UPDATED FIRST POST: I think this is strange, but I've been wrong before...

[pblair38]

We went to the party last night with 4 drink tickets in hand ($20).  There were 200 people there - so about 50% of the company, plus their significant others.  We walked up to the bar and there was a sign:  Welcome to CompanyName's Holiday Party", and then a list of the drinks and their prices.  Typical country club inflated prices.  Yes, they charged for COKE - $3.  No, I did not have a Coke.  I had one margarita and DH had a bourbon and coke, and a glass of wine, and we gave the other drink ticket to someone who didn't buy any but wanted a glass of wine and didn't want to pay $9 for it (it was the house Cabernet - nothing special).

The food was good, but my steak was wwaaaaayyyy undercooked - at least to my taste.  It was a filet, so it was a good steak and very tender, but I gave the rarest part to DH who can eat anything that isn't still mooing, and even he couldn't eat it.  I should have sent it back, but the light was low and it was really rather hard to tell how done it was, given that it was swimming in a red-wine reduction and I was eating by candlelight.  There was a wonderful chicken and lobster dish that made up for it, though, and the desserts were to die for. 

All in all, we had an OK time.  The people at our table were nice.  The band was FANTASTIC.  The guy doing the drawing for the giveaways (table floral arrangments - we didn't win one) was drunk and talked too much.   
Original Post:
My DH just forwarded an email from his new company (the marketing department, in charge of the company holiday party).  It was an announcement that the "Drink Tickets" are going on sale next week (for $5), Tuesday through Thursday, for the holiday party the following Friday.

First we received a "Save the Date" email a couple of weeks ago.  Then we received a professionally printed, very stylish invitation in the USPS mail a week ago, to which we promptly responded.  It invited us to cocktails and dinner at a fairly new country club in our immediate area.  Now this "Drink Tickets" on sale thing.  Are they hosting "cocktails" or not?  I know they don't want anyone to drink to excess, but gosh, I'd rather have had a couple of drinks paid for by the "hosts", than that darned expensive invitation. 

Maybe it's a liability thing?  If not,I wonder if I have to buy a drink ticket to have a Coke, since the only alcoholic drink I usually consume is a margarita - rocks - made from the well tequila, and given that DH has only been in this job less than a month, after 5 weeks of unemployment, I'm not chomping at the bit to plop down $5 on any drinks right now. 

Penny

[wetblanket]

Yup, it's strange.

Usually one or two drink tickets are given to each guest.  Once a guest has used those, the guest can buy more drinks at the bar.  If the drink tickets will not be free to guests, why bother to have drink tickets at all?  Why not just let the guests pay for their drinks at the bar?

I say:  Pass on the drink tickets and pay for your drinks at the function. If it's some sort of weird drink-tickets-only bar, drink water.

[fklwmn]

It's more likely a cost thing... they don;'t want to foot the bill for all the alcohol. They may also figure that $5 a ticket will prevent drinking to excess, whereas free drinks might end up costing them an arm and a leg.

If they want to cut costs though, it would be nice if they did something like... give out 2 free tickets per guest, and THEN sell additional tickets.

I don't drink at all and I hope that you don't have to pay $5 for a coke!! I will never forget the night I was at the bar for happy house and they were having 25 cent beers. I ordered a coke and they charged me a dollar! He was a new bartender though... he didn't know that I drink for free there I ordered from the other bartenders the rest of the night...

[Xanthia, Maker of fine Tin-foil hats since 2007]

Good Question.  At my past company parties, drink tickets were for alocoholic drinks only and 2 tickets were given to each person for free, all other beverages were paid for by the employee.  The whole buying all tickes can be a money issue or a liability issue, either way, it would be nice to know if sodas and water were "free".

[stanthedevil]

That's pretty lame.  At events I've organized we've had good luck with giving two free drink tickets/passes/punches to each person.  Those who want to drink use their own, and those who do not pass their tickets on to those who do.  It's a rare person who doesn't get all the alcohol he or she wants.

