Open Bar ???

NYCGal

My fiance and I are getting married in West Cork this August (eeeek!) -- I'm from the States and he's from Cork; we met in New York City.

In the U.S. it's pretty customary for the bride and groom to provide an open bar--at least for a few hours--but my fiance is saying that's not the case in Ireland... We will be providing sangria upon arrival, wine during dinner and sparkling wine for toasts but how do things usually go down following the meal? (We've also got a bar extension at the hotel).

If anyone has any recommendations for how this is usually handled they'd be much appreciated--thanks!

Iron Hide

what hotel in west cork? :P

NYCGal

The Eccles

BennyBlanko

its not the norm - a free round yes, but not for hours.

Iron Hide

Hahaha, twas a sarcastic question m'dear. But BennyBlanko is right, a free round or maybe open for an hour maximum. Remember, its Ireland, some of us do like the occasional pint or short... :P

How Strange

It's definitely not the norm, no-one expects it and it would cost an arm and a leg given that most people enjoy a few drinks at a wedding and due to the convivial atmosphere they would be drinking faster than normal.

I don't know how much American people drink at weddings but us Irish aren't shy about taking advantage of a free bar. Also, a lot of drink gets wasted at a free bar; you put your drink down but you can't remember where but seeing as you didn't pay for it you'll just get another one. I was at a wedding with a free bar once and this is exactly what happened.

galah

It's the same in Germany - open bar all the way. I must say, our Irish guests were well behaved (I had my fears, what with free booze all night and no closing time...) - but we did manage to drink the bar dry.

This was probably the last Irish wedding ever held at that venue ;-)

That said, booze prices are much cheaper over there - we paid a flat rate of 35 Euros (or something close to that) per person for all the champagne, wine, beer etc, all night with no restrictions (finished up at 6 am). I don't think you'd get that here...

helimachoptor

Free bars are not the norm, but the last wedding I went to was a free bar, both sets of parents are utterly loaded but what annoys me is people will go up and get a triple/double whatever drink half it then go get another all night long!

Thankfully it wasnt too bad at this wedding though

BC

Agree with the others, people will expect to be paying for their own drinks after the meal.

dresstoimpress

Dont do it....:eek::eek:
Or could get very messy

NYCGal

Thanks so much for the help - just wanted to know what was expected

izzyflusky

It's the same in Spain, but we don't pay for each drink. A price per person (and hours) are agreed with the hotel so once that is paid they can drink anything they want. May be you can talk to the hotel about it, the only thing is I don't know how much that would cost over here.

Our hotel (in Spain) is charging us 32 euro per person for 3 hours of open bar. A rip off for the prices they have over there and I've seen at other venues

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Last wedding I was at had an open bar, groom's parents are loaded. Nobody really abused tho open bar, except *cough* me *cough*.

Not a great idea unless you have money to burn, imo.

Heineken Helen

NYCGal wrote: »

Thanks so much for the help - just wanted to know what was expected

I agree with everyone else... a drinks reception, wine for the meal and something for the toast is more than enough! A free bar is just throwing money on something that nobody will expect and everyone will just take advantage of... and people will be hanging around the bar more than the dance floor and paying more attention to the drink than the bride. NOT a good idea unless you've money to burn... in which case, go for it!

izzyflusky

Heineken Helen wrote: »

I agree with everyone else... a drinks reception, wine for the meal and something for the toast is more than enough! A free bar is just throwing money on something that nobody will expect and everyone will just take advantage of... and people will be hanging around the bar more than the dance floor and paying more attention to the drink than the bride. NOT a good idea unless you've money to burn... in which case, go for it!

Although I do agree that if its something not expected over here it's just a waste of money, I do not agree with the statement about people only paying attention to drinks. As I said, in Spain the normal thing to do is to have an open bar, and no one behaves that way. Unless your guests have no manner whatsoever I do not see how any one can do that.

Heineken Helen

izzyflusky wrote: »

Although I do agree that if its something not expected over here it's just a waste of money, I do not agree with the statement about people only paying attention to drinks. As I said, in Spain the normal thing to do is to have an open bar, and no one behaves that way. Unless your guests have no manner whatsoever I do not see how any one can do that.

That's fair enough... but in my experience the reality is open bars are treated differently in Ireland than they would be on the continent.

I do definitely think it's rude and I would like to think my guests would be mannered otherwise... but I can't afford to tempt them anyway

Besides, it was a bit of a tongue in cheek remark but it certainly COULD happen at some weddings.