Self-serve bars at wedding receptions can be a great idea, no matter what type of wedding you plan on having. Having a self-serve bar can cut down the cost of food and drinks, while also allowing your guests to choose their own drinks anytime.

Self-serve bars can be especially good for smaller weddings, where the guests are your closest friends and family members.

Coming up with self-serve wedding bars takes some planning, so in this post, I’m sharing a roundup of self-serve wedding bar ideas that you can incorporate into your big day.

5 Self-Serve Wedding Bar Ideas

Before we get into the actual ideas, let me mention some important things first. Before you decide on having a self-serve wedding bar, you need to check with your venue if self-serve bars are allowed. Not all venues allow it, so before you get too deep into planning, check to make sure your venue allows it. 

You should also decide on your budget for the self-serve bar, as the drink choices you decide to provide will depend on the budget you need to stick to. Having a self-serve bar is definitely more affordable than hiring bartenders, but the cost can still vary depending on which drinks you choose to provide.

Wine Bar

Self-serve wine bar is definitely an amazing idea, as almost everyone loves wine. Plus, there are so many ways you can decorate and organize a wine bar.

For example, if you’re having your wedding in a vineyard, you can set up wine barrels as tables for the wine bar, and put up wine bottles on them. Of course, you should include all different types of wines, so your guests can choose what they like - white wine, red wine, rose, champagne, etc. 

If you want to keep things very easy, you can provide canned wine instead of bottled wine.

Beer Bar

Depending on what your guests like, you can have a beer bar! You can provide all sorts of beer (even non-alcoholic if anyone doesn’t drink alcohol).

For the way you’ll organize your bar, you have a few options. You can either do canned beer, so your guests can simply grab a beer they want, OR you can do beers on tap. In that case, you can offer all sorts of craft beers (and non-craft ones), so your guests can pick and choose what they want, and try out multiple different options.

For decorations, you can go all out on the industrial beer taproom vibes. You can provide custom beer flight boards for guests to sample different brews, and you can decorate with industrial lighting and beer barrel tables.

Cocktail Bar

Another fun way to have a self-serve bar, is to make it a cocktail bar! You can easily provide different alcohol options, such as vodka, tequilla, rum, champagne, wine, etc. and lots of different mixers, so your guests can make their favorite cocktails themselves. You can also add garnishes, such as mint and edible flowers, so your guests can make their drinks look pretty. You can include different glasses for different types of cocktails.

The only thing to consider when it comes to self-serve cocktail bars (this goes for all self-serve bars, but especially cocktail ones) is what your guests are like. Since they will be making their own drinks, you don’t want them to go overboard so someone gets sick. If you’re not sure if your guests are reliable, you can also do canned cocktails, and provide a variety of them - that way you’ll know the alcohol content in them is not too crazy. For canned cocktails, you’ll be able to find lots of different options - from Gin and Tonic, to Cosmopolitan, Margarita, and Whiskey-Coke.

For the decorations, there are tons of ways you can go, depending on what your theme is. If you’re having a rustic-themed wedding, decorate your cocktail bar with some leaves, rustic-looking glasses, and make the tables themselves fit the theme. For a more elegant look you can do a fancy tablecloth with elegant glasses and silverware, and add some monograms of your initials to the table as decorations.

Canned Self-Serve Bar

If you want to provide various options for your guests, but keep it as simple as possible, you can provide a variety of canned alcoholic beverages, so your guests can simply choice what they want. You can have a section with all sorts of different canned wine, a section with different canned beer, and a section with different canned cocktails.

Italian Aperitivo Bar

If you’re going for an Italian theme, you can go all out and do an Aperitivo bar. You can do Aperol Spritz, Hugo Apritz, Negroni, and different Italian beverages. Plus, you can make the decorations fit the Italian style fully. You can add charcuterie boards next to the beverages, with Italian cheeses and prosciutto, to make it complete.

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