Here is my question: Our reception is from 6PM (6-7 Cocktail Hour) to 12PM. We are having an open bar from 6-10PM, then a cash bar from 10-12PM. We would have loved to have an open bar the entire time, but it is just two much money.
1.) Is it bad form to switch to a cash bar for the last two hours, or is this ok?
2.) We want to make sure that our guests know in advance that the open bar extends only to 10PM, then it is a cash bar after that. What is the best way to do that?
A good host never expects their guest to pay for anything. So, having a cash bar is considered to be improper. If you cannot afford an open bar for the entire reception consider offering the following:
1. Serve just wine and beer.
2. Open bar only during the cocktail hour.
3. Consider cutting the guest list back.
Please host the event you can afford. Top Wedding Questions Forum Moderator - "Write your sorrows in the sand, your blessings in stone".
I didn't clarify this in my original post, but we are doing premium open bar during the cocktail hour, then wine and beer for the reception until 10, when it switches to cash bar. So we are already doing option 1, but it is still very expensive.
As for cutting back the guest list, that is also not an option, since we both come from very large families (very large immediate families - the obscure cousins/aunts and uncles aren't even invited) which make up 99% of the guests. Even if we didn't invite any non-relatives, the money we save will not cover the cost of having wine and beer for the entire reception.
Please don't take this the wrong way, especially since I'm not familiar with wedding etiquette, but if a good host doesn't expect their guests to pay for anything, how is having an open bar only during the cocktail hour proper? You are still making your guests pay for drinks for the rest of the reception. I would think that providing open bar during the cocktail hour and wine and beer for the first 4 hours of the reception would be a good way to make sure that your guests have to pay as little as possible.
An open bar means that the host is paying. A cash bar means that the guests must pay.
Having an open bar during the cocktail hour only would means that no more alcohol will be served during the reception after that first hour. Your guests would not be paying for anything because you would not be offering any alcoholic drinks.
I hope this clarifies my answer. Top Wedding Questions Forum Moderator - "Write your sorrows in the sand, your blessings in stone".
All good options. Another option could be to end your reception earlier. Your reception runs long. So, you could end it at 10pm easily. Then you would have enough beer and wine for the entire evening. Rebecca Black, Etiquette Now
It would be totally better to put up a coffee bar at 10 pm and close the bar completely. Nancy Tucker President of Weddings Beautiful US http://www.weddingsbeautiful.com
Open Bar/Cash Bar
