Wedding What alcohol will you be having at your wedding?

[musey]

Just wondering what alcohol you''ll have. You can note whether you''re providing it, or the venue''s providing, or whatever.

I''m sorta bummed at the beer/wine/champagne brands that my venue offers in our package, but maybe it''s entirely normal. So I''m curious!

 

[musincy]

My fiance and I don''t drink much at all, so alcohol is not a priority for us. I could have personally gone with no alcohol, but everyone I spoke to didn''t think this was a good idea, so we''re compromising. We''re probably just going to serve beer and a champagne punch that our venue offers. We''re thinking about wine too. Our venue doesn''t allow outside food or drinks, so they''ll be providing it.

 

[Gypsy]

Both our venues (the one we cancelled and the one we are now at) are vineyards so we they only offered house wine options and you have to purchase through them.

At the original venue they only allowed beer, wine and champagne-- no hard alcohol. But we really didn't like the wine at all in the two less expensive packages and it was pretty pricey for the package with the premium wines that we did like okay (40 a head for the beer and wine and soft drinks, plus an extra 350 for a case and a half of sparkling wine).

Our new venue has much nicer wines though, and the caterer offers hard alcohol as well, but we opted for beer, wine and sparking wine only here too. All the wine brands are house brands (Deer Ridge Vineyards in Livermore, CA). Since we are having it at a winery we are doing two whites (chardonay and viognier) and three reds (syrah, cab, zin) and one sparkling-- so the guest can try it all, like a wine tasting.

 

[goldenstar]

We''re doing beer, wine, sparkling wine also. Our venue doesn''t allow outside alcohol so they''re providing it. They don''t have a beer and wine package so we''re doing it by consumption.

I have a feeling that people who want hard alcohol will sneak off to the venue''s restaurant and buy some at their bar. That''s fine with me, its inevitable.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

I'm running the risk of labeling DH and I lushes, but drink options were HIGH on our list of priorities!

We knew we wanted a winery wedding, and it was super-important that the wine was outstanding (OK- outstanding for the Temecula Viticultural Area!). So we were picky when it came to picking a venue because of that, and also because we wanted to be able to supplement the commerical beer they provided with homebrew. DH and friends are homebrewers and they brewed a "wedding brew" and two others. Our venue allowed us to bring in the homebrew- not many did.

no one missed having the hard stuff available. With 6+ wines and 4 beers to choose from, how could they?

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Red wine
White wine
Red Sangria
White Sangria
Beer
Belinis
Champagne

 

[musey]

I should have clarified, I'm most interested in what brands and types (eg. Sutter Chardonnay, Heineken, Chandon Brut, etc.) you'll be having. Sorry about that!

I'm asking because when we signed our contract, I remember being told that we selected the offerings from a list. They recently told me that what will be provided is:

Champagne:
--Grand Imperial Brut
(we like demi-sec)

Wine:
--Chardonnay and Cabernet (Merlot available upon request), both Sycamore Lane
(we like Rieslings and Pinot Grigios)

Beer:
--Miller
--Miller Light
--Bud
--Bud Light
--Heineken
(We're Heineken fans... the only bar item we actually like. I guess I'll be a beer bride

)

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 8/12/2008 3:44:07 PM
Author: iwannaprettyone
Red wine
White wine
Red Sangria
White Sangria
Beer
Belinis
Champagne

IWPO- can i please crash your wedding??

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 8/12/2008 3:13:07 PM
Author:musey
Just wondering what alcohol you''ll have. You can note whether you''re providing it, or the venue''s providing, or whatever.

I''m sorta bummed at the beer/wine/champagne brands that my venue offers in our package, but maybe it''s entirely normal. So I''m curious!

Top shelf. My FI will not sign for any venue that does not offer premium alcohol. We are doing an afternoon ceremony so for me wine is enough. We don''t need people being trashed in the middle of the day. But that''s what he wants so there. He can pay for it

If we go with one venue, then it''ll be included. We are also thinking about having the reception at this beautiful house which will mean we supply our own.

