Wedding How much champagne would you drink?

[violet02]

At our wedding we''re having a signature drink which is champagne with raspberry framobois liquer... a Kir Imperial... (with fresh raspberries) during the cockatail hour... later we''re toasting with Sofia Sparkling wine... now originally we had planned to have the Sofia bottles on the table since they are so pretty... seat the guests, then remove the bottles, chill them and bring them back for the toast.. Well we''re not going to have enough time to do this.

Alternate plan, buy display bottles while toasting bottles are chilling (1 per table at 10 tables). Remove bottles later.. bring out chilled for the toast, then chill some of the display ones for later.

10 bottles is a LOT of bottles extra to buy... would you even drink more sparlking wine or champagne later in the evening or is everyone going to be champagned out by that time?

 

[newbie124]

I can only speak from my experience attending weddings, but it never seems like people drink all that much sparkling/champagne. Then again, it''s usually only brought out for the toasts at the weddings I''ve been to, and it''s usually not great sparkling and/or somewhat warm, so I''m never tempted to finish mine...

Are you planning to have the signature drinks served throughout the night? If so, I wouldn''t worry about getting the extra for the toast...just let people toast with whatever they have in hand. I think champagne tends to get wasted when people feel obligated to get some when the toasts are poured, even if they won''t take more than a couple sips.

 

[violet02]

I''m not sure how long we''ll offer the signature drinks for, I think cocktail hour only probably... I really want to toast with the Sofia... so that''s my main choice. We can get just enough bottles to toast with... so the display and chill for later thing might be a waste....

 

[Rhea]

I never get champagned out! Ten extra bottles is a lot and most people seem to toast with it and then leave it. Enough bottles to toast with would be less expensive and ample.

 

[newbie124]

Ahh, ok...I misunderstood your original question as whether you should serve the Sofia at all or just stick w/ the cocktails.

Hmm...yes, I agree with Addy that the toasting bottles is probably going to be plenty, especially if they''ve been drinking champagne cocktails earlier in the evening.

Alternatively, are there wine stores in your area that allow you to return unopened bottles? I know that some places that specialize in selling alcohol let you do that. I''ve heard that Costco does, too, but it may depend on the location so I would check in advance.

 

[violet02]

BevMo lets you but I''d probably do a bulk order from Coppola to get the discount. Costco lets you too but not on wine... just hard alcohol. Bevmo will if the labels are perfect. So that means no chilling/water damage... Although, sofia comes in an outer wrap of pink plastic.. that may be a workaround? Heh... or better to just not go there.

Just checked bevmo doesn''t have enough anyways, plus we''d pull it out of the plastic I just realized... the bummer of having a reception at a house, not enough cold space for things like this.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 9/21/2008 9:40:42 AM
Author: newbie124
I can only speak from my experience attending weddings, but it never seems like people drink all that much sparkling/champagne. Then again, it's usually only brought out for the toasts at the weddings I've been to, and it's usually not great sparkling and/or somewhat warm, so I'm never tempted to finish mine...

Are you planning to have the signature drinks served throughout the night? If so, I wouldn't worry about getting the extra for the toast...just let people toast with whatever they have in hand. I think champagne tends to get wasted when people feel obligated to get some when the toasts are poured, even if they won't take more than a couple sips.

Ditto; I went to a party once and the champagne was a great brand but not everyone was too crazy about it and there were lots of extra bottles.
eta: I agree w/Claudinam

 

[CJ2008]

Toasting only...

Then I''d go back to wine

 

[Gwyn]

FI''s family is big on champagne. We go through half a case easy on most holidays and events. This is mostly because his sister drinks it by the magnums, however the whole family has atleast 3 or 4 mixed drinks of it a peice. For her wedding I know that they bought and consumed (along with 25 or so wedding guests) several CASES of it.

That being said, I have not met many people who consume champagne in that quantity. And I dont know that there are a ton of them out there. I think, if it is on the table, people would probably drink it more readily then if it was something they needed to go up to the bar and order. So if the extra bottles are not being displayed, I would be inclined to order less.

One more note, your signature drink happens to be one of my FAVORITES and a top contender for a sig drink at my own wedding. I think that, having put one of those in every guests hands and on their minds may increase the number of people that go looking for it afterwards if they are champagne fans.

 

[violet02]

So you''ve had the Kir Imperial Gwyn??? I know folkd have had the Kir Royal with is the black current creame de cassis version... I haven''t tried it yet so I''m hoping the rasberry verision goves over well. Do you have a favorite recipe? (ie how much to pour of each that you like?) I came across a couple basics but I want to make sure we''re doing it right.

The champagne for the signature drink will be different than the sparkling toasting champagne... We were going to do cocktail hr... I wonder if we should have more on hand... the champagne to make those is pretty inexpensive.

 

[Sabine]

I love champagne, but in my experience, it''s usually only available for the toast. If I knew it was available, it would be my drink of choice all night, but I would not even think to ask for champagne at the bar after the toast, so other guests might not assume it''s available either and then you would have lots extra.

 

[Nocturnius]

If your signature drink is a champagne cocktail, I''m afraid most people are probably going to be champagned out by that time. And I have never been to a wedding that ever justified buying ten extra bottles of champagne.

Is the main concern that you want to display them AND serve them properly chilled?

If so, perhaps I can make a suggestion: combine the display and chilling process. Here''s an example: http://www.icecaters.com/ccp2-prodshow/01-ICEBUCKET.html

You can both display and be chilling the champagne at the same time, all the while with a pretty stunning display and no left over bottles. It''s just something to consider. :3

 

[kittybean]

Personally, I will always drink champagne if it''s available. At both my engagement party and my friend''s engagement party, there was a LOT of champagne available, and it was gone well before the end of the night. Why don''t you poll some of the people who know the crowd coming to your wedding and see what they think? I also think Nocturnius'' idea sounds fantastic--that could make for a really stunning display.

 

[kama_s]

I''ve had a Kir Imperial, and it was DELISH!! I dont know how to make it though, but your recipe sounds about right. Plus with fresh raspberries, cant go wrong with that!

Also, re: your Q. I, personally, think 10 bottles extra is waayy too much champagne. It''s actually really hard to have more than 2 glasses, just b/c of how carbonated it is. With respect to showing the bottles off, can you maybe pour out all the champagne and then leave the bottles on the table for everyone to admire? It wouldn''t be on the table from the start, but atleast people will get to see it sometime. Alternatively, you can chill the bottles and then later take out the chilled bottles and put in on a little display table near where everyone is until they''re opened?