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I’m just going to come right out and say it: Our venue, which we love, is a plastic cup zone.
Yep, exactly like these, but with keg beer and wine inside instead of lights. Wine in a plastic cup? Bet you didn’t think you’d see that again once you left college…especially at a wedding! (Note: This will be entirely unlike college because we’re not serving Boone’s Farm to our guests.)
OK, so it’s obviously not a deal breaker and we’re choosing to focus our attention on other more important things (like, you know, our union). You see, there is actually the option to pay extra for real glasses, but we would also have to pay extra to have a staff member to wash all of the glasses as people chug their drinks, slam the empty cup on the bar and demand another round. I would offer to do it to save a few bucks, but I figured I would be awfully busy playing bride and rocking an air guitar with Mr. Jam to the Spin Doctors.
For a fiery hot second, we considered making sweet drink-stirrer-flag-things like this (and I have Mrs. Trail Mix to thank for this idea, since I saw her say somewhere that they were a snap to make):
The flags pictured above are made with Japanese washi tape (LOVE this idea for so many reasons), but you can follow Mrs. Dolphin’s step-by-step ribbon flag DIY right ova here.
…but in the end, we just decided against it. Yes, they would be all sorts of cute and festive and go with the non-color-scheme we’re sort of throwing together haphazardly as we please. (Polka dot and striped drink stirrers? Why not?!) But are they necessary? Because we’re only serving beer and wine, the answer is an unenthusiastic, “Nope.” It’s quite possible that the idea would be lost on our guests, because who really wants to have to deal with a flag hitting them in the face as they try to enjoy a cold beer?
Not I, and certainly not Mr. Jam.
Thus began my, “How about biodegradable plastic cups?!” kick, because if we’re going to have to throw away oodles of plastic drink vessels, they may as well be eco-friendly. And did you know some are even made out of corn? How entirely fitting since our wedding will be among the cornfields of Illinois.
Unfortunately, this is turning out to be so far out of our budget, it’s somewhere warm and tropical with not a winter storm alert in sight. Spending a few hundred bucks on plastic cups we plan to simply throw away? My wallet is screaming at the mere thought and my brain keeps drifting back to the original FREE plastic option.
Alas, we’re 99 percent sure we’re going to suck it up and deal with the plain ol’ plastic cups. Life will go on, and so will our festive wedding love-fest. I certainly hope guests will leave the party remembering the amazing music, delish food, and oodles of love…not the plastic cup they sipped from.
However, because I’m a bit persnickety when it comes to details, I will probably take full advantage of that uncertain 1 percent and spend lots of time researching alternatives when really I should be thinking about vows.
Sheesh. We can only hope that I’ll stumble upon an estate sale with boxes of hundreds of amazing glasses for just $5.
Have you been to a plastic zone wedding, and does it totally stick out in your memory? Or are you, for whatever reason, having a wedding adorned with plastic cups? Do you think it’s tacky, or is it totally acceptable for a casual wedding? Tell the truth, hive…I can handle it!
Remember, Mrs. Star ended up with plastic cups at her wedding reception, and it still rocked! No one came for the cups!
My fiance and I were originally planning to have plastic cups for all, then somehow I got the idea stuck in my head that I wanted to get Mason Jars for everyone. One glass, use it for the night, drink all you want and take it with you when you leave. And for whatever reason my fiance loved this idea too. We are still planning on having some plastic cups just in case someone loses, breaks or has their jar stolen by aliens. But I see nothing wrong with plastic cups! It’s what’s in the cup that matters right? =P
You could always get stickers to put on each cup with your names or monogram on it! That would add some flair!
We’re going the plastic cup route too…..it would have cost us $800 more just to get glassware to the bar. They’ll have glasses on the tables, just not at the bar. I’d prefer to be green, but its just not in the budget!
Have you checked out IKEA? I’ve read about some couples who buy their glassware/utensils at IKEA and donate what survives after the wedding. Some products are $4/6 glasses… which is about $.67/glass!
@emagnus10: I like this sticker idea. Order in bulk, buy cheap, rock on.
Plastic cups would be not so great only if the rest of the wedding was a) super formal and therefore looked out of place or b) the whole wedding sucked and was boring, thus giving people a lot of time to ponder the cups.
Since you seem to be going for more fun than formal and your wedding, from what you have shown on the Bee, will most definitely NOT suck, I think you’re fine 
I’m sorry but it would stick out for me. “The dancing was great, and the ceremony so nice, but WTF was with the plastic cups?!” Not only is drinking out of plastic cups unpleasant, but because the cups aren’t glass, people won’t be careful with them. I foresee them lying on tables, chairs, the ground…
I like the Mason jar idea, one glass per person. You could even use them as the escort “cards”.
