pros and cons of not having alcohol at my wedding?

When deciding what to do, the best approach is to only offer what you can afford to spend.

When it comes to choosing the type of drinks and how they will be provided at your wedding, you have five main options:

1. Open Bar – the easiest option for guests, as they can have whatever they like. Although it makes you look like an incredible host, it is also the most expensive option. The downside of an open bar is that it can lead to guests over drinking, which may take attention away from other parts of your wedding like the cake cutting.
2. Bring Your Own – this is when you pre-purchase alcohol to provide at the venue. This option is a lot cheaper, but is quite a lot of work in the lead up to the wedding. You run the risk of buying too little or too much, so make sure you find a supplier who allows you to return unopened bottles.
3. Cash Bar – the thriftiest choice out of all your wedding bar options. Some guests may find it offensive to pay for their own drinks though, so a pre-warning in your invitation wouldn’t go astray. Make it clear to guests that a cash bar will be available at the wedding so they don’t get caught short. A downside to a cash bar is that drinks might be quite pricey for guests if the venue is swanky. To soften the blow of having guests pay for their own drinks you could provide one glass of bubbly to toast the bride and groom.
4. Limited Bar – you could just provide wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks. This drives down the cost but you can run the risk of some guests not liking what is on offer.
5. Alcohol Free Zone – this option is usually based on religious beliefs, but may also be a personal choice. For some people, it’s just not a wedding without alcohol so you may need to prepare yourself for some criticism. However, it will drop the cost of your wedding considerably and there are plenty of nice non-alcoholic drinks you can serve.

Well the pros are that the wedding would be much more cost effective to host and you wont have to deal with people getting tipsy

The cons are that most people do expect to drink at a wedding so you would be dealing with a certain amount of disappointment and also having to explain yourself unless you state it clearly on the invite

Kind regards

Louise

www.foodstuff.com.au

I would think everyone would expect alcohol at weddings. Maybe inform them when sending invites.

There should be no issues for not having alcohol at your wedding. It's YOUR wedding and YOUR day for YOU to do it YOUR way.

If you think some ungrateful guests insist on alcohol, or be upset that you don't intend serving it, a footnote on your invitation indicating your intent will give them the opportunity to decline or accept either way.