Choosing drinks for your wedding reception

This wedding venue is primed to offer you inspiration and advice on how to keeping your guests fizzing with excitement on your wedding day!

Whilst couples can spend many hours deciding on what to feed their guests on the day of their marriage, the choice of drinks can sometimes be overlooked. Today, our exclusive wedding venue in Essex will offer a few pointers, to get you on the right track.

What to consider when choosing drinks for your wedding reception:

• What’s your budget? Can you afford an open bar or will you just be covering the cost of drinks up to the speeches?
• Allow for 2 drinks per person during the welcome reception, followed by wine for the table, champagne or sparkling wine for the speeches and 1 drink per hour per person after that. We like the Majestic Wedding Drink Calculator it’s a handy tool that you can use as a starting point to estimate quantities.

Chill out or Warm Up?

• Think about the time of year that you are holding your reception and the mood you want to set. Serve drinks accordingly – In the summer a fruit punch, champagne cocktails or Pimms. For a winter wedding, on arrival you might consider serving warming mulled wine or spiced apple cider.
• Who is attending? The men may opt for a beer, the ladies a cocktail, whilst older guests may prefer a glass of fizz. Don’t forget to offer those who won’t be drinking a selection of non-alcoholic beverages.

Craft Beers and Cocktails

• Craft beers and ales are very popular. If you’re considering offering a limited selection of drinks why not opt for something that is local to your area. 
• How about a cocktail bar? They give the guests a chance to get involved with mixing the base for their drink. Bar tenders can personalise an exclusive cocktail using the bride and grooms favourite flavours and spirits.

Red or White?

• It’s worth remembering that for every guest that will enjoy a whole bottle of red or white with their meal, some guests will not be drinking at all.
• Serving spirits can push some people over the edge. Don’t forget the reception at your chosen venue can last for 10 hours or more.

Other Considerations

• Consider the food you will be serving your guests at your venue. Would you like a particular wine paired with each course? For intimate weddings who might want to serve a tasting menu, this is a very good idea.
• Champagne – do you really need it? Many people cannot tell the difference and there are some top notch sparkling wines on offer now which are just as good, if not better!
• Take care… putting out alcohol at the venue just means that people will drink faster. Approach with caution!

A superb range of fine wines

Our resident caterer Abigails and Co of Essex can provide a sommelier service to assist with wine selection. Each wine has been chosen from estates bottled at source offering a breath of choice and range in value. If you have any specific requirement such as a cocktail bar or gin bar, we will gladly assist with this.

Ask for advise from your Private Wedding Venue

In conclusion, once you have decided on your budget you will have a good idea what to select when choosing drinks for your wedding reception. If you are hiring a private wedding venue in Essex the staff should be able to offer you plenty of helpful advise and talk you through the options available. At Baddow Park House we offer a complete bar service.