Just curious, was alcohol banned from the time of Joseph Smith, or was it a later revelation received by a later Prophet? If so, when?

It was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith and is included in the Doctrine and Covenants - Section 89. It is known as the Word of Wisdom.  
 
In the beginning it was given as counsel, but later was confirmed as a commandment that members should adhere to.

Drinking is not good. It causes alcohol damage in the brain which can lead to alzheimers. A number of people with alzheimers have been noted to have been heavy drinkers in life. Alcohol also causes health problems and death.

Just some information for everyone. The prohibition of alcohol was at one time council, basically stating that overconsumption is bad for the body and not ideal in the eyes of the lord. There originally was not a ban on wines or beer. The reason being is during the revelation of the Word of Wisdom, dysentery was running rampant through the United States. A small alcohol buzz is a much more practical option than dying from tainted water. It took 100 years for the Word of Wisdom to become a commandment. It's important to know that there was a lot of criticism, especially since some scientist were claiming health benefits to smoking cigarettes. We now know that cigerettes are leading contributors to cancer, heart disease and a number of other physical ailments. Just as we now know that addiction, domestic abuse, and financial problems accompany abuse of alcohol. As far as the original question for the post goes. Joseph Smith owned a hotel in Missouri that sold alcohol, he seems to have gradually decided that the Mormons could not or should not impose their views on abstinence on the entire city and its population. As far as the drinking at your sons wedding, prohibition is a staple to the identity of many mormons. Some are more or less tolerant of the consumption by others. It's your sons wedding. If they request that people don't bring alcohol because they believe it's a huge negative influence on our society and that it's not pleasing to the lord. You should wait until you go home before consuming.

I'm not sure if this is true, and it may have already been mentioned, but I was always told that the wine back then was not alcholic, though I don't knoe this for sure, now I've got something to pray about! if anyone knows anything about that, feel free to comment.

little momon girl - I've always been taught that as well. That 'wine' in the Bible and Book of Mormon are not the alcoholic drinks but rather something more akin to grape juice.  
 
Adam - Personally, I'm not bothered to be around others who drink alcohol, especially if it's just a glass of wine with dinner or a beer. I've been to a college party (it was an After Party for the Actors and Techies when we finished a show) and there was some heavy social drinking there and I wasn't bothered... I found it humorous to watch my friends get drunk... and being a college party there was more than just wine and beer... in fact I don't think wine or beer were options... it was more like tequila, jagermeister, vodka Jello shots and vodka soaked pineapple slices... I brought my own soda pop and kept it out of the hands of the drunks. As for smokers... I don't mind being around people who smoke as long as they keep their smoke out of my face. I have asthma so I'm allergic to the smoke. But other than that, I'm not going to damn them to hell for drinking or smoking. 
 
and to answer the OP's question: it's your son's wedding. If he's having a civil wedding so that you and the rest of his family can be there to witness him and his bride exchange vows and say 'I do'... then I think you can accept that it will be a 'dry' wedding and respect your son's wishes. I say this because generally speaking, LDS weddings (provided the bride and groom are Temple-worthy) are performed inside an LDS Temple. LDS Temples, once blessed and dedicated as a holy, sacred place of worship, a non-LDS person cannot enter the Temple... not even for their child's Temple Wedding. As for LDS members, only those who are deemed worthy and have a 'temple recommend' from their Bishop (bishop is equal to preacher or pastor)can enter the Temple. Because it a sacred, spiritually clean, holy place those who enter need to be spiritually clean and worthy of setting foot inside such a place. 
 
I've heard of many LDS brides and grooms, when one of them is a convert, that the non-LDS family has been 'left out' of the wedding because it was in the Temple and then the non-LDS family was just invited to the reception. So if a civil wedding (as opposed to a temple wedding) is being had to include the non-LDS family members in their special day, then I think the non-LDS family members can respect their religious views for one day and not bring alcohol to their wedding/reception since they chose to include that side of the family in the actual wedding.

Alcohol is not an oxidant. It is converted to acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase and eventually to acetate. Thus, alcohol is actually oxidized making it a reductant (the opposite of a oxidant). Ethanol in high amounts is toxic, but if consumed at low levels has actually been shown to have beneficial effects in regards to heart disease. Thus, if you drink, do it responsibly.

First of all. Alcohol does kill and destroy your body. Second, its a commandment, stated in the word of wisdom. Our bodies do not belong to us. They belong to our Heavenly Father, so we need to treat them correctly. Think of our bodies as something really special that a friend is letting you BORROW, not something to keep.

"In the beginning it was given as counsel, but later was confirmed as a commandment that members should adhere to."  
Just curious when and who recieved revelation to confirm this as a commandment?

Recently, my family (besides myself) has decided to convert to Mormonism. I am proud of them for finding something they can believe in. However, when they decided to quit smoking they began enforcing (at the recommendation of the Elders that visit us weekly) a "no smoking in the house rule" to help them quit. I understood that it would help them quit and since it was still warm at the time it was no big deal. Now it is several months later and both the people that intended on quitting have long since done so and the ban is still in place. For their belief, I am forced into sacrificing on their behalf. They show no signs of allowing it in the future either.  
 
Now to the point. The wedding is day one. There are still many years of that relationship (hopefully) and in which many events that I am sure will be a family event. Such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence day, ect. They aren't asking for a one time thing. This is informing you that you are going to have to show more toleration than they are going to show you, or tell them to write it out in a nice little letter, fold it up and pop it up their bum. In either situation, one side or the other is going to have to be tolerant to the others way of life. Start reading Romans chapter 14 if you need some guidance on tolerance. One key thing to gather from it in the beginning is that it is okay for you to believe in something but it is not okay to belittle someone for their belief nor should you force your belief onto them for theirs being different than your own.