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My brother didn't have any alcohol at his wedding either, except for the champagne toast. We still had a good time. Most of our focus were on the bride and groom and dancing.
pass around a flask? just kidding....sort of. really, depending on the situation if you prefer to have a little social lubrication there may be a way to make it happen.
You sound none to pleased about that situation. Personally I'd still have fun at your wedding. But if you are in the market for a suggestion: if you are allowed to bring in your own booze - hit up a BevMo 5cent sale :o)
@ AzinAugust I am actually very not pleased.. Im not a drinker whats so ever.. but i like a nice martini here and there.. But i was born in a religious family and most of my relatives dont drink.. I hate that idea of not having any alcohol on our wedding.. but i know that if i do decide to have some.. no one will drink it and it will be a waste of money.. oh that religion..lol..
I just need to think of a nice program to go with my non alcoholic wedding..lol..
@besitos10210 i should pass around the flask.. Atleast between my bridal party.. just so we can get loose a little..
Can you give your guests the option to drink and have a cash bar? I confess to having brought a flask to a dry wedding once.
Fun things to do: Photobooths, play some of those corny dances like the Electric Slide, so people don't have to be self-concious about Am-I-Dancing-Right, have LOTS of pictures set up for people to go look at...
You're getting married soon so this may not be feasible - but instead of sit down dinners, have tasting stations or buffet so people have to get up and move around, have a chocolate fondue/fountain so people have to move around again for a dessert.
I'm not good at this, I usually rely on the booze. :p I'm sure it will be fun no matter what. There's always SOMEBODY who will do a crazy dance and break the ice.
Ugh, that sucks... Venue not allow alcohol? Don't your friends drink? Not able to at least have a toast?
My family and friends would be in the parking lot w/ a keg if I had no alcohol... lol. So, I'm sorry I have no solution for you!
My friends' husbands are usually in the parking lot with a handle of Jack and free Cokes from the bar.
If having a dry wedding isn't something you're looking forward to, could you limit the alcohol you serve? Maybe only have champagne, since it wouldn't be as heavily consumed as other alcoholic beverages, and since it's generally related to the toast, it might be more excuseable to your non-drinker guests. And, give guests the option of ginger ale or champagne for the toasts. Have it all already poured into glasses, so it's less obvious who has what . . . . Just an idea!
I wouldn't worry about it! I've been to lots of non alcoholic events in my lifetime, and they are still fun! If your friends and family don't drink, it won't be a big deal if that's not an option. (Just be sure that you have plenty of pop, punch, coffee, etc) If it's just the case that there are a limited number of drinkers in your group, you might be able to pay per drink rather than pay for everyone to have access. This might be a choice if you know that out of a hundred people there will be less than 20 that are going to want a beer. The bartender can run a tab for you, and it shouldn't be a big deal.
Our reception is in a park that doesn't allow alcohol in some of their reservable areas--guess which area we ended up with? *facedesk* FI's family and many of our friends are VERY religiously conservative, but we were going to go ahead with the alcohol anyway. Must be divine intervention that we can't.
We're planning an afterparty for our younger, hipper, less religious friends at a bowling alley. There WILL be booze there.
To spice up our alcohol free wedding we'll be:
- A photo scavenger hunt (to get some snapshots to supplement the PRO shots)
- Some fun "find the person" games. For example, find the person we called FIRST after getting engaged, and have them initial the item.
- Mini-quiz about the couple
- Etc
- YES, we WILL give out fun prizes.
Me and my family are christians and dont really drink, and most of my guests also dont drink. but i do have some friends who like to have some wine every once in a while and i feel like since its a special occasion i might bring in some bottles (its actually a gift from my maid of honor). im sure my pastor will not be too happy about it but i truly dont think people will be going out of control with it and im only having about 20 bottles of wine for 200 guests (one for each table). i guess i would love to have a glass of wine myself on my wedding day. but, i am still considering this and i dont think its a big deal. Your guests should be there for YOU and for your FI not for the alcohol. They can go out to a club for that. those who truly care about u will have fun no matter what!
@Everyone Thank You so much for some awesome ideas! You guys are truely awesome. I think i will do at least a toast.. and have other people drink their alcohol on the parking lot..lol.. I think we will be ok with just a little champaign hopefully my parents dont freak out.. Oh well its my wedding!
