In today’s weddings, men are fronting the financial responsibility just as much as women are. The traditional ways of a woman’s family paying for the wedding are less and less apparent. And let’s face it…you need all the money you can hold onto so that your life post-wedding is not off to a rocky financial start.
So how can you save a little dough and still provide a nice experience for your VIPs? As a man, you want an open bar. Let’s be honest with ourselves, when you’re invited to a wedding, one of the very first thoughts to pop into your head as a man is “open bar?” You want to drink, you want to let loose, and will gladly do so if it’s not on your dime. But now you’re the groom. Now you have to step up, right?
There are several options. Other than the obvious to have it open all night, or to a certain time in the night, you could limit the open bar for the cocktail part of your reception, the one-hour post-ceremony, while your wedding party is taking pictures. The only downfall is people will see that open bar window, and take full advantage. Plus, if someone is halfway done with their drink and decides they don’t really like it, they will leave it behind and go pick up something else. That just cost you $8 in leftover alcohol. As my dad always said, no beer gets left behind…but sad to say, people do ignore that idea.
But here is an option that worked, it can help you plan to spend no more than you can afford: Drink Tickets. By creating drink tickets, you can choose to take care of your VIPS (your parents and bridal party members) or everyone at the wedding reception. If you have 17 people in your bridal party, including parents, you can hand each of them three drink tickets good for a beer, well drink or glass of wine. Knowing that is 51 tickets, figure the high side of $8.00 per drink, and you’re sure not to spend more than a little over $400.00. But if you want to take care of everyone, consider handing out two drink tickets to each person. Let’s say you have 100 guests, including your bridal party, then that is 200 drink tickets and you can budget, on the high side, spending no more than $1,600.00 for alcohol. Anything beyond the drink tickets you hand out is a cash bar. So you’re not on the hook.
Whatever you decide, drink tickets are a great way to limit the amount of money you spend on the technically open bar. The great thing is, no matter how many you hand out, you can budget the max amount you will spend out of pocket. Better yet, you’re likely not to see all of the drink tickets turned in, hence, you save money for better things, like the honeymoon!
Stayed tuned for next week's blog on Monday at 3:33 pm.
What a great idea! Not only does this help with budgets, it could also help with that guest that usually winds up wearing a lamp shade and hitting on the bridesmaids!
ReplyDeleteDrink tickets are tacky. As a man, open bar is the only constellation for having to put up with going to a wedding in the first place. I don't care if the fancy chicken or fish gets turned into ritz crackers - open bar is a must. Let me be perfectly clear on this... OPEN BAR IS A MUST!
ReplyDeleteFace it, brides / wedding planners / wipped grooms, your guests want a open bar and as host, you should give them what they want. And I don't preach from inexperience on this subject either. At my wedding 2-3 years ago (can't remember exactly when), we had some decisions to make... open bar wasn't one of them - because it was a must, if for no other reason then that I didn't want my guy friends to think I was going to be the one getting deflowered on my wedding night...
Okay - so maybe it costs a little more. I spent $30,000 on my wedding and guess what I owed afterwards - $0. Know why? Two reasons #1 I saved money leading up to the wedding (not on providing kool-aid instead of beer, or putting everything on credit cards - BAD AMERICANS!) and #2 We asked for money from our guests instead of worthless serving spoons we'll never use!!! (GREAT decision to THIS DAY!)
Here's something I did that worked out great: Get a venue that has a bar in it or close by (like a hotel). Provide your open bar for at least a few hours and have the reception carry over to the (pay-for-yourself) bar.
I don't care if you have to have your wedding in your backyard and roll out the keg - OPEN BAR!
Realize this before your wedding day...YOUR WEDDING ISN'T FOR YOU!!! Everyone says the same thing after their wedding day, "It went by so fast, I don't remember it." On my wedding day I had 1 beer - ONE (there's no time for you)! The 2 best parties of your life are both parties you won't enjoy - your wedding and your funeral!
So, DO the RIGHT THING for your guests and give them what they want - open bar. No one wants to go to a wedding that they've already spent money on (gifts, travel, hotel, etc) and spend more money just to get a drink... (PS - any of my friends' weddings that were paid bars, I'm not referring to your wedding;)
Realize this: No one will remember how f#@*king fancy your g#d damn napkin holders were (waste of $$$), but they WILL remember how your best man fell into the fountain and how your maid of honor hooked up with the priest...and do you know why...???... yep - OPEN BAR BABY!
So if you want to cut expenses from your wedding, I get it, we're not Donald Trump - but cut the guest list (who wants your dad's friend Lewey there anyway?), cut out the place holders, or the stupid "party favors" that people just throw out anyway!!! Save the BAR, save the bar man! I promise, you won't regret it. It's the right thing to do.