Bride's 'cheap' move before wedding leaves guests reeling

A bride-to-be has left guests reeling after deliberately overcharging for drinks at her wedding in a desperate bid to stay within a strict budget.

The revelation came to light in a Reddit post where the woman revealed the prices were decided on as a way to “recoup costs” from the reception.

However, the bride ultimately turned to the site for advice after one of her bridesmaids called the move “incredibly tacky".

She went on to explain the couple had managed to secure many parts of the wedding “for free” - including the venue, food and band, but had decided to cover other expenditure by “doing a cash bar" and selling drinks at "moderate prices".

The bride’s reasoning

Explaining the decision, the woman wrote: “OK so me and my fiancé are getting married next year and like many people our age we are pretty grossed out by the wedding industry and are trying to keep our wedding as cheap as possible.

"So for example, we are having the ceremony and reception at my uncle’s farm (free of charge) out in the country, my good friend from college who owns a catering business agreed to do our catering for free as a wedding gift, and my fiancé’s good friends with a band that will play at our wedding for free also as a wedding gift.”

She went on to explain that both her dress and the groom’s suit were bought at a goodwill store and then altered, bringing the total cost of their wedding to less than $2,000.

That is, until drinks are included.

“We’re having a semi-big wedding (150 people - we have a ton of friends and family coming from all over) and the idea of paying for all of that booze is making us stressed out,” she wrote.

"It’d be at least $1,000. We thought about it and decided to do a cash bar.

"We figured we could buy the booze and pay one of my cousins to be bartender for the night, and we realised we could probably recoup some of our costs on the other wedding expenses by charging moderate prices for drinks - win-win!”

This was going to be their plan until a bridesmaid called them out and described the move as ‘tacky’, but the bride maintains that cash bars are common so there shouldn’t be a problem.

Massive reaction

While the bride questioned whether her cash bar plan may be a faux pas, her fellow Reddit users were united in their shock.

“If you want a big wedding, don't be cheap. If you are cheap, elope," one person wrote.

“There's nothing wrong with a cash bar at a wedding like this, but it is tacky to overcharge your guests and try to make a profit,” another added.

"Also I hate when people brag about how little they spent only to find out that they did so because they got everything for free.”

"She's still having a big expensive wedding, just at the cost of her friends’ free labour."

And a fifth person added: "So you already saved tons and want the guests to pay for the $2000 you have spent? This is tacky as hell. How cheap can you get."

Additional reporting by Lauren Clark.

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