Keeping the Bar Tab Under Control

Once you’ve spent what feels like half a lifetime planning your wedding, you want your guests to have a good time, right? And while tossing rice, eating prosciutto-wrapped tidbits, and doing the hora are all genuinely entertaining, they are always that much more so when you’ve got a cocktail in-hand.

But the First Law of wedding dynamics is that good drinks = good times, while the Second Law is that good times = more drinks. And before you know it, the self-perpetuating cycle of revelry equals your poor dad taking out a loan to pay for the bar tab.

Now, before you despair and start planning a teetotaler’s wedding, know that there are a few things you can do to keep the bar tab within reason. First, and most obviously, you can keep the guest list down. (You’ve already thought of this, but we’re just reminding you.) Second, and almost as obvious, is having a morning or early afternoon wedding and serving brunch or lunch afterwards. You’ll likely want to pour some wine or champagne to boost the celebratory spirit, but you won’t need to provide an open bar. Even if you do go for the bar, your guests will drink much less during daylight hours. (Except for Crazy Eddie, your fiancé’s college roommate, but there’s not all that much you can do about him, unfortunately.)

 Finally, if you’re holding a dinner reception, there are several things you can do to curb booze consumption. Some ideas: 

• If you’re hosting an open bar, consider closing it early, then reverting to a cash bar. At that point, many guests will have already left, and those who remain could probably use a little wakeup call, anyway. 

• Pour champagne and wine at the dinner tables, but keep the bar cash-only. 

• Finally, think about serving only beer and wine and a single regional or seasonal cocktail. We’ve seen this at a number of weddings, and it can add real pizzazz to the party. For summer, consider Cape Codders, mojitos, or Campari and soda. For fall or winter, eggnog, spiced wine or Dark and Stormys are nice. If you’re extra crafty, you’ll avoid martinis drinks like the lemon drop, which is mostly vodka, with no mixer. Drinks involving good doses of juice or soda are going to cut back on the bill. You might also avoid tequila, if you’d rather not see Crazy Eddie wearing his tie on his head and dancing on a table.

Keeping your bar tab manageable involves a little bit of ingenuity, but is feasible. You want your guests to have a good time, but you and your newly espoused also want to enjoy your day and not get a sinking feeling every time you catch a glimpse of the bar line. By keeping the libation consumption under control, not only will you not have to cut into your future children’s college fund, but your guests might even call to thank you the next day.