corkage fee...

In short, no, there isn't. Did you not ask for prices when you booked?

Yes, this is how I know how much the wines and corkage is, I was just wondering if there was some way I can avoid having to pay so much.. we have maxed out on our budget, and have to make cut backs.

This. I'm afraid not.

I factored in wine prices when building a quote from each venue as I knew I wanted wine for my guests.

Just under £15 a bottle isn't that much for a bottle of wine at a wedding venue though.

In short, no.

If you want to use their wine, it will cost you £14.50 per bottle (which isn't bad).

If you want to provide your own wine, it will cost you £20 per bottle plus the cost of the bottle (which is bad).

Our venue package included wine with dinner.

Then I'm confused really. If you knew how much it all was at the time of booking, you should have factored it in to your budget. There's nothing you can do about corkage charges, especially when you knew about them upfront.

We have had other things crop up that we have had to pay for, (wedding related) and are now using our own wages etc to pay for the rest of the wedding bits like shoes, flowers, wine. I imagine I am not the only person who had a budget and went over, and therefore had to cut back... So was thereore simply enquiring if there was a way I could bypass this, if not that is fair enough, but I thought I would ask...

I don't think there is any way around this as it was originally stated when you booked. I consider Wine, food, attire and flowers to be an essential for you and your guests whereas other things are not. I would cut back in other areas personally.

If you want wine for your guests then no, sorry no way around it!

Corkage is a bit of a nightmare and I was thinking ours was tough at ten pounds a bottle. We are really trying to stick to our budget too but it is soooo easy to think you can push it a bit when you fall in love with a dress or flowers etc. Could you go for a cheaper food option to allow you a bit of leeway to cover the corkage?

Well def go with their own wines, as that is cheaper than corkage on yours! Perhaps have slightly less wine and then try to cut back in other areas, transport, flowers, decorations etc. I can't see anyway to avoid it I'm afraid. It'll either cost yopu the price of buying wine and paying £20 per bottle to use it, or paying £14.50 per bottle of their wine.

Ours is similar prices so have decided not to provide wine on the table they will have an arrival and toasting drink!
We went t a wedding 2 weeks ago and it was only the following day that I realised there was no wine on the table.

xxx

Just to put another viewpoint on it - I would notice straight away if there was no wine on the tables. I love wine though.

Could you use larger bottles of wine? Some come in a 1L size or larger? What about cask wine? They do make some nice brands in casks & if they were being served from behind the bar, on put into carafes on the tables, none of the guests would know.

Well there is no harm in asking for a discount on said prices but as you have already booked i don't think they will be very accommodating...i personally would notice if there was no wine provided with the meal particularly if i had to get up mid meal to go to the bar and buy my own, i would probably be less miffed if there was no 'welcome post ceremony drink if you could only afford one or the other.

I would also notice. Just thought back over the weddings I have been to in the last few years and there has always been wine, of varying quantities, but it was always there.

At ours it was part of the package - half a bottle each - and the bar was also open in case anyone wanted anything else.

We went to our friend's wedding recently and there was no wine on the table with dinner and nobody noticed. There was a drinks reception when we arrived at the venue and I think if your budget doesn't stretch then there is no point making yourself skint in order to give people a glass of wine. A top tip is also to get the venue to pour the wine instead of leaving it on the table - that way people are less inclined to just pour themselves a huge glass and keep doing so! My sister did that and ended up not using half the wine they had bought!

At the end of the day, people are going to your wedding to see you get married and nobody is going to be bothered if they have to pay for 1 or 2 glasses of wine with dinner - if they are bothered I think it says more about them than you.

Enjoy your day. x

At my friends wedding last year she didn't have wine on the table but her Dad she put some money behind the bar which allowed for a couple of drinks each and limited this to wine, beer and soft drinks. Think this worked out cheaper then paying the corkage.

One of the reasons we picked our venue was because we did not have to pay corkage and it does eat up a huge chunk of budget.

Rach xx

This only works if you are being charged by the bottle used or have provided your own. We paid the package price which included half a bottle each, if they hadn't left them on the table, we would have paid for wine not drunk and kept by the venue.

In my opinion (before anyone has a go), as we were hosting an event, we wanted my guests to want for nothing. They had reception drinks, wine on the tables, a toasting drink and we put money behind the bar.

Don't get me wrong, as a guest I would never expect it or say anything, but as a host I would want to provide this.

Same for us. I would never expect all of that at a wedding but it was important to me that we provided it.

It was never an option for us not to provide wine on the tables, reception drinks and toast drinks. These were all some of the first allocations of budget. I would have done without other things rather than not provide them. But as I say, before I get flamed, this is just what I wanted to provide. Although I might notice that there was no wine provided, I would never think badly of the couple because of it.

*I might if they'd had a dove release/fireworks/other extravagances yet no wine.

This.