Most of the venues we looked at had wine/beer/champagne but for $10 more or so per person, you can get alcohol.

 

[goldenstar]

I don''t know what the beer offerings are yet, but here is the long list of wines we can choose. The price is dependent on what we select because we''re doing a hosted consumption bar. If we were going with a complete open bar package the wines would be "house selected". The beer just said "imported and domestic" and whatever that is can''t be too bad given the venue.

We''re getting married in Napa Valley, which explains the selections. We might do one sparkling, a chardonnay and a pinot grigio, and a pinot noir and a syrah.

Bubbles

Mumm “Brut Prestige” Napa Valley
Domaine Carneros, Brut Rosé, Carneros District
Schramsberg, Blanc de Noirs, North Coast
Schramsberg, Blanc de Blancs, North Coast
Bruno Paillard “Premier Cuvée” Brut, Champagne
Henriot, Brut Rosé, Champagne
Schramsberg “J. Schram” North Coast


Whites

Swanson, Pinot Grigio, Napa Valley
Etude, Pinot Gris, Carneros District
Honig, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
Ferrari Carano, Fumé Blanc, Sonoma
Silverado, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
Salvestrin, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
ZD, Chardonnay, California
Landmark “Overlook” Chardonnay, California
Chateau Montelena, Chardonnay, Napa Valley
Cakebread, Chardonnay, Napa Valley
Far Niente, Chardonnay, Napa Valley

Reds

Graff Family, Grenache, Chalone
Titus, Zinfandel, Napa Valley
Frank Family, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Orin Swift “The Prisoner” Zinfandel Blend, Napa
Londer, Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley
Parmelee Hill, Syrah
Swanson, Merlot, Oakville
Provenance, Merlot, Napa Valley
Ancien, Pinot Noir, Carneros District
Frog’s Leap, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Etude, Pinot Noir, Carneros District
Cloud View, Cabernet/Merlot Blend, Napa Valley
Rocca, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

 

[iwannaprettyone]

lol

Date: 8/12/2008 3:48:43 PM
Author: ChargerGrrl

Date: 8/12/2008 3:44:07 PM
Author: iwannaprettyone
Red wine
White wine
Red Sangria
White Sangria
Beer
Belinis
Champagne

IWPO- can i please crash your wedding??

heheh, sure come on! It''s French/wine themed too....

Red wine (Yellow Tail, Sutter, Woodbridge, and a Bordeaux)
White wine
Red Sangria (boxed Franzia)
White Sangria (boxed Franzia)
Beer (Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Light, Shiner)
Belinis (champagne, frozen peachs slices and peach snaps)
Champagne (Ballatore, Grand Spumante...7.99 a bottle but it is super, I don''t dig expensive Champagne

)

 

[violet02]

Whoops I just saw this thread!

We're having:
Beer - Not sure which brands yet. Maybe Amstel Light.. and? A lot of folks seem to like that.
Red Wine - TBD
White Wine - TBD
Four Mixed Drinks: Not sure yet, probably a martini, a cosmo and a couple others. We'll go top shelf on this like Maker's Mark, Bombay Sapphire etc.
1 Strawberry Signature Drink - Not sure yet.
Champagne for toasting - Sofia sparkling wine by the Coppola Wineries. Love the look of the bottle and it goes with my Marie Antoinette theme.

Seriously though it tastes good to.

I have yet to pick out the wines but my friend's a wine snob so we'll see what she says.

We are providing the alcohol (aka costco and bevmo!). We rented a house and our caterers will serve whatever we give them to serve.

 

[bee*]

We just went to France last weekend and picked our wines from the local vineyards. We''re having red, white and rose.
I can''t remember the names of the different wines that we picked but we tried so many and the ones that we choose in the end were delicious. The castle is also doing a punch and there''ll be all the usual spirits, beers etc behind the bar.

 

[TravelingGal]

We had top shelf full bar. We also had to pick beers to make sure they had enough and so we picked premium beers and budlite (which to my horror is a fav among the newer group of friends we hang out with...hehehe). Wine we picked a Pinor Noir and a Sauv Blanc, I believe.

