Dry Wedding

niajs · November 25, 2010

I went to my first semi-dry wedding a couple of weeks ago. The bride doesn't drink, although the groom does. The bride's parents don't drink, but her brother and sister do.

Whereas usually there'd be wine on the tables, there was only fruit juice, water and sparkling soft drinks. There was no bar available. However, when the meal finished at around 7pm, they opened the pay bar, so guests could buy their own drinks. FI and I are both quite big social drinkers and do enjoy a few drinks at a wedding (it's the only way I can get up and dance!). We were on a table where we didn't really know any of the others and I think we took longer to loosen up than we otherwise would have done. There was a lot of hanging around when the bridal party were taking photos and we just had to stand there and wait. Had we been able to have a drink, it would have at least passed the time (I have to clarify here that there were no soft drinks available either, just standing around!).

I think you'll find it hard to control in an AI resort. There's no reason why you need to have wine on the tables, but I don't think you'll be able to stop people going out and getting their own drinks.

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

Thomasjsgirl · November 25, 2010

ThomasJsGirl (by the way, is that a reference to My Girl, the movie?): YUP!! DH's name is Tom (Thomas) and it just morfed to Thomas J, and stuck!

Good luck with your planning -- hopefully your guests will abide by your wishes. (P.S. I'm still not crazy about it, but that's just my opinion!)

AfricanVenus · November 26, 2010

I won't be offended if they ran to the bar to get drinks. I also wouldn't be offended if they asked the waitstaff to bring them some. I just wanted to make it clear to my guests that my FI and I weren't "providing" it, meaning they shouldn't expect it during the cocktail hour or the dinner. I suppose I'm not too worried because the majority of my guests don't drink and they all know each other. However, should they feel so inclined, they just have to go the extra length for it is all. Thanks for everyone's thoughts!