Serving style
Most couples choose to serve a complimentary glass of champagne or bucks fizz as their guests arrive, followed by another glass for the wedding toasts and red and white wine with the meal. But you do not have to follow the trend. You may fancy serving classic cocktails for a bit of contemporary glamour.
Allow per guest
This is the difficult part; you don’t want to supply your guests with enough drink that they are under the tables by the time the best stands up for his speech. Neither does want to provide so little that guests’ glasses are empty before the main course is served. Typical advice is to allow half a bottle of wine per head during the course of a lunchtime meal and three quarters for an evening meal.
The best place to get it
Check out supermarkets, wine merchants on the high street and on the internet. Local and online independent wine merchants can often be a few cents a bottle cheaper than the large supermarkets and can offer you good advice on what to choose and how much to buy.
The venue supplies a wine list
Don’t be immediately put off by the expensive prices if your venue offers you a wine list. Most venues will charge you a corkage fee if you supply your own wine, this can be over $10 a bottle, so you may find the venues wine list offers a cheaper and more convenient choice.
You should order more than you need
There are always guests at weddings that are mummer ‘thirsty’ than others and will drink the table dry before the starters have been cleared away. It will always pay to order more than your calculations show; most merchants will offer a sale or return policy so you can take back any bottle left over.
Spend per bottle
It is more than likely that the majority of guests (except, perhaps for the odd one who fancies themselves a connoisseur) will not even appreciate your choices. You can get a surprisingly good range of wines for under $10 a bottle, which are often better crowd pleasers than their more expensive counterparts.
Season the wedding
You may not think it but the season in which your wedding day falls should have an impact on your choice of wines. For an autumn or winter wedding choose the full bodied reds of Burgundy and Bordeaux, along with whites such as white rioja and chardonnay. Rose is a fashionable choice for spring and summer weddings, along with citrusy wines such as a New Zealand Rieslings. Light mellow wines from Chile, South Africa and Argentina if want a red wine for a summer wedding choose fruity.
Your Menu
Your choice of menu will have an impact on the choice of wines you serve. As a general rule choose light wines with light dishes such as fish, and full bodied wines with richer dishes such as roasts. Your caterers may be able to suggest suitable wines for your menu or furnish your wine merchant with a copy of the menu so he can advise you.