 

[Hera]

I'm already married but we had beer, wine and a champagne fountain that I begged the venue to fix for me (and they did). I don't remember what the brands were, though. There was a bar there that pepole could pay for if they wanted something else. It was perfect

 

[CNOS128]

Ours is at a restaurant, and we''re having a full top shelf open bar (we''re allowed to request specific brands of hard liquor as well). There are several beers, plus 2 choices of red wine, champagne, and one white wine (Chardonnay, which I really don''t like - so we might bring in our own white, although there will be a corking fee). They mentioned something about creating a signature cocktail, but we''re not quite at that stage yet.

At the weddings I''ve been to this summer (that''s when I kind of started paying attention), the wine hasn''t ever been excellent - but that didn''t stop people from drinking it. Still, the limited choice of wines bother me a little, too.

 

[tessari]

Date: 8/12/2008 4:17:23 PM
Author: goldenstar
I don''t know what the beer offerings are yet, but here is the long list of wines we can choose. The price is dependent on what we select because we''re doing a hosted consumption bar. If we were going with a complete open bar package the wines would be ''house selected''. The beer just said ''imported and domestic'' and whatever that is can''t be too bad given the venue.

We''re getting married in Napa Valley, which explains the selections. We might do one sparkling, a chardonnay and a pinot grigio, and a pinot noir and a syrah.

Bubbles

Mumm “Brut Prestige” Napa Valley
Domaine Carneros, Brut Rosé, Carneros District
Schramsberg, Blanc de Noirs, North Coast
Schramsberg, Blanc de Blancs, North Coast
Bruno Paillard “Premier Cuvée” Brut, Champagne
Henriot, Brut Rosé, Champagne
Schramsberg “J. Schram” North Coast


Whites

Swanson, Pinot Grigio, Napa Valley
Etude, Pinot Gris, Carneros District
Honig, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
Ferrari Carano, Fumé Blanc, Sonoma
Silverado, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
Salvestrin, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
ZD, Chardonnay, California
Landmark “Overlook” Chardonnay, California
Chateau Montelena, Chardonnay, Napa Valley
Cakebread, Chardonnay, Napa Valley
Far Niente, Chardonnay, Napa Valley

Reds

Graff Family, Grenache, Chalone
Titus, Zinfandel, Napa Valley
Frank Family, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Orin Swift “The Prisoner” Zinfandel Blend, Napa
Londer, Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley
Parmelee Hill, Syrah
Swanson, Merlot, Oakville
Provenance, Merlot, Napa Valley
Ancien, Pinot Noir, Carneros District
Frog’s Leap, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Etude, Pinot Noir, Carneros District
Cloud View, Cabernet/Merlot Blend, Napa Valley
Rocca, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

The Prisoner is so delicious!!! We recently had 3 bottles of it for a group of 5 at Epic Roasthouse in SF....

Where is the wedding if you don''t mind answering?

Thanks!

 

[violet02]

Date: 8/12/2008 5:22:51 PM
Author: TheBigT
Ours is at a restaurant, and we''re having a full top shelf open bar (we''re allowed to request specific brands of hard liquor as well). There are several beers, plus 2 choices of red wine, champagne, and one white wine (Chardonnay, which I really don''t like - so we might bring in our own white, although there will be a corking fee). They mentioned something about creating a signature cocktail, but we''re not quite at that stage yet.

At the weddings I''ve been to this summer (that''s when I kind of started paying attention), the wine hasn''t ever been excellent - but that didn''t stop people from drinking it. Still, the limited choice of wines bother me a little, too.

At my friend''s Napa wedding last year at a private residence we had wine from a vineyard that the owner of the house (and a client of her company) owned! It was really good. (this is my wine snob friend heh)

 

[goldenstar]

tessari, our venue is Solage Calistoga. www.solagecalistoga.com.