Sorry to be on the other side of the argument.
My best friend got married last summer(I was MOH and planner extraordinare), and I seriously had to here and think about what they used. After a while I remember scouring every store for “nice” plastic cups. They finally found some crystal plastic cups at Gordon Food Services, which were perfect for wine. It made it seem a bit more elegant than the other options. Like other people said, the guests aren’t there for the cups…the alcohol maybe, the cups no. 
Don’t spend outside your budget, you will regret it later.
I’m trying to think back on the weddings I’ve been to recently and I cannot remember if they had plastic cups or not. I really don’t think it’s a big deal, and because our venue requires us to bring in our own drinks it’s just not in the budget to rent a lot of glassware. So we’re going to plastic cup route. Some people may think it’s tacky, but if they’re concerned about that then there are plenty of other more laid-back aspects of my wedding they can complain about.
[...] Welcome to the Plastic Cup Zone | Weddingbee weddingbee.com/2011/02/01/welcome-to-the-plastic-cup-zone/ – view page – cached I’m just going to come right out and say it: Our venue, which we love, is a plastic cup zone. Source Yep, exactly like these, but with keg beer and wine [...]
I like the idea to make a monogramed sticker for the cups!! We have to use the small, “nicer” plastic cups at our wedding….yeah not uber excited about it, but I figure if people are flying threw cups it’s probably better/cheaper. Also I’m worried that the glasses will get broken…it’s going to be a wild crowd! Like someone mentioned, people don’t come for the cups! It will be fine!! Plus no guilty parties for breaking glasses
I’m having plastic cups, plates (the hard plastic ones that look like china) and plastic “silverware” for my backyard wedding, the alternate options were way out of the budget considering a friend is catering and you usually rent all of that stuff from the caterer. I think if there is enough to drink, no one will care! Especially if it’s a casual wedding. If someone is focusing on what they are drinking out of then maybe they aren’t the right person to have at your wedding!
Definately plastic cups for me. I’m absolutely terrified of the sound of clinking or breaking glass, so I’m just going to make sure there’s no way it’ll happen. If somebody hears about it and thinks it’s tacky, they will be more than welcome to bring their own glasses, provided they also bring me some sedatives.
We too are in Illinois, and at a plastic cup venue! Luckily, I have become friends with our rental coordinator and he recycled his 100 Plastic wine glasses, and 100 Champagne glasses to us. They recently got married in June and were given these glasses for free from a friend of theirs. Where and when is your wedding? If it is after mine I will gladly recycle them to you too! They look exactly like glass glasses just…well… plastic! Just need a dishwasher! This leaves us with buying a batch of plastic beer glasses, and we will be set.
I don’t see anything wrong with the plastic cups; I went with the mason jars for the cocktail hour and spent about $150 for 204 of them. Also don’t forget to check out Smarty Had a Party, Ikea, and even Dollar Tree!
How much more expensive is it to have them use real glass? For my own personal noseyness.
Oh, no one cares about plastic cups! Someone always drops at least 1 cup (um, at all the classy weddings we go to) and people are always dancing in bare feet. (again with the classiness.) i stepped on broken glass at a wedding once. Not fun.
I thought about it and 2 of the weddings we went to had plastic cups and I really had to think about it to remember. We didn’t care and had great times at both of those weddings!
don’t think of it as “like college”… think of as “like an opening at an art gallery” or “like a book party”. as long as they aren’t of the red solo cup variety, it will be fine.
As long as Beer Pong doesn’t start, I think you’ll be fine :). I haven’t been to a plastic cup wedding, but I wouldn’t care at all. I’d just be happy you were serving me free beer. From the comments, it looks like I’m in the majority with my thinking.
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Mrs. Jam, Chicago Age and Occupation: 25, Writer/Associate Wedding Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Structural Engineer Engagement Date: December 23, 2009 Wedding Date: June 2011 Venue: Hunter’s Ridge, Princeton, IL About Me: I’m a penny-pinching cat lady getting ready to marry the frugal dog lover of my dreams. Our ideal Saturday morning includes rummaging around people’s junk at garage and estate sales followed by an afternoon date to our favorite café, where we only eat sandwiches that include the word “salad.” We actually love it so much, it’s sort of our unofficial wedding theme: Look at our delicious finds, eat homemade ham salad, and celebrate our love…barndance style. When we’re not obsessing over our love-fest shindig, we’re planning themed parties for our best friends and jamming to '90s music.
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