Religious couple has a surprise 'dry' wedding only to let some guests sneak in booze.
While most weddings provide an open bar or at the very least a cash bar or BYOB option, a dry wedding without warning can be a seriously unwelcomed surprise....
How with Aunt Linda give a surprise toast if she isn't a little champage tipsy? Will the Maid of Honor still have a chance with the single Best Man if there aren't any signature cocktails? So, when a frustrated wedding guest decided to consult the beautifully petty and judgmental 'Wedding Shaming' group on Reddit about a quaint backyard wedding turned disaster, people were shocked and ready to pile-on.
I went to a backyard wedding where they never informed guests there would be zero alcohol available...
If you want an alcohol-free wedding then fine, whatever. But the person getting married is one of my husband's best friends and everyone else involved were also close friends.
They all like to party. My husband had to miss out on being a groomsman because he worked in camp and couldn't get time off, so I went alone to support our friends.
The wedding itself was terrible. It was Catholic (so super long) and there was no a/c in August. The priest rambled on about religious stuff and made a couple comments that were clearly anti-gay marriage. So, it was already not off to a good start.
I get to the reception after a bit of a break so they could get pictures done. I was excited to be out since my dad was watching my 10 month old son and was willing to pick me up late at night if I was drunk. I quickly realized there wasn't any alcohol around which was weird.
The groom came up to say hi and mentioned there was punch and stuff, so I asked if it was spiked and he said 'oh no, there's way too many kids around for it to be a party like that.' Okay, that's fine.
Then I notice that the wedding party and family keep going into a shed with a bunch of coolers and they're walking around drinking beer and doing shots and stuff.
The music starts going and they're all dancing, but a lot of us just didn't get into it (gee, big surprise that on a super hot muggy day no one is into an outdoor party when they aren't drunk). None of them offered anyone else even a beer or shot or anything. Just happily kept getting themselves drinks from their personal hoards.
Maybe I'm just holding a grudge over it for no reason, but I feel like it was extremely rude. If they'd put BYOB on the invitations then everyone would have happily brought their own. But who thinks they need to cart booze to a wedding without it being mentioned?
Of course, the wedding shaming jury was eager to weigh in on this tacky and rude disaster. Here's what people had to say:
pedanticlawyer said:
A dry wedding is totally fine, with appropriate notice based on your social scene (hardcore Christians would probably assume dry and not need to be notified for example, but I’d need to tell my boozehound lawyer friends ahead of time). But secret coolers are always tacky when you don’t provide for your guests. Frickin rude.
ofbalance said:
I've attended dry weddings, and they were wonderful events to celebrate. And I attended one wedding so alcohol and otherwise fuelled, that even the bar tenders called it a night before the guests.
(The guests were really well behaved, except for their wanting to keep going until breakfast time, but that was the 90's for you.) I've never heard of a wedding reception where the guests are left dry while the wedding party whoops it up. Strangely selfish, and obscenely disrespectful.
Junglerumble19 said:
Yikes. Totally agree. I've been to a 'buy your own' wedding and a dry wedding and both times it was clearly explained and outlined on the invitations. Totally fine, at least we're going in eyes open.
To not cater to your guests but then duck off and drink is....WTH? Particularly when it sounds like the soberest person in the world needed a buzz on to enjoy THAT wedding.
fugigidd said:
I would have just assumed that the booze was in the shed and helped myself then acted dumb if I was called out. Nobody's keeping me from drinking at a party.
LameUserName123456 said:
Tacky AF but to be honest, I learned a long time ago to pack a cooler to keep in my car 'just in case''