Wedding And Drinking: Tips To Avoid Mixing The Two
In every culture where alcoholic beverages form part of the food repertoire, drinking is very common, even mandatory, at weddings. It must have something to do about alcohol loosening our inhibitions and encouraging temporary amnesia to the point where we can forget cold feet, stuttering toasts, monster in laws, stratospheric costs and prenuptial agreements. (If you see your groom toting one of your groomsman gifts that just so happens to be a Flask, be afraid, be very afraid)
In short, drinking adds to the general merriment of weddings, not to mention a few funny moments. But what happens when funny moments progress into not-so-funny, drunken embarrassments? Other than clubbing your guests and your groom on their caveman heads, you can only watch in frustration, right?
Well, actually no. Since prevention is always better than the cure, you can always take the necessary steps to ensure that booze does not ruin your dream wedding.
#1 Cash Bar
With a cash bar, you will be hitting two birds with one stone. First, you can save on wedding reception costs because your guests will pay for their own drinks. You need not worry too much about the booze budget. Second, your guests might limit their own alcohol consumption since they have to pay for them. No freebies, no overindulgence. Either way, you can have a win-win solution to the drinking provided.
But (there are always buts in a wedding, as you well know by now) you have to prepare yourself for either of two things. First, you will be seen as a Scrooge-type cheapskate who will not indulge her guests on her wedding day with some good old drinking. Second, your guests might leave early to seek happier company elsewhere. Then again, is it such a bad thing to save your checkbook wallet from excessive use in these recessionary times and to be rid of guests as soon as possible?
#2 Limited Bar Hours and Selections
If you are reluctant to make your guests pay at your own wedding reception, you can always opt to limit the number of hours the bar is open and/or limit the number of booze selections available. Either way, you can satisfy your guests’ need to drink and be merry while you can save on costs and chagrin.
You can do these in so many ways like: a) Have the master of ceremonies announce when the bar is open for drinks. Either you can have it open for short intervals throughout the reception or just at the beginning of the reception for a longer period; b) Stick to the basics of wine and beer. This way, you can control how much alcohol flows from the bar to the bodies; c) Provide for a specific number of wine/beer bottles per table and stick to the plan.
In all these methods to control drinking at your wedding, just be sure that your guests will not have to pay for the traditional wedding toasts of champagne. Now that would be extreme Stooge!