Welcome drinks and toast

scarlet1985

Hi all. Just after some opinions.

Not long to go for me now. Have paid everything and stuck to budget. Me and OH decided a long time ago we wouldn't provide drinks as we feel people either abuse it or waste it. With a month to go lots of people are asking me what welcome drinks we're having and when I told my Ann there would be no toasting wine she was horrified.

It'll cost us about £600 to provide these drinks which I can afford but is it worth it? I've been to weddings where no one drinks it and to me that's too wasteful.
What shall I do?
Thanks in advance for your opinions.

scarlet1985

Sorry that should say nan not Ann!

wanchai_2

Are you providing no booze at all i.e. no wine with the meal?

At every wedding I've been to, wine has been provided with the meal. Sometimes there are welcome drinks (e.g. champagne, prosecco, Pimm's etc), sometimes not.

LEJC

at the end of the day its your choice to provide drinks or not....

Are you providing anything with a meal or is it a pay as you go bar?

Tradition,and thats probably what your nan is referring to is that you maybe supply a welcome drink for each person,a drink with their meal and something for the toasts during the speeches...however as I said what you supply and if you supply it is really your choice....

RainbowDrops

I think if you're just providing reception drinks & toasts then it wont be wasted, it tends to be free bars that get abused.

As a guest it's nice to have a drink on arrival at the reception, and it's hard to toast the speeches without a drink.

melancholly

I've never been to a wedding with no drinks provided at all. Some have just done a welcome drink, others just wine with food, some both and one had a free bar all night!! If no alcohol is provided, then a welcome soft drink might be appropriate?

I've never been to a wedding where the drinks with the meal weren't drunk - there might have been an oversupply so people drank it through the dancing afterwards, but I've never seen a situation where it all gets wasted. That will obviously depend on the guests, maybe my friends are all winos!

scarlet1985

Hmm I must say that I feel like a bit of a cheapo!! We weren't providing any drinks and we're unit the first of our friends not to do this. But the problem that sticks in my throat is that people expect a drink. I don't expect anything when I go to a wedding. Maybe because I don't drink I view it differently. Thanks all. Would it be ok to have bottled lager as a welcome drink as well as pimms or whatever as I'd like OH to be able to enjoy one as well.

wanchai_2

We're providing our own wine for a corkage fee and they return any unopened bottles to us :beer:

BabyBoots

I would say, if you don't give your guests anything to toast you with, don't expect to be toasted! In all the weddings I've been to, I've always drunk whatever was provided on trays as a welcome, or on the table during the meal, and not visited the bar to buy a drink until the evening (so I'm always oblivious to whether there was a tab earlier or not). If it's only water on the table, I'd probably be toasting you with that!

I think, more than any other area at a wedding party, people notice if you cut corners with the drink. Your guests may be oblivious to your colour-coordination, the carefully-chosen music and the taste of your cake, but an absence of booze will be a talking point! Assuming you could afford the £600, I'd get the drinks in. :beer: After all, would you invite your friends and family to your house and not provide drinks?

trinity_enigma

Maybe we're drunken bums but we've never been to a wedding where we haven't drunk all the wine provided with a meal and always drink the welcome drink.

wanchai_2

scarlet1985 wrote: »

Hmm I must say that I feel like a bit of a cheapo!! We weren't providing any drinks and we're unit the first of our friends not to do this. But the problem that sticks in my throat is that people expect a drink. I don't expect anything when I go to a wedding. Maybe because I don't drink I view it differently. Thanks all. Would it be ok to have bottled lager as a welcome drink as well as pimms or whatever as I'd like OH to be able to enjoy one as well.

Of course! At a friend's wedding 2 years ago, they had a huge fridge full of beer, West Coast Cooler and cava as welcome drinks, it was fab.

Just my 2p worth... if you can only afford welcome drinks OR wine with the meal, I'd go for the latter. But that's just me, feel free to ignore!