Kathlyn Bohatch’s June 2022 wedding had the traditional elements.
She wore a white ball gown, carried a bouquet of blush blooms and playfully fed her new husband wedding cake.
There was just one thing missing: booze.
“Alcohol is expensive and pointless,” Bohatch, 22, from Santa Rosa, California, told The Post. “I wasn’t gonna pay for people to get drunk and act crazy at my wedding.”
She and spouse John, 24, a second lieutenant in the Army, toasted their marriage — held in a church in their hometown — with Martinelli’s apple cider.
Their 150 guests sipped cider, lemonade, ice tea and sparkling water.
The couple drink on occasion, but they worried about guest safety — Bohatch’s grandmother was killed by a drunk driver — if alcohol was on offer.
“I’ve gone to weddings where people starting fighting or getting sick because they’d had too much to drink,” she said. “And if anyone were to do that at my wedding, or if they tried to drink and drive afterwards, it would have been a complete nightmare for me.”
Eschewing booze helped the couple stick to a budget of $5,000, but the newlywed said it was still a good time.
“None of my guests complained that there wasn’t any alcohol,” continued Bohatch, who’s currently pursuing a real estate license. “We had a really great DJ who knew how to keep people on the dance floor, and we partied all night long. We were just naturally high off life.”
Modern brides are increasingly opting to say “I do” while saying “I don’t” to the usual open bar. It’s a sure way to save money, and fashionable too, as sobriety and sober curiosity are trending with younger generations.
On TikTok, the hashtag #DryWedding has amassed over 2.7 million views.
The boozeless bash “seems to be increasing in popularity among millennial and Gen Z couples,” the bridal blog the Budget Savvy Bride recently reported.
But some wedding guests say it’s just not a party without freely flowing Pinot Grigio.
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Courtney Thomas, 32, told The Post not having booze for guests is just “selfish.”
The lifestyle content creator from Atlanta recently attended the alcohol-free nuptials of a friend and found the event lacking.
“The wedding was dry and everyone’s energy was dry,” Thomas said. “People tried to have fun and dance a little bit, but the vibe was kind of dead.”
Thomas recently got married herself, and even though her husband doesn’t drink, they still had an open bar — spending $50,000 on food and libations alone.
“As a couple, you should accommodate people who drink even if you don’t drink,” she said. “Inviting people to your wedding is like inviting them to your house. Why wouldn’t you offer your guests the best food or drinks?”
Helen Hong, a standup comedian, put it more succinctly in a recent TikTok video.
“What’s the point of going to a wedding except to get s – – t faced for free?.”
Fitness influencer Dani, 30, recently faced online backlash when she posted about her 2017 dry wedding on TikTok.
“That wedding must have SUCKED, sounds like f – – king s – – t,” wrote a disparager in the comments section.
“I’d rather die than go to that wedding,” said another.
“Never in my life would I attend a dry wedding. F that s – – t. I wanna get f – – ked up and inappropriately hit on bridesmaids,” another groaned.
Dani, who declined to give her last name due to privacy, has no regrets about her decision to toast her matrimony with kombucha instead of champagne.
“We could afford alcohol, we just didn’t want it,” she told The Post. “Even one drink can disrupt the gut microbiome, which can impact mood, immune system, hormones and [cause] inflammation … We had a sexy wedding night where we felt and looked our best.”
