What are your opinions on a cash bar?

We’re paying for day guests drinks and a heck of a lot of them too 😅 but evening will be entry drink provided but then pay for your own. I think it’s quite normal now to have a cash evening bar.

It is perfectly normal for a cash bar and people nowadays don't not expect drink provided, also if you cover the bar bill it can spiral or if doing your own you could run out. We have welcome drink half a bottle of wine each with meal and a toasting drink and that is it. Unless you are DIY wedding outside where you can bulk buy in then have cash bar

I wish we didn’t have to have one but our budget doesn’t permit us not to have people paying for their own drinks! We’re paying for daytime drinks and the first round or two for evening guests but otherwise people need to buy their own. It’s really common to have a paid for bar - I’ve only been to a couple of weddings where drinks were all paid for (and one was a marquee in her parents garden, so they were able to bulk buy cheap booze!).


If you’ve got spare cash and want to spend it on people’s drinks, I’m sure they will appreciate it but be aware you might be signing a blank cheque if you pay for every single drink!

We're erring on a cash bar. Our venue package covers cocktail hour drinks, table wine, and toasting prosecco - so I feel like everyone's getting a decent chunk of free alcohol as is! We're also having all guests all day so it's not like any evening guests will turn up and have to pay for everything they have*. If we have the budget nearer the time, we may splurge on putting some money behind the bar... but as others have said I think it's fairly standard to have a cash bar nowadays and tbh we'd probably get more enjoyment and memories out of spending the £100s if not £1000s that you'd need to make a bar feel genuinely open on a a honeymoon.

*What I will say is I recently went to a wedding as evening only guest - it was 5hrs away so we had to pay for over night accommodation and the bar was cash all night. I did feel a bit hard done as most of the guests had to make this very lengthy journey and pay for a hotel, so it would have felt nice to have even one free drink on arrival as a sort of sign of appreciation for spending the money and annual leave on being there. So maybe just factor in how local your venue is to your guests if they are evening only as a welcome drink and then cash bar would make a big difference to guest experience I think.

We are having a cash bar! We will provide welcome/toast drinks and bottles of wine for the sit down meal but a bar will be open so people can purchase their own if they want an alternative or when the wine runs out! I honestly don’t think people expect a free bar these days. Xx

I've prob been to more than 10 weddings in my time and only seen a cash bar twice and one of those was on the bride's parents property in the South of France (yes it was amazing!) so a cash bar is totally expected by most people. We are having the welcome drinks, half a bottle of wine and toast drink in our package with the meal but the evening guests will have to buy their own drinks! They will be fed of course, but I think most people expect a cash bar at a wedding.