Opinions please :) Dry luncheon?

[disbridemimi]

I know I post a lot, but im trying not to drive my friends crazy with wedding questions, since one of my best friends just had her wedding called off. Shes having a really hard time, and I dont want to make it worse.

I am currently comparing two locations for the ceremony/luncheon and trying to get an estimate of cost. But we have a couple of issues that could make a big difference in cost, since one location has a MUCH more affordable option for alcohol. We arent sure if we need it.


Do you guys think its ok to have an alcohol free luncheon?
Our ceremony is at 10am
prereception 1045-1145
luncheon 12-?

How long should i plan for this luncheon? until 2 or 3? We are not doing any dancing or anything just lunch/cake cutting/toast etc.

Is it ok to have the prereception be fruit/veggies/cheese & crackers served with Iced Tea, Lemonade Coffee tea & maybe some juice?

The luncheon is prob going to be a buffet, should we add beer & wine with this? Or is it ok to leave it out? We have 2 people that we worry about that tend to get a little out of control, and also the costs are going to be very high to add the beer & wine. Plus we are concerned that if people do a lot of drinking, they wont make it to the dessert party.



One of the locations we are looking at charges 18$ per hour of "hosted bar" or the option of bill on consumption drinks being 6.25-9$ (house beer & wine)and soft drinks are 5$ each which seems high to me. Plus bartender fee 200.00.


Our other option of course since we are having about 30 guests would be to go to a resteraunt for a luncheon, but it seems like most arent open early for lunch, then we will need transport costs.


PS anyone that used Citricos, I realise it is 650 food & bev minimum does anyone know what their menu costs are like, and what time they are open for a luncheon? I called private dining but its been 2 days, no word back yet

 

[29apr00]

I see no reason to have alcohol at a noon reception for a wedding that was at 1045am. It's to early to be drinking!! You could do a bottle of champagne per table for a toast, but that's it! saves lots of money there!

 

[CharacterFan]

It's fine to leave it out. We've adding it only because we have 7 people on our guest list that will wine..hehe..if we don't have drinks and so we're going to offer it. We have 1 person who will get out of hand, and while I'd rather not invite her. DFi might think other wise (his mom)

I thought when I first started looking at it, that it would be odd to have an open bar at a lunch reception and the few people we've asked about it, we've gotten mixed reviews. Either they're for it, or they think it's odd that people are going to be drinking that much that early.

Do you and your fiance drink? If not, then I'd say skip it for sure.
We are going to have a dry pre-reception if we have one.

We're planning time wise
9-10 ceremony (I know I'm over estimating there) Epcot
10-11 ride mix-in & pre-reception Test Track, Soarin, or Toy Story Mania
11-2pm reception Epcot or Hollywood Studios.

We aren't planning on a lot of dancing, but are planning on having Mickey and Minnie. So we wanted to make sure there was time for people to eat before they came out.

 

[disbridemimi]

OH Characer fan that sounds fun, can i come to yours? lol

 

[lurkyloo]

PS anyone that used Citricos, I realise it is 650 food & bev minimum does anyone know what their menu costs are like, and what time they are open for a luncheon? I called private dining but its been 2 days, no word back yet

Citricos isn't open for lunch. The Chef's Table is only available at dinnertime. You could do a private lunch there, but then the minimums apply.

I agree with the other posters, and will add that I think no one should ever feel obligated to serve alcohol at their wedding if they don't want it (or can't afford it!). It's your wedding, and you don't "owe" them booze just because they came to it. If your guests can't go a couple hours without a drink, that's their problem.

 

[goin' goofy]

I agree with the other posters, and will add that I think no one should ever feel obligated to serve alcohol at their wedding if they don't want it (or can't afford it!). It's your wedding, and you don't "owe" them booze just because they came to it. If your guests can't go a couple hours without a drink, that's their problem.

I totally agree with this! I'm not sure when people began to expect "open bar" at a wedding, but I think its ridiculous to put that kind of expectation on the hosts. Do what you want, there is no etiquette (not that you have to necessarily follow etiquette anyway!) that dictates you must serve alcohol at ANY time.

 

[copper4]

As a mother of a bride, I am definitely coming from a different school here- you are asking people from all over to come to your wedding at a pretty large expense and if they have chosen to do so, you mean a lot to them. It may be your wedding as Lurkyloo said but it's also about making sure your guests do not have to pay for anything else at the actual ceremony/reception if they do want to have a drink. If someone wants a drink, they shouldn't have to pay for it. Don't do the cost per head that early in the day but do run a bar tab. That is the compormise we came up with.

 

[lurkyloo]

I think the OP is asking whether she can eliminate booze completely, not whether it's OK to have a cash bar...

 

[lpizzuro123]

I have mixed feeling about this also. We had 50 people at our wedding from the NY/NJ area and I could not expect them to make the long trip to our wedding and not serve them drinks. We had a 9:00 ceremony, a prereception from 10:00 to 11:00 and then our reception was from 11:00 to 3:00. We did a BOC as we figured most people would not drink alot and we were right. We paid for a certain amount of drinks upfront (there is a formula that Disney has) and then we got money back after everything was completed.

If you want to do something but not have a full bar - we had a champagne punch served at our prereception so this cut down on alot of drinks and then what was left was brought down to our reception.

We did a separate champagne toast but you can also have a toast done on with what people are drinking.

So while it is your wedding and you should have what you want and what you can afford if you have alot of people traveling from New England it would be nice to offer them something.

Linda

 

[OceanGdss]

we had a noon ceremony and 2pm reception and cut out all alcohol. There was a pool bar not far from our reception site and the 2 or 3 people that wanted a drink walked over on their own and got one. They never once complained about it and rather enjoyed being able to get a drink THEY wanted rather than a random beer or glass of wine we would have chosen. And it would have been quite dumb to pay for an entire reception's worth of alcohol for just 2 or 3 people to use. DH and I split a bottle of champagne for our toast...that was it. Everyone loved our reception. We made it clear beforehand that we wouldn't be serving alcohol and no one batted an eye. If anything they were happy to see a wedding NOT centered around 'what booze would be at the reception'

to each their own I say