[jimfree]

You shame me Takoma. Mrs. Jimfree wants to attend an official ball. We are going through the MD GOP toward that end. $8-$10 drinks in the cash bar? Really? Bummer.

[tgslTakoma]

Bar drinks at these events are pricey, and $8-10 per is pretty standard around these parts. I don't usually drink alcoholic beverages, and at cash bar events in DC I have to pay $4-5 for a Diet Coke.

Having an open bar is costly, too - but it makes things much more convenient and hospitable to the guests at an event.

P.S. I don't mean to discourage you about an "Official Ball," but most media write-ups of the official balls tend to read like this one from 2001.

And then for comparison, you can read this Reason Magazine write-up of the first FR Ball.