The bar

As far as i know from my brothers wedding in 2000, both parents paid for open bar 3 occasions and that was a huge bill to pay.

Considering the toonie bar, it helps to cut down the cost and drunk guests taking advantage of the drinks offered free. The limit of drinks per person will determine if they can go for more.

Thank you ladies.. we have a lot to think about before we make a final decision.

We are having an open bar, I agree with a PP that guests shouldn’t have to open there wallets at a wedding when there already bringing a gift, stuffing an envelope ect. The way we look at it is we don’t charge guests in our home money for a drink so we’re not going to at our wedding either. That and my fh and his whole family are old school Italian so we just won’t be asking anyone to pay for anything beverage wise. we also have unlimited bottles of wine all night as well with our venue.

I think if you are doing a paid bar having the 2 free drink tickets is a great idea! I would hugely be appreciative of drink tickets if I was at a wedding cash bar!

We are doing open bar! It was one thing we both REALLY wanted! But like you said pros and cons to both!

There is no right or wrong answer here. It comes down to what your budget is and what your options are within that budget.

I've attended the entire gamut of reception types, from fully cash bars to open bars to 2-3 drink tickets and toonie or donation bars... they've all been fun. Just communicate on your invitations what guests are to expect (ie. "dancing and cash bar to follow", "dancing and toonie bar to follow" or, if open, "dancing and drinks to follow"). You just don't want guests assuming it's an open bar and then not having any cash when they get there.

The only time I've been annoyed by a cash bar was when one of my fiances friends (who is very well off) was getting married and the invitation gave no indication that it was a cash bar, so we showed up with no cash on us, as did pretty much everyone else... so between the ceremony and reception people were running out to the closest gas station to use the ATM. Didn't help that there was only a 15 minute window between the ceremony and the cocktail "hour" (which was cash and only half an hour). By the time we got back from the ATM we had missed most of the cocktail hour and had to quickly grab a drink and sit down for speeches.

Regardless of what style of bar you choose (and again, no choice is wrong), I think it is standard to at least provide wine with dinner.

ETA: I will acknowledge that toonie bars tend to be my favourite. They strike a good balance, and a previous poster makes a good point about how wasteful people can be at open bars.

I agree, it depends on your budget and the people attending your wedding.

We're having a toonie bar at our wedding - our reception is in a community hall and so we can provide our own alcohol. We are also putting two bottles of wine on each table for during dinner. I've been to weddings with each of the types of bars - I prefer the toonie bar.

At an open bar, people tend to be a bit wasteful (put their drink down, forget where it is and just go get another one) and indulge more than they maybe should. Cash bars tend to be expensive for your guests. A toonie bar is a nice balance - people don't lose their drinks as often, they don't get quite as drunk as with an open bar but you can easily drink all night at a wedding for 20$ so it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

It all depends on your budget and the people attending your wedding. For us, we will definitely be doing open bar because we’re Croatian and that’s what everyone does at Croatian weddings. We’ve never been to one that you have to pay at, but I think if your guests are bringing money or a gift to cover their seat and some extra, they shouldn’t be expected to pay to drink at your wedding. But also, to each their own!

Venue packages are based on how long they have the bar and charges set up.

If you two can afford an open bar for the evening, green light to go ahead.

Toonie bar will help to cut down drinks for those driving and not take a chance unless its in a hotel they have a room booked.

Look at your budget and base it on what the best possibility of your decision.

It depends on both your budget, and what your venue has available. My venue, for example, is very well priced for the rental, decor and food... Because they are on a university campus, and it's an event venue for corporate, school and personal events. However, because of that, they don't provide any sort of "open bar" discount, per bottle pricing, or allow outside liquor... So we would be paying $5-8 per drink, for over 100 guests... a few drinks each and we are suddenly paying thousands of dollars...

Instead, we are providing one welcome drink voucher, and doing one bottle of red, and one bottle of white wine on each table. After that it will be a cash bar. We are putting this information on our wedding website. Also, our venue takes cash/debit/credit, so it's not cash only.

Nowadays, with how expensive weddings are getting, people are becoming more and more understanding of not having open bars. Some cultures pretty much require it, but in general, it's not as expected.

You can also meet in the middle and do an open bar cocktail hour, then switch to cash bar after, if budget permits.

Good luck!

For us our venue offered a base package with an open bar, so there was never a question to whether or not we were going to have an open bar. As a guest, I appreciate an open bar whether I choose to utilize it or not. I really believe that guests should not have to open their wallets at a wedding, so I'm pro open bar. BUT, to each their own.

View quoted message We have alcoholics in my family and heavy drinkers on the other side... so open bar may cost too much and I am worried about wasted alcohol.

We're doing an open bar after speeches, around 9pm. There will be champagne for toasting during speeches, table wine with dinner, and cocktail hour with our signature drink before dinner. That way, we didn't have to worry about guests getting trashed before the dancing. The open bar was included in our all-inclusive venue, so we were lucky to get away with it, plus both sides of our families and friends like to party.

I get that not every wedding can afford the open bar but I like the idea of drink tickets for each guests and then paying after that. I would just warn guests if that's what you do since not everyone carries cash anymore, myself included.

I prefer an open bar as a guest but I understand if the couple deems it too pricey and goes for cash or toonie.

We have alcoholics in our families...So an open bar was a no go, for the rest we’re not huge drinkers, so we opted for a cash bar. Some might think of it as tacky, but even if we wanted to, we couldnt afford it.

It all depends on your budget. and how important it is to you.

for us. an open bar was non-negotiable. we wouldn't do it any other way. we are fortunate. with our hall, we can bring in our own booze. and then we pay them a drink service fee per person. doing it this way saves us about $3-5K as opposed to them doing the bar. we were also willing to cut back on other items to have the open bar.

as a guest at a wedding. I get that its not important for some people. but I personally am just not a fan of a cash bar at a wedding. especially when you aren't warned (on the invite or wedding website. I never carry cash). in my city, open bar is pretty much the only way people do it.

My FH and I decided on the open bar but that was our choice because of the families we come from. We had my uncles and his both say that it should be and that they would give more presentation as well as my parents said that if they had to pay for one thing it would be to make our bar an open one if we don't do that ourselves.

As a guest I would love an open bar but understand that it's not in everybody's budget. If we weren't going with an open bar then we would have chose to give a few drink tickets to each person and then have a questionnaire or games that if you win you would get another drink ticket

I agree, there are pros and cons for each, it just depends on which cons you're okay with!

For us, we can't afford the surprise bill at the end of the night with an open bar. We also don't want to have to deal with sloppy guests early in the evening.

For these reasons, we've decided to offer drink tickets during cocktail hour and wine at dinner. We'll have a cash bar for the rest of the evening. This option will allow us to offer something to our guests and still remain within budget.