Here are some pics from my old thread: link

 

[Blair138]

Gin: Tanqueray
Scotch: Johnny Walker Red
Whiskey: Crown Royal
Brandy: Christian Bros.
Beer: Budweiser, Corona and Amstel Light, Bud Light and Miller Light
White Wine: Chardonnay
Blush Wine: Beringer
Red Wine: Stimson Cabernet
Vodka: Absolut
Bourbon: Jack
Rum: Capt. Morgan
Tequila: Cuervo 1800

That is our included bar, which we are going with because the upgrade isn''t anything too great, we are extending the bar by an hour instead. I am happy with the selection. I am somewhat a vodka snob and only like Grey Goose, but I figure, I''m not getting drunk at my wedding so I can enjoy it, so I don''t really care...

 

[tenfour]

our venue is a national park that is not allowed to sell alcohol. we''ll be bringing whatever our guests request we bring. so far we have three bottles of wine and a bottle of bourbon. i''m sure we''ll add more wine, some beer, and maybe gin.

 

[trillionaire]

Date: 8/12/2008 3:48:43 PM
Author: ChargerGrrl

Date: 8/12/2008 3:44:07 PM

Author: iwannaprettyone

Red wine

White wine

Red Sangria

White Sangria

Beer

Belinis

Champagne

IWPO- can i please crash your wedding??

I second that emotion!

 

[Krissie]

We''re having beer, wine and bourbon punch throughout, and champagne for the toast. We really debated with this one, but my parents felt strongly that hard liquor would be an unnecessary expense - they compromised and agreed to the bourbon punch (our signature drink) idea. Our beers are mainly domestics, but also throw in Heineken and Amstel Light. We have 2 wines selected - a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (YUM) and a crisp pinot grigio. We haven''t settled on the bourbon punch recipe, but as it''s a Kentucky wedding, we thought it would be a fun touch - it will probably be something fruity. The champagne will be your basic Korbel brut.

 

[Linda74]

This is from the website of the venue for my daughter''s wedding. I think they can request whichever beers they want. It is pretty standard here in Connecticut to always have a full bar. In Massachusetts, sometimes you run into a cash bar but never in Connecticut....full bar is the norm.

Served Throughout Your Reception by Our Wait Staff,
Unlimited Brands of Liquors including but not limited to:
Absolute Vodka, Assorted Flavored Vodkas, Stolys, Dewars and
Johnny Walker Red & Black, Beefeaters & Tanqueray Gins, Seagrams & Canadian Whiskey, Barcardi and Malibu Rums, Jack Daniels and Much More! Bloody Marys, Imported and Domestic Wines, Champagnes and Beers.

 

[DMBFiredancer]

top shelf open bar...that was the only "must have" for the wedding for us other than having the ceremony on the beach

 

[oobiecoo]

We purchased our wine and champagne ourselves and weren''t so much intrested in the brands as much as how they tasted. We served Corvo red wine and I don''t remember the white we served. Normally we can be real wine snobs and only drink certain types (riesling, merlot, etc) but we just went the simple route with a red and white. I don''t think your guests will mind the brands too much as long as they taste nice.... unless they are all in a wine-tasting club or something. Then you might want to be a little more selective.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 8/12/2008 5:26:30 PM
Author: tessari

Date: 8/12/2008 4:17:23 PM
Author: goldenstar
I don''t know what the beer offerings are yet, but here is the long list of wines we can choose. The price is dependent on what we select because we''re doing a hosted consumption bar. If we were going with a complete open bar package the wines would be ''house selected''. The beer just said ''imported and domestic'' and whatever that is can''t be too bad given the venue.

We''re getting married in Napa Valley, which explains the selections. We might do one sparkling, a chardonnay and a pinot grigio, and a pinot noir and a syrah.

