Is not having an open bar tacky?
My fiancé and I are getting married next year. since we’re not well off and neither is our family, we had to compromise on what to save and splurge on.
Is it my dream to have an open bar for guests? Yes! But is it absolutely necessary? No!
Instead of the open bar, we decided that each table will have a bottle of liquor and we can have some self serve beer/wine and other types of liquor available on the side for those who want it.
As wedding planning goes, people are constantly asking what we plan on doing, are there plus ones, etc.
A few days ago, it came up that we will not be having an open bar. To which one of my cousins called “tacky”.
Is it customary now to have a bartender and open bar at weddings? Did I miss the memo? It’s not like we’re asking people to pay for their own drinks. We will still be providing everything. We just don’t have the budget to hire bartenders and have open bar. For a wedding of our size and where we live, it could cost well over $10,000.
We did budget around $3000 for alcohol, though I’m willing to spend more if needed. Just not $10,000 more! I would say about half our guests either don’t or can’t drink either, so that would be wasted money. Of the drinkers, a majority just take shots. So what is the need for special cocktails and drinks that only 10% of guests will actually drink?
My cousin proceeded to suggest cutting down the guest list and saying she will pregame in the car.
Do people just not enjoy weddings anymore? Has it become a reason to get drunk?
Please let me know what i’m supposed to do in this situation. Do I rearrange the budget to a get the open bar? Or do I just ignore her opinion and do what I originally planned?