My opinion is that your guests will look to you, and that will determine the level of fun at the event. If you're enjoying yourself, socializing, and dancing, your guests will follow suit. If you're moping about the lack of alcohol, that will probably determine the mood for your party. I definitely don't think that alcohol is necessary to get people to have fun and dance, as long as you remain upbeat and enjoy yourself, your guests will follow your lead!
we're not having alcohol. i worried that it would get boring... and had anticipated having all kinds of activities to do, but my FILs convinced me that it really won't be a problem, that families will be so interested in meeting each other and friends will be reconnecting that time will fly by.
what i have done to make myself feel better about it, though, is have an earlier event. 1pm ceremony, 2p-5p reception. the reception will be "fancy" bar-b-que and the whole event is casual. we will have a fauxtobooth and a temporary tattoo parlor, and probably 3 kinds of guest books! so there will be "activities" but not pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey-type stuff. we're not big dancers, so there will be music and a small space for dancing... but i think the time of day will alleviate the pressure for dancing. our venue also has an outdoors area (where our ceremony is) so maybe we'll have some frisbees or whiffleball on hand, just in case.
otherwise, i've stopped sweating it. all of his family/friends know he's never drank a drop in his life and all of my family/friends know i'm in recovery so i highly doubt anyone would even expect it to be anything but dry! (besides, yay us for saving a ton of money by not having booze!)
we're not having alcohol, because we don't drink. also, very few of our guests drink, and those who do only drink socially. alcohol is so expensive, so i'm actually excited about skipping out on it. we're a fun bunch, so i don't think we need the alcohol. we'll be having great music, great food, dancing, fauxtobooth, a few games (with prizes), and some footballs and stuff (it's outside). i think everyone will have plenty to do. if your friends and family can't have fun without alcohol that may be a problem. like, gcwest said, you set the mood. if you're having fun they should be having fun too! :)
we're not having alcohol either. my family is super-religious, my father is a minister. his family is also very religious and his father is in recovery. we are doing a luncheon reception from 2-5 and having a 4 course sit down meal which should take some time. i haven't decided how to handle the toast (sparkling juice vs champagne). FI and I actually drink and the few friends we invited also drink. hopefully the time of the reception will knix that urge. i am thinking of having just wine offered and we'll just pay for it by the glass (maybe) for those approximately 10 guests who may want it.
also, since the reception is early, we may catch up later with friends for an afterparty out on the town....maybe
I honestly don't understand the logic behind the idea that everyone and their cousin thinks that no alcohol = boring. People have a ton of fun all the time (not at weddings) where there is not a drop of alcohol to be seen. Why does a wedding make a difference? If someone cannot go a few hrs without alcohol and they cannot enjoy themselves without it, then they have bigger issues to deal with on their own time.
Tons of people skip alcohol at their weddings, whether it's due to religious beliefs, they may be a recovering alcoholic and don't want the temptation around, or they may not drink for any reason. It doesn't matter why it isn't there. But people are able to enjoy themselves without it. It's also not true that just because there is no alcohol that the party will be over in an hour max. One of the liveliest weddings I've been to where no one wanted to leave several hrs after the reception "was supposed to end" according to the rest of the world, because they were having such a great time didn't have a drop of alcohol on site.
That said, we're not having alcohol just because only a rare few will drink it and it doesn't justify the cost. It's nice to have, but if no one will drink it, it's not worth the expense. The folks on our guest list know how to party it up and enjoy themselves just like anyone who does drink.
our wedding will be dry by our own choice :)
neither I not the BF (still waiting) drink, and we have family issues with alcoholism, so we're just not going to have any :) I'm not worried: we always have fun anyways!
I think that a dry reception can be just as enjoyable. I do agree that I'd prefer a drink or two if I was attending a wedding...but at my own, even though we are serving an open bar, I plan to only drink during the champange toast (just the one drink, not pounding shots during the toasts hehe). Is it at all possible for you to offer just a small amount of alcohol for those who would like it, or just the bridal party? if not, I say enjoy dancing, your new hubby and maybe games? Everyone loves door prizes ;)
Is mingling and dancing not enough entertainment? It keeps most people happy and occupied. Weddings don't have door prizes nor do they need them. That's what they do at showers.
I think that most people at the wedding truly are not there for the free food and beer to put it roughly. They are there to celebrate a joining of families and honestly most of them are going to spend a lot of the night talking and having fun sans alcohol. We're having it be alcohol free for several reasons:
Pretty much as long as you have fun, your guests will too.
