How to Handle Serving Alcohol at Your Wedding Reception
Weddings are joyous occasions, full of celebration and happiness for a couple on the brink of a brand new life. Nothing should be allowed to mar this glorious occasion and there are certain decisions you will need to take as a couple. Some may require a hardline stand and in this article we deal with the serving of alcohol at the wedding reception.
You do not have to follow the crowd and serve alcohol because other people do. You can decide based on your budget whether you can afford this expenditure. A full bar is very expensive when the caterers are supplying the drinks. You will be charged for every bottle opened and have to pay servers and bartender fees.
You would be well within your rights to have a champagne reception where only champagne is served. Make sure to put this information in your reception invitation so that people know what to expect. You could also serve wine or a mixed punch, which is made up of a mixture of alcoholic and fruit beverages.
In order to help you decide whether to serve alcohol at your wedding reception or not, the following tips may be of use.
* You will need to check with the reception venue about their policy on serving alcohol. For example, if you have the reception in a church hall there is no way you will be allowed to serve alcohol, so nix the thought.
* There are some hotels which may not be amenable to you bringing your own alcohol and if they insist on supplying and serving, you need to think long and hard about whether you want to incur this cost.
* If you want the caterer to supply the alcohol, make sure he has a liquor license. If you want to supply it yourself, you can go online and apply for a liquor license for a one off event where the stuff is not for sale and no tickets are sold to the event.
* You will need a professional bartender to take care of the liquor serving all through the evening. If you have a friend who works in this line you can always get him or her to help out. Depending on the number of guests you invite, you need to make sure that there are sufficient bartenders available to serve them. You don't want your guests queuing up for ages to get a drink – the mood can get ugly.