Have you been to a wedding where the reception drinks...

For our reception drinks we had sparkling wine, pimms, red and white wine and soft drinks. The majority of people went for the sparkling wine or the pimms.

I am a big drinker but I think perhaps a lighter splarkling wine would be better for the drinks reception. Ours was a Frist Cape one and on special offer/bulk buying it was only £3.99 a bottle - bargain!

We also considered going for bucks fizz which i think is a fab idea - and a compromise for you and your OH :-)

Thanks.

I think we should probably speak to our venue, they might be able to do something whereby we don't have to pre-order and they can just serve whatever is requested.

I.e. we can say have on offer prosecco, and wine, etc and then whatever runs out top it up as needed up to our budget.

Rather than pre-ordering a lot of wine which may not even be consumed.

We just want to avoid people having to go to the bar, we want them to be chatting and having their drinks topped up / being able to grab a drink from the tray etc.

I think it's usual to offer wine at the table with the meal, rather than just wine after the ceremony.

We had either Sparkling wine or Orange Juice.

At my sisters wedding, they offered sparkling wine with a raspberry in the bottom of the glass, bottles of lager, orange juice & jugs of iced water (it was a summer wedding).

We went to 2 weddings in December - 1 offered Mulled Wine & Hot chocolate with whipped cream, the other offered either bucks fizz or plain orange juice.

I think it's a good idea to offer an non alcoholic choice, plus something different to the wine you'll be offering at the table.

I can drink wine pretty much any time. But I think after a wedding ceremony, when most of the drinking day is still ahead of you, wine might be a little too much. Plus, it will add onto your cost.

We served long Cosmopolitans (which admittedly are cocktails, but they were quite weak), bottles of Peroni and jugs of fizzy elderflower and mint cordial at our reception.

Thanks. I do think the same, its just a bit too much wine.

The wedding we went to that did it was wonderful, but I think if we went to another wedding where they had any free alcohol as much as that wedding had it would have been a similar experience!

I think there should be a small choice but that's going off my friends and family and very few drink wine so it would have been a huge waste of money for us. I'd just order from the bar if wine was the only thing on offer and then water off the table during the meal.

Wine only is ok but maybe have a non alcoholic something for the drivers

Daffodil same! And I'm the bride! I'd be going to the bar to order Bucks Fizz, as to me, thats a refreshing celebratory drink and what I would prefer to drink after our marriage!

We aren't doing a 'drinks' package so it really is just working with our venue to pre-order drinks.

I think I will ask them to keep in mind our bar limit and have say 25% wine, 25% bucks fizz etc and replenish based on whatever is going down the most.

As long as its all being served quickly and flowing well then I would prefer, personally, to have a selection of drinks on offer.

This wedding we went to you would literally be talking and they would just top your glass up, it was amazing!

A small choice is always good; we went to a wedding recently where they had Prosecco, orange / apple juice (Marianne is right about not forgetting the drivers) and warm mulled wine! (yum)

We're probably going to have Prosecco, a large bucket of Peroni and some Elderflower Collins made from Hendricks gin and elderflower cordial. No-one is driving!

I am with your OH on this; our one big stipulation for the reception was that there would be plenty of free booze! Partly why we decided to have our reception in a wine bar! ??

I can't remember in your original post if you said you were having nibbles with drinks? Always a good way to soak up the booze. Some croutons with tapenade or something bready usually does the trick.

Thanks all.

I'm thinking of asking the pub to put out bowls of nuts / crisps or something.

We are having a bread basket starter so wouldn't want to do that for the drinks reception as its too similar, but thanks for the suggestion

What do we think to offering the following

- Sparkling Wine (Prosseco)

- Bucks Fizz

- Orange Juice / Water

Do you think we should also offer a bottled cider or beer? We love pear cider!!

Wine makes me so tired - i wouldn't last until 12am if I was drinking wine from 2pm.

We're having a champagne reception, wine and beer served during the meal (my OH wouldn't have it any other way - "there's no way im drinking that vinegar during my own wedding") and then champagne for the toasts. Then opening up the bar to what ever any one wants in the evening (within reason!!!!)

Wowzers! How long is your drinks reception for?

I think what you've suggested sounds good!

I forgot we did have beers too (peroni and becks), we had quite a few people (my dad being one of them!) who just wouldn't drink wine/bubbles/fizz

Jules how did you split it?

I'm wondering if a 25% each way is the best way to go.

Thats just for pre-orders, if we run out of say Bucks Fizz before Prosecco then I'll ask them to replenish it pronto and to hell with the % after first drinks are served!

I might do Bucks Fizz & Beer THEN bring out the Sparkling Wine for top-ups (and more beer).

We're slightly different to you as we supplied all of the booze for the whole day ourselves and we actually had 2 drinks receptions - the first one after the ceremoney for 40 people and the second after the wedding breakfast when the evening guests arrived (another 90 people at 5.30) but this might help:

Sparkling wine: 84 bottles

White wine: 60 bottles

Red wine: 30 bottles

Beers: 450 bottles

Pimms: 6 bottles

Orange juice: 50 litres

Soft drinks: 65 litres

This covered us for the entire wedding (with spirits being added in the evening)

For the post-ceremony reception we allowed for average 3/4 drinks per person.

At the end we had a lot of booze left over - 10 bottles of red, 20 bottles of while and about 150 bottles of beer!

Sorry it's a bit waffly but might help!

I'd agree that wine from 2PM straight through might be a bit much!

We're having Pimms or non alcoholic fruit punch at the drinks reception and then wine and champagne with the meal. We're also providing some as yet unknown non alcoholic drink with the meal as well as water but that's because we've got quite a few people who don't drink and being limited to just water can get a bit boring, especially for a toast!

Sorry that was for the whole day - doh quick reading!!