kaseylynne's Orange wedding

i choose alcohol but then again i'm a lush :)  i think the most important thing is taking in consideration what your guests might like.  if they're generally not big drinkers and if you think they'd enjoy nonalcoholic fruity drinks then go for it.  on the other hand if you think a lot would expect to have alcohol then you might want to have beer and champagne on hand but keep it at that in order to keep the price down.  i know it's a hard decision because it's so expensive.  i think if you have something available that's fun and your guests would appreciate ultimately i don't think it will matter if your drink is alcoholic or not.

We personally are serving alcohol, but it truly isn't necessary.. The fruity drinks is a great idea, maybe you can have lemonade or smoothies.

If you & your FI aren't really big drinkers, I wouldn't go out of the way to provide lots of alcohol, especially on a tight budget, because alcohol can be a large expense.  The smoothie you posted looks really good, & with having some basic fruits & ice on hand, you really can stretch your money well to have various smoothies, milkshakes or lemonade like littlelady mentioned.  If you feel that everyone will be disappointed without the alcohol, you could also just provide some type of champagne for the toast.  If a guest has a coronary over that, they can bring their own flask, or go drink afterwards.

Open bar was one of the most important things when picking a venue. We have open bar and champagne for all the guests throughout the night. It's just how weddings are done (at least on my side of the family). We are having a pretty formal evening reception.

Since your reception is in the early afternoon people might not even expect alcohol. Have you thought about toasting champagne or something similar??

I've never even thought about not having alcohol at my reception so its not something I can advise on properly. But there are plenty of brides doing that on here, hopefully they will post their ideas.

We're also having a late morning/early afternoon reception. We've decided to have 2 options for beer and 2 options for wine. We'd like to have it there for anyone who may be interested. Even big drinkers probably won't expect liquor during lunch time.

So far, everyone before me seems to be having some kind of alcohol.
We're not. My FH doesn't drink at all, neither does his father, but some people on his side of his family drink. I drink now and then, but I'd prefer to leave the alcohol for the bridal shower(s) and bachelorette parties. I do have some people on my dad's side of the family that drink (like fish) but I don't really care if they're upset about not having alcohol. For our venue, we would also have to pay extra and get insurance involved if we decided to do alcohol (because my sister is a member of the hall we don't have to pay for insurance right now). Before picking a venue, we were open to a cash bar or byob, but once deciding on a venue and figuring out prices of the venue w/ or w/out alcohol, we came to a conclusion together that we'd rather go without.
When it comes to the toast, we're going to toast with little cans of coca-cola because that is a staple drink in our house, my FH collects coke memorabilia and our kitchen will be (sort of retro) coke themed. So it's very us. If you can think of a beverage to toast with instead of champagne and you're okay with it, plus you're not too into the alcohol idea, I think it's fine to go without!
Good luck with your choice!!

I am not doing alcohol either. No one on my side of the family drinks and Brandon & his brother don't either, so it is def a no, but we are doing really fun alternatives! I
like the smoothies you posted, but italian soda's in different flavors will be a big hit I think! We are also doing root beer floats and a variety of sodas and maybe some virgin margaritas! I think gratefulbride had the right idea on maybe just using champaign for a toast. So maybe the venue would cut you slack if only everyone was just getting a tiny amount of champaign! Good luck!

If people know that you and your fiance' don't drink, I think they would respect the fact that alcohol will not be served. Smoothies sound good but I would have other options for them as well.
I'm don't drink at all but my fiance' wants to have a open bar for our guests. He wants to give people the option. I was thinking about having a cocktail hour from 630PM until 730PM, then after that the bar is closed.  We are still working out the kinks on this one; good luck!

the earlier in the day the wedding,  the less it is a party atmosphere... most of the people coming to our wedding drink, including ourselves, & weddings in our families always have lots of boozin' so i say time & the atmosphere you are going for matter... in the end do whatever you are comfortable with  what you can afford...as long as you are happy your guests will be happy for you

Maybe one alcohol bev, like a signature drink, that you two like to drink when you do!