Bride-To-Be Dragged Online For Enforcing Too Many Rules In Addition To Not Having Open Bar At Wedding

The OP is basically "spoiling the fun of a wedding reception"

Maryjane

• Published in Interesting
• July 21, 2024

One of the most memorable days of your life is your wedding. An unforgettable celebration of you and your significant other spending the rest of your lives together should take place with all of your loved ones—friends and family—under one roof.

The less glamorous aspect of weddings is that they can be costly, particularly when it comes to the food and drink options. But then, there are many reasons to support or oppose having an open bar at the wedding.

Expressing gratitude to your guests for their financial and travel expenses is a wonderful idea when you have an open bar. Also, an open bar promotes more dancing and mingling while maintaining a positive atmosphere.

On the other hand, unrestrained alcohol consumption can occasionally result in mishaps and disorderly conduct if not managed. And if not properly organized, open bars can get costly. 

The former is what the OP of today's story is trying to avoid, as she comes from an alcoholic-heavy family. She simply doesn't feel comfortable being around people who are drinking heavily.

She and her fiancé have decided not to include an open bar in their wedding. They had a drink ticket-like service instead.

With such service, they have been able to customize how they want alcoholic beverages handled at their reception. The OP has since received backlash from family and friends, and the full story lies below.

The OP writes

The OP comes from an alcoholic heavy family

Drinks were also to be enjoyed at each person's assigned table

The response has been mostly negative and has been from all sides

OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the AH:

I made the decision to not have an open bar at my wedding, instead offering drink "tickets". 2. I think this might make me an AH because I've removed a fun aspect of the reception and my guests will not enjoy themselves or be happy at my reception.

Comments rolled in, in their thousands and here are some of them

That is over controlling

It doesn't matter if it's dry

The school cafeteria wedding

The OP left this detail in the comments section

I don't want them to jump through hoops cause I'm the bride, I wanted to keep people from ordering their drinks and then gifting them to someone who already drank their two. I can see that it was a unfair of me to assume and treat my family and friends like children in this regard.

I'm going to discuss with my fiancé about changing it to, "We ask that you consume food and beverage while seated." This way guests aren't forced to sit and mingle only with their table but also keep accidental spills to a minimum which was a second part to that specification.

The tickets are non transferable

Having two drinks at a wedding

You can't control everything

They just want to mingle

Many Redditors agreed that the ticketing procedure makes sense as it keeps prices under control. On the other hand, they also said that every other thing the OP listed is just so exaggerated.

While it's a downside that someone can take another person's tickets, it's too dramatic and controlling to force the bartenders to straddle reverence seats in order to maintain order. Redditors found it pointless and the OP was declared not the AH.

Maryjane