"Weddings don't have door prizes nor do they need them. That's what they do at showers." - I think that's an unfair statement. YOUR wedding may not have prizes, but that doesn't mean ALL weddings don't. If someone choses to do something like that, why the heck not? It's their wedding, right? We're playing some games with prizes because that's what we want. We're excited about it.
We don't drink and wouldn't serve any alcohol, so to us it's not a big deal - but to get people dancing, I've seen people have a dance instructor come teach something different like salsa or swing, and people seem to get on the floor for that, and then stay on the floor once that's over. A photobooth is a fun activity, especially the DIY kind. If you have a DJ, a good one knows how to keep people in on the party. From what I've heard, if the bride and groom are dancing, other people will be too.
periwinkle- i think a dance instructor sounds like so much fun. i've never heard of that. that's awesome! :)
There are some good ideas on here. (Photo booth, games, etc). I'm wondering the same thing because my wedding will be at a Christian summer camp. I'm thinking of having a party before or after with my friends and keeping the wedding dry (my grandparents would be mortified if we served booze in any form).
We are not having alchol because we do not drink, and my daddy is a minister (my parents feel that it will be hipocritcal to host a party where everyone is getting drunk). Also, we would have to hire security if we had alcohol. Although most of my family are drinkers, they have no problem dancing while sober. They look forward to dancing more than alcohol so they have no problem with it.
You can have a soul train line. Peole love those! They always get people up and moving.
We're not having alcohol due to religious beliefs. Very few people would end up drinking at our wedding anyway. Besides that, our venue requires that if we have alcohol at our location, we have to hire one off-duty police officer per 75 guests. We are having around 300. And off-duty cops can be around $30 an hour. So even if there are days where we think it wouldn't be a big deal to have it, our reception contract nips that idea in the bud! haha
We're not having alcohol..mostly because we live in the South..(where in my opinion most people drink just not in front of their church members-ha!) and my FH's immidiate family does not drink..i am also afraid that my father and grandfather who are alcoholics will get too loose and my dad wont be all emotional and my grandpa be stealing the dance floor with every person out there..believe me this has happened! Besides i really dont want to worry about drinking and driving..i would hate for something to happen to somebody going somewhere from our wedding party ...Maybe just toating champagne..enough for people to toast but not to get wasted on...
I'll be having a dry wedding, even though both of us drink occasionally. It just makes sense for us. we have an alcoholic (or three or four or... you get the idea) coming to the wedding. We also are having the reception at a church, and alcohol is expensive. Any of these would be a reason to have a dry wedding.
I have alcoholics on my side, and SO's family doesn't drink, so no alcohol for us! We just plan on going ahead with dancing and having fun, regardless of the beverages.
We didn't have alcohol (or a dj) and lots of people danced at our reception. More than the alcohol, I think dancing is dependent on if your guests actually like to dance. Yes, a few more may let their inhbitions go when drinking, but plenty of people will dance without alcohol.
I originally was planning a no-alcohol reception, too, for a number of reasons - primarily: cost, religious family, and friends who drink too much and start telling fabricated/embarassing stories from college. Plus, the fiance and I just don't drink much.
After meeting my fiance's family, however, and realizing that they are decent people who enjoy a glass of wine with their meals (Italians! lol), we talked and decided we'll have a couple different types of wine available (at least one red and one white) and a cash bar for all other alcohol. Soda, water, and maybe tea will be provided, too, for the non-drinkers.
We are also not having any dancing - again with the religious family, and those that aren't religious just don't dance (including my fiance and I). It seems like a waste of money. I'll have someone manning my iPod for some background music, though. My wedding is for my friends and family to come celebrate a happy moment in my life - not for me to pay for someone's alcoholism and find them a booty call for the night.
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who has a problem with my choices doesn't have to partake of them. There are plenty of bars in town that they can go get wasted at and hump people on the dancefloor after my wedding, if they're not happy with my setup. :)
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So i just realized that we are not having any alcohol on our wedding. I also realized how boring the wedding is going to be.. I dont even know how to entertain people with out a little booze.. We are planning to dance on the wedding but usually people dont like to dance sober... what a bummer..
Any one else is not having alcohol? How are you planning to keep the wedding fun?