry reception any longer than dinner.

Went to a friends wedding. The brides parents didnt believe in alcohol. We stayed for dinner and everyone under 40 went to a bar across the street. 90 minutes later, the bride and groom joined in the drunken debauchery.

I bought all the liquor for my brother's reception a few weeks ago (around 200 people) and we spent about 400 on liquor alone. We had plenty of extra though, so you have to kind of gauge what is going to go quickly. (buy more Jack)

fortfan;504087 wrote:Most wedding receptions around here just have beer, high-balls and maybe something else like Vodka Lemonade.

I'm probably from the same area as fortfan (southwest Ohio???). Most wedding halls I've been to do the same thing and have for the last 30 years that I can recall attending. Whiskey & 7up mix, cranberry/vodka mix & beer was the only alcohol served at the most recent wedding I went to. And no, I'm not 60 .... yet!

beenthere/donethat;507195 wrote:I'm probably from the same area as fortfan (southwest Ohio???). Most wedding halls I've been to do the same thing and have for the last 30 years that I can recall attending. Whiskey & 7up mix, cranberry/vodka mix & beer was the only alcohol served at the most recent wedding I went to. And no, I'm not 60 .... yet!

One wedding I went to this summer had a few beer choices (Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, and Killians I think), a few wine choices (Reisling, Chardonay, Merlot, Cabernet, and White Zin), and I think three different cocktails to choose from, all featuring limoncello that the groom had made himself (he's very Italian)