Drink up!

From fine wines to juice for the kids, here’s your top-line guide to wedding drinks

The quantity and type of drinks provided will be determined both by the style of your meal and the number of guests at your wedding. As well as alcoholic drinks, make sure there’s plenty of non-alcoholic drinks too, for children, older guests, those suffering from heat and those suffering from too much champagne...

At the reception

It’s usual to provide a drink for guests as they arrive at the reception. It may be an aperitif, like sherry (medium or dry), a glass of champagne (or sparkling wine) or maybe bucks fizz or Pimms. There should also be soft drinks like orange juice available, especially if there are children at your wedding. For a winter wedding, mulled wine is a nice option. At an afternoon reception, you might even want to serve tea at some point.

At the meal

At the meal itself, champagne or sparkling wine can be served, but it’s more usual to serve white or red wine and often a bottle of each is placed on every table and replenished at intervals throughout the meal. Soft drinks should also be provided, such as orange juice or a more exotic non-alcoholic cocktail. It is also usual for bottles of water to be provided too, possibly still and sparkling. If you’re having an afternoon reception, you might also want to serve cups of tea at some point, especially for older guests.

Toasting time

It’s traditional for a glass of champagne to be served to each guest, before the speeches, so they can toast the bride and groom. Alternatively, you could serve up sparkling wine instead. Non-French bubblies such as cava and sekt are very popular and usually cheaper too.

Evening drinks

If your wedding includes an evening event, such as dancing, you can arrange for drinks to be provided at your expense. It’s quite acceptable for there to be a pay bar in the evening and for the bridal party to put some money behind the bar. Once that’s gone, guests pay for the rest of their drinks.