Choosing the drinks!
April 21, 2009
Most people know that there’s a whole process for figuring out the food and catering at the wedding – mostly taste tests. One of the food-related areas that does NOT require taste testing (unless you’d like?) is selecting the alcohol for the wedding.
photo from The Wedding Lens
There are a few ways that the couple can go: wine, wine & beer, hard alcohol, or no alcohol. And any combination thereabouts. Oh! And the champagne!
If your venue provides options, then you can weigh the taste + cost value yourself. Obviously you have to work within your budget — and it is unlikely that a venue that already provides wines will have bad ones available as options. If the venue does not provide the alcohol, and you have a favorite wine, beer or hard alcohol that you want to have (and it’s within your budget) – go for it!
If you are at a loss about where to start, I have a few suggestions:
Selecing the wine & champagne: Go to a wine shop in your area. Many times the people who work there are very knowledgeable and can give you tips on what you might want, given what you are having as food and what your budget is. And sometimes you can get a discount that way!
Note on champagne: “Champagne” is only from France, and therefore expensive. There are sparkling wines from California that are equivalent to champagne — but from California, instead of France. Those are a bit cheaper since they’re not imported.
Selecting the beer: Local wine shops may also sell beer, but they might not be able to help you with what works best. Since people don’t think about paring beer with food, you should go with what you like and what you can afford. If you don’t know anything about beer, you should ask your friends and family members who might be more knowledgeable.
Selecting the hard alcohol: Usually people have preferences about what kinds of hard alcohol they like — rum, vodka, tequila, scotch. Perhaps start with a list of the ones you prefer and the brands you prefer and then cut from the list until it is within your price range. (Incidentally, one blog says that selecing the booze is a great way to get the groom involved in the planning because he’s naturally going to have preferences!