Choosing to bring your own wines to your wedding is not only more memorable and personalised than the house wines on offer from your venue, but also gives you a better choice and quality of wine. However, you’re probably thinking that choosing wines for a room full of friends and family is a daunting task. How much? What type? What if they don’t like it? Luckily, choosing wines doesn’t need to be stressful. In fact, whether you’re a wine novice or a know-all, there’s no reason you can’t have a little fun arranging wines for your wedding, and we’ve asked Will English from Wines Direct to give you the low down on how to choose wines for your wedding.
How much wine?
This is usually the first question we’re asked about wedding wines. To give you a template to judge from, let’s take the imaginary wedding of Sam and Sylvia. They’re inviting 100 guests and they need sparkling wine for a reception at the venue and for the toast later on. They also need red and white wine for the meal.
The reception
Welcoming the guests in style has become customary at Irish weddings and nothing does this better than bubbles. To keep them mingling until mealtime, with one refill each, divide the number of guests you have by three to give you the number of bottles and round up. Sam and Sylvia need 34 bottles of wine for their reception (100/3 = 33.33).
Total: 34 bottles of sparkling wine
The meal
A general rule of thumb for estimating the quantity of wine needed is to allow half a bottle per guest. Thus, for 100 diners, 50 bottles of wine are needed. How much of that is red and how much is white? This can vary depending on your venue (indoor versus outdoor), the time of year and, most importantly, the food you’re serving. Generally speaking, it’s usually 60% white and 40% red. For Sam and Sylvia’s dinner, that’s 30 bottles of white wine and 20 bottles of red.
Total: 50 bottles of wine (30 white/20 red, depending)
The toast
As the speeches draw to a close, you’ll want your guests to hit the dancefloor on a high and again bubbles answer the call. All you need is one serving per guest to raise a glass with and there are roughly six servings in a bottle of sparkling wine. For 100 people to cheer our Sam and Sylvia, approximately 17 bottles of bubbly are needed (100/6).
Total: 17 bottles of sparkling wine/procecco/Champagne
Top Tip: Any good independent wine merchant will offer you a SALE OR RETURN facility. Any wines that you don’t use can be returned and will be refunded. So if you’re worried about running out or you’re not quite sure on numbers, simply order a little extra to cover yourself and you can return any wines you don’t need.
Which wines?
Selecting wines is the bit that scares a lot of couples, and catering for a diverse cast of people is not easy on first appearances. It helps to remember the lines of Lincoln here and aim for pleasing “most of the people most of the time” rather than worrying about individual tastes and preferences. That often means setting your own personal preferences aside too, particularly if you’re a fan of unusual, ‘niche’ wines.
Please the crowd or suit yourself?
Aim for styles of wine that are more widely appealing. For whites this means dry, fruity and refreshing. For reds, look for smooth, light-medium bodied wines with plenty of juicy fruit. Of course, you could throw out the rule book and just make everybody drink your own favourites but be prepared to shoulder any criticisms.
Taste testing
Better yet, why not back up the theory with some practical work by having a wine tasting. Any good independent wine merchant can easily organise tailored tastings to allow you to explore the options. Bring along three or four of your wedding party to get their opinions (if you want them) and you can have a bit of fun with it all. Critically, this also allows you to pick the brain of a real wine expert who’ll be able to advise you on everything from the food pairing to the price. Wines Direct offer free personalised wine tastings in Arnotts and Mullingar before you decide.
Make it unique…and independent
One way of adding to the sense of occasion is to choose wines that your guests will not have seen in their local supermarket. There are a number of Irish owned, independent wine merchants who can help you with this. They’ll have a unique range of wines and highly qualified, professionally trained wine experts who will be only delighted to help you make the best decision for your big day. These are smaller businesses whose reputations depend on their customers’ happiness.
Get wine delivered
As the big day approaches, you’ll have plenty to do besides transporting wine to the reception venue. Many independent wine merchants will deliver the wines to the venue for you. This frees you up for more important things, particularly in the last days of your freedom…sorry, single life! The downside to this is that you have even less of an excuse to be late to your wedding.
- Will English
Wines Direct in Mullingar offer a complete wedding service. Professional, unpretentious advice; free tailored tastings; exclusive artisan selections; and free nationwide delivery. Call into their Mullingar or Arnotts stores or check them out at winesdirect.ie to find out more.
Image credits: Sparkly Champagne bottles: 100 Layer Cake | Sparkly glasses: Pinterest | Mini bottles: A Girl's Best Day | Wine: One Wed