5 Bar Options at Wedding Celebrations

In wedding reception planning, the discussion surrounding alcohol can take on a life of its own. A bar is not required at any wedding celebration, but it’s important to know what your options are if you’re considering alcohol at a wedding reception.

​

There are cost-effective ways to have a bar, and there are ways to spend generously on alcohol as well. Let’s look at all the bar options available at a wedding reception.

​

Dry Wedding

Whether your reasons for not serving alcohol at your wedding are religious, cultural, or for other reasons, it is perfectly acceptable not to serve alcohol at your wedding reception. According to a 2023 Good Morning America article, “In 2023, nearly 4% of couples are expected to have an alcohol-free wedding.” While this number isn’t huge, it has since become more popular to consider a sober or dry wedding. (GMA)

​

Couples choosing a dry wedding are offering other beverage options to quench their thirst. Think of fun ideas like mocktails, coffee bars, hot cocoa bars, fancy soda bars, and more. The possibilities for dry weddings are as generous as the alcohol infused options, so don’t toss this idea out because it’s boring.

​

Cash Bar

Cash bars are increasingly popular for weddings as the cost of alcohol served at weddings can easily consume $1000-$10,000 of your total wedding budget, depending on the selections the bride and groom offer. A cash bar puts the bill for alcohol back on the guest. While this might seem to break some etiquette rules, the cash bar is becoming a more popular option. It helps keep the cost of alcohol down for the bride and groom, and it still allows for alcohol at the wedding. Guests can pick what they spend.

​

Signature Cocktails

Another popular option for weddings is to offer two to three signature drinks that guests can choose from and only serve those items. It might be a beer, a wine selection, and a mixed drink that are the favorite choices of the bride and groom, or some similar variation. This helps control the budget because only the alcohol necessary is purchased and charged to the couple.

​

This informative article from The Knot helps you figure out how much alcohol is required for your guest list.

The general rule is about 4-6 drinks per person for the event.

​

Open Bar

Open bar options allow the guests to consume as many drinks as they want of the items available. This is the most expensive option for the bride and groom, and this can usually run between $50-$100 per person, depending on the liquor selections and other options chosen by the bride and groom. So if you have a guest list of 75 people and offer mid-range selections of spirits, you can expect to spend around $5625 on alcohol, whether people choose to drink or not.

​

Limited Bar

A limited bar is another good option for offering guests alcoholic options with fewer choices. The bride and groom select what’s available, and the bar attendants make that information available to the guests. In this case, it might be that the liquor options selected are slightly lower quality, but in a mixed drink, guests will not be able to tell much difference.

​

There are many good options for offering alcohol at wedding receptions. Brides and grooms first must decide if they want to offer alcohol, and then decide how much of the budget they want to spend on alcohol. After that, they can determine what type of bar will be right for their wedding celebration.

​

At Royal Affairs Ballroom, our bar staff are experts. The feedback we receive on the bar staff is 5-stars. Whatever options you decide for your reception, your guests are in good hands at Royal Affairs Ballroom.

​

Call us today at 972-221-6565 for more information on bringing your wedding and reception dreams to life at Royal Affairs Ballroom.

​