How do you feel about "cash bars?" 20-40-60 answers

YOU ASK…WE ANSWER…YOU DECIDE

Question: How do you feel about “cash bars” at a party? Recently, I went to a wedding where they served wine and beer to the wedding guests, but if I wanted something else, there was a “cash bar.”  Also, at a recent fund-raising event where I had to buy a ticket, there was a “cash bar.” It seems like at a wedding the hosts should provide all of the drinks and at the fund-raising event the ticket should cover the cost of drinks?

Callie’s answer: Seriously! You’re complaining about having a cash bar at a fund raiser? Liquor is expensive!

As far as the wedding goes, you are there to celebrate the wedding, not get drunk.

Lillie-Beth’s answer: I think hosts can serve what they want to, but guests should know what to expect from the beginning.  Alcohol is expensive, and if you don’t want to provide it to all the guests, then you don’t have to.

Plan your event accordingly: For a wedding reception on a weekend night in a reception hall with a band, people will probably expect alcohol, but they wouldn’t at a church.

However, there’s a difference between fundraisers and a wedding. Fundraisers should specify whether there’s going to be a cash bar, so people will understand what their admission ticket price includes, even if it’s only a single drink ticket.

A wedding is a party that the bride and groom (or parents) are throwing for guests. It doesn’t seem like a cash bar fits as well in that host type of situation; it’s almost better to leave the alcohol out of the equation entirely than surprise guests with a cash bar.

The combination approach of offering wine or beer to guests while having a cash bar to pay for liquor and mixed drinks seems like a reasonable compromise to keep costs down. Or, as one etiquette discussion that I read noted, if you serve a cash bar at your wedding, which may be OK in some etiquette circles, make sure your skin is thick enough to handle the complaints.