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At DS's party, we will have sodas, water, iced tea, and wine on hand for beverages. I originally was going to have beer also, but I nixed it to have one less thing to worry about and partially to save money. DH and I aren't drinkers though many of our friends would probably have a beer if it was available.
My thought was that we don't need to provide every kind of drink at our party - people will drink whatever is available at a mid-afternoon party. But my dad keeps asking me if we're going to have beer and I think he thinks it's weird that we're not.
So what do you think? Is it weird? Also, how do you decide what kind of beverages to serve at parties?

BFP#1: 01/10, M/C 6w -- BFP#2: 06/10, M/C 5w -- BFP#3: 09/10, DS born June 1, 2011

BFP#4: 07/12, M/C 5w3d -- BFP#5: 12/12, EDD 08/18/13
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Re: Party Beverages
DH and I are beer drinkers and so are our families. For an afternoon party I would probably get beer, not wine. Since its a kid party, I think you're fine if you don't want to serve alcohol at all, but having one and not the other available is what would make it weird to me.
I would get a six pack or two of beer - if you don't drink it, you can save it for another party.
I don't drink beer or wine, and I do all of the party planning, so at my daughter's parties there's no alcohol. I just don't think it's necessary for the adults to drink while the kids celebrate the birthday. Not casting judgment on you for having wine, or others who choose to have adult beverages available - it's just my theory on M's birthday parties.
When it comes to other parties, which are few and far between, I leave it up to E since he drinks. He'll generally get some beer and maybe some bourbon since that's what he prefers to drink, and if his friends are coming, they come armed with their own choices. We don't have a bar in our house and they know it, so it's generally a healthy mix of some stuff that we supply and BYOB for the rest.
Could you tell your Dad that if he's so worried about beer, he can bring it?
Someone's getting a little brother!
I think that you'd be fine to not have any alcohol for a kid's party but I think that if you're going to offer wine, then you need to offer beer too. You can pick up case for $20 and than that's that. That way you give people the option of being able to choose what they want.
Honestly, my original plan was soda + beer and that's what I'd do if it was just up to me. But my dad would riot if there was no wine (whole other issue) - and the party is at their house and he's providing the wine. I'm not against serving alcohol or anything but I was just thinking to simplify by skipping beer, but obviously now I'm second guessing.
BFP#1: 01/10, M/C 6w -- BFP#2: 06/10, M/C 5w -- BFP#3: 09/10, DS born June 1, 2011
BFP#4: 07/12, M/C 5w3d -- BFP#5: 12/12, EDD 08/18/13
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Ditto everyone who said it's strange to have wine, but not beer.
I also think it's ok at a kid's party to not serve alcohol.
DH & I are beer drinkers, so we serve beer . (DH actually brews his own). We also usually have to run out and get soda (because we don't drink it). I also try to serve some non-soda/non-alcohol option, i.e. lemonade, lemon fizz stuff from TJ's, apple cider, etc. We don't usually serve wine unless we are hosting dinner.
ETA: We serve what we like. Since DD's 1st bday was mainly an adult party, we had alcohol. I doubt we'll serve it at, say, her 7th birthday party where it will be mainly other children.
We had a good mix of beer and wine drinkers at our party and we bought both. Turns out the wine drinkers, became beer drinkers and didn't drink any of the wine.
When planning DS party I thought of family first. My family doesn't drink, so I made sure to have coke, diet coke, and sprite. DH family are the drinkers, enter beer and wine. I had juice boxes for the kids (which was also a waste) and water for people who didn't want any of the above.
FIL is a recovering alcoholic, so that does influence our decision to have alcohol, solely because DH feels weird drinking in front of his dad now that he's sober. We've done things both ways. There have been parties where all I've had is water and juice boxes, and at Claire's party I had more options and there were only five beers drank.
Go with what you're comfortable with, and try not to overthink it!
miscarriage on 11/26/09 at 5w6d
~ Kelsey Jean ~
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I am a big drinker...but I don't think it's necessary for a kids party and would not expect it at all. That said, if it's being requested, I would pick up a 12-24 pack. It won't cost much. You can leave it the fridge and tell people it's there, or a have a cooler with it on ice. Either of those options has it "out of the way".
While you may not like it, it's good to keep on hand!