Toonie bar

We get married next summer and have discussed the idea of a toonie bar. We are also considering a drink ticket idea. Where we provide guests with x number of drink tickets they use at the bar to get a “free” drink. After they use the couple drink tickets we provide, it’s a cash bar.

My cousin and his wife did this! They had a venue that allowed you to bring in your own alcohol so they bought what they needed and sold drink tickets at the bar for $2 each (that way the bartenders weren't dealing with change all night). It seemed to go over very well with the guests especially since there was also a good amount of table wine to go around.

We loved it so much that we're planning on doing this too! Our families both love to drink, so we thought open bar could get too sloppy, but also we didn't want our guests to pay too much for drinks so this is a nice compromise.

My fiance and I aren't doing one. We're having a cash bar. We decided on cash bar just because we know that both sides of our family can drink, and we didn't want to be left with huge bill at the end of the night. But if you have the budget for a toonie bar, Go For It!

Also,with a cash bar, sometimes helps with the fact that people might think twice with having a few drinks at 9 dollars a piece (which is what our venue is charging)

I think they are a great compromise between a full cash bar and an open bar.


I've never been to a wedding with an open bar, toonie bars are way more popular in my area.

I am not doing a toonie bar. We are paying for 5 hours of bar service for our guests. (5hours was the minimum) Since the cost involved with that is high, we are only offering what we can afford.....2 beers, red and white wine, champagne, rum punch, and juices coffee and tea ect. I think as long as you offer some drinks during a specific time frame, like cocktail hour and dinner, then switch to a toonie bar after dinner or something it should be cool. My honest thoughts are that guests shouldn’t need to bring money to the ceremony, cocktail hour, or dinner. But I would be super stoked as a guest to have a toonie bar for after the reception ended.

I’m not doing one myself—but I was at a wedding with a toonie bar recently and it was great! The couple supplied some wine with dinner, so between that and the super cheap drinks I definitely didn’t feel as though I’d broken the bank.


Basically I think toonie bars are a great middle ground between open and cash bars, if it’s in the budget. You can recoup some cash, still show your guests a good time, and discourage wastefulness (ie give people an incentive not to sit a drink down and forget about it, knowing they can just get another one. This is all too common with open bars!)

Successful since your not going over the budget and making your guests aware on the invitation or online ahead of time.