WIBU to have a cost-price pay bar at my wedding for booze I have bought.

[broodzillathehun]

Name changed as I had this conversation today with a friend who is on here (Hi Kate!) but am a long time mnetter, naice ham, pom bears, yoni etc..

We are getting married next year in London and have found a lovely blank canvas venue for the reception that ticks almost every box . We're Irish and lots of our guests will be too, so flying over just for the event and expecting a proper piss up that goes on about 2am. The venue does not have a bar.

I will be providing wine with the meal and and proseco or similar for a toast.

Budget is smallish and I can't afford to run a free bar for all those people all night. The venue charge a flat rate of £200 to bring in your own booze so my options are hire in a mobile bar so the drinks are supplied by someone else and they charge London prices OR buy the booze cheaply ourselves and have the venue's staff run a pay bar but at cost price , so you might pay £1.50 for a g and t for example.

I have a slightly icky feeling about charging my guests directly for anything. Would I be unreasonable to do this?

Welll, I think it's more because nobody ever gives us a free bar. So I dare say if 'we' saw one we might take it as a challenge.

TOTALLY OFF TOPIC WARNING Having said that, every culture has a different way of looking at this stuff. Here drinking any alcohol at lunchtime while working (except maybe at e.g. a client lunch) is very frowned upon, you would be regarded as an incipient alcoholic immediately. Whereas whenever I've worked in the UK people have often gone to the pub for lunch and had a pint, or even more than one, which would be pretty shocking in almost any industry here. It would easily be a firing offence.

The last Irish wedding I was at we were still having a sing song when the staff were setting up for breakfast the next day, some wedding guests were still drinking pints with their fry up! I'd say even Michael O'leary would baulk at paying for a totally free bar.

And that's right about the lunch time drinking, used to have Friday lunch drinks when I lived in London, wouldn't have dreamt of it in Cork!

I like the Scottish tradition of POETS day on Friday (piss off early tomorrow's Saturday)

a lot of workplaces close at around 2pm so people can get out on the booze. heavy drinking has a more central place in everyday life than it does in England. That's not stereotyping and as I recall Scotland has the highest per head alcohol consumption in the UK.

We also have the sky high booze related illness rate to prove it.

Have never heard of any workplaces closing early on Fridays.

Less guests is a hard option for Irish weddings. I got married in London and we had 70 family (all my direct family aunts, uncles, cousins) fly over for it. If I got married at home would have had about 200 family members I'd have been expected to feed an d water if I followed custom and family traditions. Add on DHs small family and any friends work people or neighbors- that's 350 easily.

I think OPs idea is genius and will go down really well. Have only had a free bar at one wedding which was beyond posh. So glam there was a choice of champagne. I tried them all!

really? I worked in council offices and it would be deserted also the schools in e.lothian would close at dinnertime on Friday too.

Turkeyboots, that's why I got married in London, if we had got married in Ireland we stopped counting at 200! Instead we had 27 in London, it was fab.

Although quite a few relatives assumed I was pregnant.

Sounds okay to me.

Rabbitfromahat I don't really think it is acceptable in the UK now. Was in the 90s when I started working but not now. Many work places now have a rule of no drinking.

Re the pay bar. I think this is a brilliant idea. It works out much cheaper for the guests than most weddings where you buy at a high mark up.

I don't think people expect a free all night piss up so a cost price bar sounds more than reasonable.

YANBU, one of DPs friends did the same. I didn't mind shelling out £2 for a large wine and £1 for shots. If they'd just had a normal bar I would have spent loads but £20 was all i needed for the whole night.

I have never been to a free drink wedding are they really that popular or just for the few who can afford it ? charge for the booze folk wont mind

The venue can get a license for your bar - well they used to - the town hall organised this when I organised an event.

yeah you need a license to sell booze you can do something with raffle tickets though ( wish i can remember what it was but you bought so many raffle tickets and then exchanged it for a drink , it was years ago at a charity thing i was at

I've never been to a wedding with a free bar. I'd far rather the bride and groom were able to invite everyone they wanted rather than feel they have to cut down their guest list so they can provide free booze all night.

My wedding cost 5 grand 120 guests and free bar. We invited everyone we wanted. I think 5 grand is probably reasonable compared to what some pay. My friend got married at the same time as me , her dad was paying. He didn't get much change from 60! What a waste of money in my opinion for 1 day. Her guests paid for booze and travel.