Bubbles

Mumm “Brut Prestige” Napa Valley
Domaine Carneros, Brut Rosé, Carneros District
Schramsberg, Blanc de Noirs, North Coast
Schramsberg, Blanc de Blancs, North Coast
Bruno Paillard “Premier Cuvée” Brut, Champagne
Henriot, Brut Rosé, Champagne
Schramsberg “J. Schram” North Coast


Whites

Swanson, Pinot Grigio, Napa Valley
Etude, Pinot Gris, Carneros District
Honig, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
Ferrari Carano, Fumé Blanc, Sonoma
Silverado, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
Salvestrin, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
ZD, Chardonnay, California
Landmark “Overlook” Chardonnay, California
Chateau Montelena, Chardonnay, Napa Valley
Cakebread, Chardonnay, Napa Valley
Far Niente, Chardonnay, Napa Valley

Reds

Graff Family, Grenache, Chalone
Titus, Zinfandel, Napa Valley
Frank Family, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Orin Swift “The Prisoner” Zinfandel Blend, Napa
Londer, Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley
Parmelee Hill, Syrah
Swanson, Merlot, Oakville
Provenance, Merlot, Napa Valley
Ancien, Pinot Noir, Carneros District
Frog’s Leap, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Etude, Pinot Noir, Carneros District
Cloud View, Cabernet/Merlot Blend, Napa Valley
Rocca, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

The Prisoner is so delicious!!! We recently had 3 bottles of it for a group of 5 at Epic Roasthouse in SF....

Where is the wedding if you don''t mind answering?

Thanks!

Awesome choices, Goldenstar!

and I second The Prisoner. it''s delish.

 

[mjso]

Date: 8/12/2008 7:25:09 PM
Author: DMBFiredancer
top shelf open bar...that was the only ''must have'' for the wedding for us other than having the ceremony on the beach

You are like my planning twin

Two most important things to me were: 1) married on the beach 2) Alcohol.

In the neck of the woods where I am getting married most venues include an open bar as part of the package.

This is what our venue lists as the "Beverage Package"

Beverage Service
Champagne Toast

Tableside Wine Service with Dinner

After-Dinner Cordials

Five Hour Open Premium Bar including Absolute Vodka, Dewar’s, Jack Daniels, Bacardi Rum, Southern Comfort, V.O., Malibu Rum & Tanqueray Gin

Assorted Domestic & Imported Beers:
Budweiser
Coors Light
Yuengling

Sonoma & Napa Valley wine selections to include:

Merlot
Chardonnay
Pinot Grigio
White Zinfandel

 

[Pandora II]

We went to Italy to choose ours a few months before the wedding:

Sparkling:
Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze - Benotto Azienda Agricola di Benotto Luigino

White:
'La Veneziana' 2007 - Rappellino Dario di Grazzano Badoglio

Red:
'Maria d'Raplin' Barbera d'Asti Superiore 2004 - Rappellino Dario di Grazzano Badoglio

Dessert Wine (served with the cake):
Malvasia di Casorzo 2006 - Rappellino Dario di Grazzano Badoglio

We also served ginger beer, pomegranate & elderflower presse, fresh orange juice and sparkling/still water.

My parents don't believe in serving beer or spirits at weddings, but most of our friends just drink wine anyway.

I had mildly panicked (as I do with every event I run) that I wouldn't have enough wine, but I turned out to have been correct in my calculations down to the bottle. If anyone needs to calculate alcohol quantities to order, here's my formula:

Quantities per guest:

2 glasses of sparkling for the cocktails (2 hours)
half a bottle of wine for dinner
1 glass of sparkling with the speeches
1.5 glasses after dinner
0.5 glasses of dessert wine with the cake

I added a half case of each wine and a full case of sparkling as my 'just in case' supply and that was what we got back.

It doesn't sound a lot when it's split down that way, but works out at nearly 1.5 bottles a head added up. Some people drink lots, and some drink very little/none, so always calculate on total number of guests. So far using this formula, in over 20 events with from 75 - 450 people I have never had too little.

 

[DMBFiredancer]

mjso -
yuengling!! i miss it now that i live on the west coast! sadly one of the first questions i asked the coordinator when we visited the place was "what kind of beer do you have on tap at the bar?" luckily they have plenty with import bottles, plus she said they could get anything else we needed, too.