For some, what happens right after the wedding is just as significant as the ceremony itself. It’s a celebration and there will be festivities! Let’s take a peek at the definition of those words…
- Celebrate – “To observe (a day) or commemorate (an event) with ceremonies or festivities”
- Festivities— from Festive— “Pertaining to or suitable for a feast or festival…joyous; merry”
The celebration part of a ceremony usually includes a feast of some kind! But what else does it include? Well, joy and merriment for sure. But does that mean it has to include alcohol?! Oops, did I say that out loud? Yep, well, I’m not the first one to say it. Different people in different parts of the country (and world for that matter) have different ideas about what constitutes a wedding celebration and they don’t all include alcohol.
There can be a multitude of reasons why people would NOT include alcohol in their festivities, including:
- Safety/legal reasons (age restrictions, location outside of cab routes, DUI laws, etc. – See article photo below courtesy of SD Office of Highway Safety – yikes!) You certainly don’t want to destroy the happiest day of your life with a preventable tragedy!!!
- Cost (it’s expensive!)
- Insurance (yes you need insurance if you are serving alcohol at some venues)
- Religious/cultural beliefs (for some, alcohol is prohibited or taboo)
- The venue doesn’t allow it (even some public locations don’t allow it)
- Respect for recovering alcoholics or addicts in the family (or even just avoiding overindulgence)
- Personal preference (you don’t want it to be a part of your lifestyle or big day for whatever reason)
Whatever the reasoning for a wedding celebration sans alcohol, you can still have a great time without it! Here are some things to keep in mind if you do choose that direction…
- Let your guest know up front, on the reception invite, that your celebration will be alcohol-free!
- Have a plan for activities or entertainment. You can still have a dance without alcohol!!!! You can also have games, photo shoots, or just plain fun visiting with people you may not have seen for a while.
- You can choose to have an early wedding and let people have their evening free for whatever they want, including bar hopping if they choose.
- You can serve non-alcoholic wines for toasts and you can serve fun mixed virgin drinks as well. Having a barista making lattes and cappuccinos or smoothies and slushies is also an option, as well as serving various pops in glass bottles.
- You may have people that whine about there being no wine or alcohol, decide ahead of time what you’re doing and why and then stick to it.
In the end, outside of schedule/travel conflicts, mature, caring people that value you and want to share your joy will be honored to be there and will appreciate your care and concern!
GGW
