EventSays

Open Bar vs Cash Bar vs Dry: Cost and the Legal Line

Direct answer

Budget first: US wedding alcohol averages $2,800 total, typically $15–$45 per person (The Knot 2025 study) — a beer-and-wine-only bar cuts roughly $10–15/person vs full liquor. 58% of couples run a full open bar. But the bigger difference is legal: the moment guests pay for drinks it becomes an alcohol SALE — Texas ABC says exactly that, and Ontario's sale-level Special Occasion Permit exists for it — which changes your permit, insurance and server requirements everywhere. An open bar at a licensed venue is the low-friction path; a cash bar at a DIY venue is the highest-friction one.

Open barCash barBeer & wine / dry
Cost$15–45/pp; avg total $2,800 (survey)Host pays ~$0 for drinks; setup/staff often still charged~$10–15/pp below full bar (estimate); dry ≈ $0
Strengths
  • Guest experience; no wallet friction
  • 58% of weddings do it — the US default
  • No sale = simpler permits at private events
  • Caps host cost
  • Moderates consumption
  • Middle path on cost and risk
  • Dry events erase the whole compliance question
Watch out
  • The single biggest catering add-on
  • Consumption risk without professional servers
  • It is an alcohol SALE — permit/licence required (TABC, AGCO sale-level SOP, UK TEN)
  • Etiquette friction with guests
  • Crowd-dependent reception
  • Signature-cocktail culture expects more

Verdict

EventSays rule

At a licensed venue: beer-and-wine open bar is the best cost/experience/compliance balance, upgrading to full bar if budget allows. At a DIY venue: free-poured open bar or dry — avoid the cash-bar permit trap.

Choose Open bar when:

  • licensed venue handles compliance
  • budget absorbs $15–45/pp
  • guest experience is the priority

Choose Cash bar when:

  • licensed venue runs it under THEIR licence
  • corporate/community events where paying is normal

Choose Beer & wine or dry when:

  • budget-capped
  • DIY venue with no licence
  • daytime or family-heavy events

What flips this answer: Any payment for drinks (ticket, donation, cash) → sale rules · venue licensing status · your state/province's permit regime

The cash-bar trap at DIY venues

Hosts assume a cash bar is the cautious choice; legally it is the aggressive one. Free drinks at a genuinely private event need no permit in Texas and only a $50 no-sale SOP in Ontario — but charge for drinks and you're a seller: TABC permit, $150 sale-level SOP, or a UK TEN respectively, plus whatever server-certification and insurance conditions attach. If you want guests to pay, hold the event where a licence already exists and let the venue's bar operate under it.

Assumptions

  • US dollar figures from The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study (~17,000 couples) and its budgeting guidance.
  • The $10–15/person beer-wine vs liquor delta comes from a single caterer cited by The Knot — an estimate.

What changes this answer

  • Anyone pays for drinks — sale rules apply (permit, sometimes different insurance and servers).
  • Venue is licensed vs DIY — licensed venues absorb the compliance load.
  • Crowd and duration — the per-person range spans 3× ($15–45).

Common questions

How much does an open bar cost for 150 guests?

Using The Knot's $15–45/person planning range: roughly $2,250–$6,750 depending on package and hours; beer-and-wine-only trims about $10–15/person from the top of that range (estimate).

Sources

Last checked 2026-07-22. Tiers: 1 government/regulator · 2 industry body · 3 official supplier docs · 4 large surveys · 5 professional material.

Legal information — not legal advice

Rules cited on this page apply to: US-TX, CA-ON, UK. They were verified against the official sources listed above on 2026-07-22 and can change.Rules often differ by state, province, council or venue and depend on your event's specifics — confirm current requirements with the issuing authority before relying on them.

Connected decisions