I drink too much at parties

[greeneggsandhamsandwich]

I drink alcohol about two days per week. Usually life is pretty dull and this entails having two bottles of beer or two glasses of wine at home with DH. That’s fine by me, no desire for more. But on the rare occasion we go out to weddings I get very drunk. DH gets annoyed. I look forward to the parties and feel excited and nervous, and I have too many drinks and argue with DH about me being drunk. It’s not ok cos I feel ill the next day, I feel shame and it’s unfair on DH.
I don’t want to swear off alcohol altogether. Is anyone else like this? I am considering pretending to be ill for the next wedding we are invited to, and just not go. But DH wants me to come to these things, just a lot more sober! I could offer to drive but it’s out in the countryside and quite far from home and I am not at all confident doing that journey.
Anyone got any words of wisdom? Fully prepared to be called an alcoholic but as I don’t want to give up drinking altogether I’d really appreciate other ideas, or hearing from people who have similar stories.

Make 2/3 drinks soft drinks. I find I drink really quickly when nervous, but it doesn't make a difference if it's water or wine. So drink two glasses of sparkling water for every one glass of champagne. Always have a glass of still water on the go, whatever else you are drinking, and make sure you've finished it before you get another alcoholic drink.
Choose mocktails at the start if there's a choice - Virgin Mary or plain tonic water and lemon are both easy to get hold of, even if there's nothing more interesting on offer. Choose Buck's fizz over champagne if it's on offer, then top up with OJ not fizz.

Can you do a test run of the drive with DH before the night?

So it’s occasional binge drinking?

Why do you find it hard to pause or stop after a few?

I have done this a lot in the past, at parties, weddings, boozy nights out it’s common IMO. I decided that it usually happened when I was either wanting to “let loose” and made poor judgment on when to stop, or when I didn’t actually enjoy the company or type of event. So now I stop drinking when I feel merry and switch to soft drinks, and decline things that I wouldn’t want to do sober.

If you find it difficult to stop, don’t start. Go to the wedding, have a good time but say you are in antibiotics and stay off alcohol.