Wedding Spirits, Picking the Pefect Wine or Champagne for your Wedding
September 25, 2009 by Jen and Deb, Party of 2
Filed under Events, Planning Tips
Adding that extra little lift to any wedding reception can be the infusion of just the right selection of the perfect wine or champagne to compliment the fantastic meal your wedding guests are enjoying. But what to plan for? You can always rely on your caterer, but we always try to give our couples a few basic pointers to help guide their decisions. Here are some general things to consider:
Your guest list: Ratios/counts of drinkers to non-drinkers and men to women to get a feel for what kind of a crowd you have and consumption levels for budget purposes.
The formality of your event: This may dictate some of your choices as some wines/champagnes may not match the formality of your event.
The length of your event: This will help you determine the quantities you will need.
The weather/temperature during your event: This can have an effect on consumption! Be sure to plan for this.
Some basic guidelines for wine selection for a lot of couples often center around their personal favorites or sometimes they pick something from a tradition passed on from their parents weddings. We also tell couples these standard guidelines :
Half your crowd will be white wine drinkers, half your crowd will be red wine drinkers. This will often translate that women drink white wines and the men tend to drink red wines. You will find statistics vary on this to a certain degree but it can be helpful for planning purposes. So if you plan to serve a beef or pasta with red sauce as your entrée you will want to pair a merlot or a cabernet as your wine choice at your reception. Conversely, if you plan to serve seafood, poultry, or pasta in a cream sauce you will want to perhaps go with a Sauvignon Blanc, a white wine as your choice. Another thought maybe that if you serve a chicken pasta or seafood entrée, a white chardonnay may be in order.
Champagne, or sparkling wine, is sometimes an even harder choice for our couples as they sometimes question whether it is something they need. If your budget is pressed you can simply order this only for the bridal table and simply get a less expensive selection for the guests as many people pass on drinking champagne and/or have sparking grape juice available as an alternative too. You will probably want to plan for 2 glasses per person, unless you plan to do a lot of toasting. As a side note sparkling wine is champagne too, the grapes are just not grown in the Champagne region of France. Champagne is labeled by its level of sugar or sweetness, with sec meaning sweet, and brut is the opposite of sweet:
- Demi-Sec – very sweet- probably serve this with a dessert
- Sec
- Extra-Dry
- Brut(most food friendly and probably most popular)
- Extra-Brut
Lastly, remember to keep your toasts to 5 minutes or less, guests become restless!
Hopefully these few beginning tips will help you start your “marriage” of food and wine!
If you need help in selection wines or champagne for your wedding or planning your wedding reception or wedding, call Party of 2 at 916-479-3093 today!
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