How to plan an alcohol-free wedding
Blood Orange, Rosemary Shrub
It’s your day and it’s your choice whether or not to offer alcohol at your wedding. There are many reasons folk choose to not include alcohol at a celebration and those reasons range from recovery to lifestyle. Alcohol consumption is a choice not a celebration mandate and we can help you make the right decision for your wedding.
Immediate win’s from eliminating alcohol from your wedding:
$ The alcohol bill for a wedding of 125 guests can range from $5,000-$10,000 depending on what’s included and how much your guests drink.
Liability. Folks often forget that alcohol liability is a serious consideration especially if you supply your own alcohol, you are responsible if something happens to one of your guests.
All of the worry about the relative, friend or guest who inevitably drinks too much at any celebration. We all have them and we all know them.
Possibility of embarrassing toasts greatly reduced
A day remembered and cherished with a clear mind and heart.
Booze free doesn’t mean Fun Free—from artisan alcohol free cocktails to delicious craft n.a. beers we have come a long way from diet cokes and O’Douls. We also can help you navigate limiting alcohol service at your wedding. Here are just a couple of ideas.
Only wine and beer. No hard alcohol.
Lower alcohol wines. Alcohol content in wine ranges wildly from as low as 5.5% to 23%. Beers range from 3% (Grolch) to 18% (Dogfish IPA) Making a conscious decision to only offer choices below a certain percentage will impact the ability of your guests to become inebriated.
3. Give your booze-free cocktails sexy names, glassware and signage.
4. Don’t pour wine at dinner and don’t pre-set a wine glass.
5. Don’t have a champagne toast—this is usually a budget waster and more often than not guests don’t drink the “automatically” poured glass.
4. Open with alcohol service and then transition your bar to non-alcohol only. This can happen during dinner or right after. This gives your guests time to sober up before driving and it makes a natural transition. (We like to recommend subtle signage at the bar letting guests know this is going to happen)
We have lots of other ideas to help you make the correct decision for you day, vision and budget. Let’s talk.