bar etiquette
What do you think about cash bar vs. open bar? Our friends over at "the knot" tell us that it's not c-lassy to have guests pay for drinks. I agree in principle, but the suggested starting budget in their workbook is 30K. We're working with half of that.
One thing we're considering is doing a wine pour-- that way, they get drinks with dinner (and our front runner venue provides a champagne or non-sparkling wine toast in its package price) at the very least.
Would it be so terrible to make our guests pay for drinks after they get two wine drinks comped?
EDIT: Looks like I poked the sleeping beast with the last question-- I need to reiterate that I would love to have an open bar, but it's not an option to do it for the duration of the event. All of the weddings I have attended in the area in the past 5 years have had a combination of a cash bar/open bar, and as long as the guests get a drink or two on the house (which they certainly will), most people are happy.
Thanks to all of you who provided interesting/workable ideas!
One thing we're considering is doing a wine pour-- that way, they get drinks with dinner (and our front runner venue provides a champagne or non-sparkling wine toast in its package price) at the very least.
Would it be so terrible to make our guests pay for drinks after they get two wine drinks comped?
EDIT: Looks like I poked the sleeping beast with the last question-- I need to reiterate that I would love to have an open bar, but it's not an option to do it for the duration of the event. All of the weddings I have attended in the area in the past 5 years have had a combination of a cash bar/open bar, and as long as the guests get a drink or two on the house (which they certainly will), most people are happy.
Thanks to all of you who provided interesting/workable ideas!