Smuggling alcohol into a wedding reception?

[jessie777]

Would you? Have you?! Did you get caught?!

So why can't you manage one evening without it then if you can't afford it where you are?

Get a box of white wine and remove the outer box/packaging. Place the bag in your dh's underpants. When you want a glass of wine get dh to theatrically shake his head and roll his eyes and then 'reluctantly' undo his fly. You hold your glass there while dh pours from the nozzle into your glass, while he looks round to people with a 'what can i do' tsk tsk face. You raise the glass and take a long lovely drink of it while smiling happily. No one will come near you again to question it.

Me? Because I don't go out a lot, maybe once every 3 months or so, and every now and then I wouldn't mind a couple of drinks :)

Call me old fashioned, or just old... hands up. I'd rather have 20 guests at my wedding and pay for everything than have a big wedding and make people pay for a glass of wine... makes a mockery of the word "invited" in my view. And before I get comments I was not brought up affluent or entitled though we are all right now.

But that isn't what this thread is about lazy.
There are zillions of threads about people's different expectations at weddings. It must be cultural (in the widest sense of the word... combining heritage, finances, class, regional differences, and even family tradition). For you , you've never been to a wedding with a paid bar - fine, if that is the expectation where you are, but for me (and I'm 50+ and have probably been to 50+ weddings), I've never been to a wedding where everything is provided by the hosts. Would find it pretty odd. I've honestly only ever heard of it on MN, and I mix with quite a lot of different people, of different ages and in different financial circumstances.
This thread is about..... 'In the circumstances where you are at a wedding venue and being charges extortionate prices for the drinks....'

Do it.

Sports direct have drink pouch things for about 1.50. Fill a few of those up and put them in your bra and handbag. Buy a glass of coke from the bar. Sorted.

I did the booze in a gift bag thing once- the venue were obviously canny to it though as they took all the booze bags off people 'for safe keeping'.

Balls

Backfor: fair point. O

No idea where O came from!

Oh the utter irony of a Nanny Ogg complaining that bringing your own is depriving a landlord if his income! Your namesake would be at the very forefront of such an initiative, knocking it back in spades from a hipflask in her garter

RJnomore - are you really suggesting that bar staff scrutinise and memorise every order? Surely they would have no idea what people had drunk before arriving? Staff can surely refuse to serve customers who are too drunk without producing a list of their consumption?

EsmereldaMargaretNoteSpelling

Every now and again I forget myself...

Take your own in your handbag by all means but fully expect that you will be completely hammered by the end of the night. Pouring your own drinks - with no wait at the bar, shot measurer or monetary restrictions = totally twatted

That's not what I'm suggesting at all.

I'm not suggesting actually I know this is factual in Scotland. If someone is drunk on the premises and causes an incident and they have been there for some time the license holder will be held responsible for that but if yoirexswigging out your handbag or passing it round they have no control over it at all.

off topic but I had an argument (drink taken - utter shame but still think I was right) with dh's cousin's fiance because he brought a bottle of wine into BIL's wedding reception to drink. I spotted him with a botle of wine down by the leg of his chair and asked him what it was.
All drink was free - all night - but he wanted a "better wine" - he had no idea what the wine would be like beforehand but he brought his own bottle anyway. Like I said drink taken but god I massively had a go at him for being a snobbish twat who didn't understand the give and take of hospitality.

Sorry but what's the issue? The wine handed out for free is usually cheap and cheap red wine makes me feel vile, even worse the next day. DH would be totally on board with this plan too :D

The only booze I have ever snuck into wedding was my own! I bought DH a special hipflask, I thought he might need it for his nerves. I did fill it with his own fancy whiskey from the pantry and we did foot the entire bar bill for the rest of the wedding so I think that's allowed.

Meltor since you raised this off-topic thing again. I honestly felt that it was fairly shit that a man couldn't go to a wedding and drink a glass of reasonably drinkable wine just for the occasion without bringing in his own superior wine.

Obviously, given the responses to my off-topic anecdote, there are many people who think it is ok to bring in better quality wine so they can drink it rather than the wine your host can afford to serve you.

Would people be ok with someone bringing in a steak to eat instead of the chicken that was served at the wedding?

To me it was the same. I thought it was a slight on the hospitality of the bride and groom. I wouldn't have said anything if I hadn't had a couple of glasses of wine (provided by bride and groom) but I did. It was no big argument, bride and groom never knew I said anything. Guy next to me (husband of dh's cousin) was a bit surprised I raised it with him - I suspect no one ever called him on anything tbh. Kind of wish I didn't because it was a waste of time but still think it is arsey and mean not to just accept the hospitality you are given instead of trying to substitute special things for yourself.

We were in the US if that makes a difference. And this situation is the diametrical opposite of the OPs. It wasn't about getting more affordable alcohol in a big wedding setting. It was about deciding to bring in your own better wine in a family wedding setting.

back on the off topic (which is as interesting as the original topic), I think it was a bit superior/snotty of someone to bring his own 'better' wine but it sounds as if he was discreet, not waving it about shouting 'I'm not drinking their shit plonk'.
OTOH I was at a very formal business function once when when someone decided he disliked the (excellent) wine provided by our hosts and ordered a better one which he kept under the table and then charged his pricey bottles to his room bill which the hosts were paying! Nothing was said because they are great hosts with excellent manners but he was never invited to said function again and lost their very lucrative business.

Incidentally, I don't drink tea or coffee so generally keep a couple of herb tea bags in my purse so when coffee is offered at functions I can ask the waiter to pour some hot water on my teabag. Is that ok or is it like bringing steaks?

I saw some flat pouches of wine in either co-op or Sainsbury's. You could line your bag with them and dispose of rubbish easily

Lots of guests sneak in alcohol to weddings the common ways are a car bar and to keep it in their hotel room. One local wedding venue actually has a notice behind the bar stating anyone caught using a car bar will be asked to leave. I've also witnessed many a guest going to their hotel room with an empty glass and returning with a full one.

Haha all these people getting het up!
I used to work at a very pricey wedding venue/hotel.
ALL of the time the drinks over the bar had at least a 400% mark up! Scandalous

A few people have compared byob to taking your own meal into the reception, but that's exactly what gets suggested by someone when the wedding breakfast doesn't cater for allergies/intolerances/fussiness...

'Take a pack of sandwiches in your handbag' or 'nip out to macdonalds'

400%markup is the industry standard in any hospitality place.

That covers heat light storage, entertainment costs, decoration, licenses and rental due, tie in fees to supplier, salaries, wastage, rates, other consumNles you don't pay for like toilet rolls abd soap, the cost of buying the product and a whole host of other costs I am missing cos I'm rushing.

Lili when coffee is offered at a function it's usually already paid for as part of the package so not using it but using your own teabag makes no difference. You wouldn't take your own teabag to a cafe selling hot drinks by the cup and expect them to give you a free mug of hot water would you?

And likewise the wedding breakfast will be paid for by the head whether you eat it or not. You wouldn't have 20 people eating and another 20 rock up with McDonald's and expect to be seated provided with plates cutlery etc for free would you?

To be honest getting kicked out of the venue would solve the problem of having to go to a boring wedding in the first place

Definitely don't sign any contract with a venue that lets them arbitrarily fine you if your guests bring in booze though. You're not meant to be policemen on your special day.