Do you need liability insurance for a wedding reception?

Flowing champagne, wine and other alcoholic drinks. People are on a celebratory mood, with emotions running high. This can be quite a combination. And this can result in liability for the host of the wedding reception.

A lot of things can happen. Someone can injure someone else. Property can be damaged. Someone can get drunk and injure himself. And, as the host, you will be responsible to pay for whatever damage or injury your guests may cause.

Thus, if you plan to host a major event, such as a wedding reception, it makes good sense to get liability insurance to protect you (and your assets) from these possibilities that may cause you to be liable and be named in a lawsuit.

If you are holding the wedding reception in a public venue, the reception hall (or even the caterer) will ask you to carry liability insurance.

Liquor Liability Insurance

You will also need to get additional liquor liability insurance to cover for the alcohol you will be serving during the reception. Please note that general liability policies don't cover for injuries or damages that result from the acts of someone who got drunk. There are some states that hold that the host shares a portion of the liability if he served alcohol and allow guests to drive from the event drunk.

Existing Homeowner's Insurance

If you plan to hold the wedding at your home, you can first check the coverage of your homeowner's insurance to see if it can be extended to cover the wedding, since a homeowner's insurance may also cover for liability. That way, you don't need to buy a separate liability policy to specifically cover for the wedding.

There may also be an instance when you will have to get an endorsement to your homeowner's insurance policy to cover for the reception.

Wedding Insurance Packages

Another option is to get wedding insurance - which will cover for liability as well as for other risks, such as the cancellation of the wedding due to covered causes (inclement weather, emergency situations, etc.).

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