[willow08]

It's really not that strange. A lot of companies do it, both for liability reasons and because they're trying to save money. It also discourages employees from getting rip-roaring drunk at a company function, which is good for no one. (If  I had to pay $5 for a margarita, I know I would try to make it last!)

I would just skip drinking altogether that night, if I were you. You said your husband is new to the job. Now would be a good time for you to make a sober, polite first impression on his co-workers. (Because you're obviously a perfectly lovely person if you come to post here.  ) If that argarita is an essential part of a nice evening out for you, why don't you get the ingredients, set them up before you leave for the party and enjoy the cocktails when you come home? It would be a nice cozy way to end the evening.

[pblair38]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies!

I'm am NOT much of a drinker, at all.  In fact, at many parties I've attended with my DH, his friends have asked me if I'm a tee-totaler (with that tone of voice that would indicate that that is a terrible thing to be - what is up with that?).  I generally don't enjoy drinking (don't like the taste of alcohol), don't want to spend the money on it and would rather have the occasional Coke (I don't drink very many soft drinks either, nor coffee.)  I'm not worried about not getting enough to drink at the event, and my DH would never drink to excess at a work event, nor anywhere else for that matter.  He's rather a beer snob and the selection at these things is usually poor. 

When DH and I were talking about it, he said that he thought cash bars were fairly common at these events and asked me if they were all bad.  My thought is that it would have been perfectly fine for the company to have made it clear on the invitation that it would be a cash bar, but for them to invite everyone to "cocktails and dinner", and then LATER spring it on us that those "cocktails" are on US was the rude thing.  But perhaps I should be glad to know in advance of the event, at least. 

I'm a little worried about the party.  I know we don't have to stay for the whole thing, but he is a department manager, so I don't know that we'd want to bail out too early, and 5 hours seems like a long time for cocktails and dinner with no other activities. 

Penny

[BurninDinner]

Can DH quietly ask around what's expected?  If it's the kind of place where a bunch of people have been forever, and they just sort of "know" the SOP, they can give him a heads up (ie, it wasn't stated on the invitation you'd be given free water and sodas, but everyone else just knows that).

[Slartibartfast]

definitely suggest your DH ask a co-worker who has been to this party before.  Sometimes these things have unwritten rules - nobody actually *says* it's rude to drink X type of drink, but people will be shocked if you do, etc.  Or nobody *says* what time you can leave, but everyone makes their excuses and gets out of there before the boss starts his 2 hour monologue.  The drinking thing especially - nobody says where you can just get a coke (and if you have to pay for it), but it's nicer to find out ahead of time than to get there and find you didn't need your big heavy purse after all (or worse, not have money on you).

I'm like you - I'm not "against" alcohol, I just don't really like the taste and I'm usually not willing to pay the inflated price.  So I end up not drinking most of the time, and people draw whatever conclusions they want from that.

[supernova]

FWIW, I've been to a few of these where the bartender will rip the ticket in half, so you get two Cokes/club sodas/7-ups for your ticket.  I've been to ones where they just take the ticket for the Coke, too.

I've never heard of them not accepting the ticket and still charging you for your Coke, though.

     - saphie

[IndianInlaw]

Ask for a glass of water and carry it around all evening.

Just on principle.

[amiboo]

and 5 hours seems like a long time for cocktails and dinner with no other activities. 

5 hours!!!!  Holy crap!  One time I planned a Christmas party for the company.  We had 1 hr for cocktails and mixing, 1 hr for dinner, 1 hr for some entertainment we had come in and the bosses obligatory speech and we were out of there.  That was 3 hrs and we had a comedien and a harpist perform. 

BTW, we had punch for free and everyone got 2 tickets for soda, beer and mixed drinks.  If anyone wanted more than that they just bought it there at the location.  It seemed to work fine. 

[pblair38]

Bumping for the update.