1) Avoid champagne. A glass of ‘bubbles’ doesn’t have to be genuine champers – and for those on a budget, I’m reliably informed that a decent sparkling wine tastes better than a cheap bottle of ‘real’ champagne. Most caterers will pre-pour the wine into glasses ready for guests to scoop up, so only connoisseurs will notice that their glass hasn’t been filled up with something that’s actually come from the Champagne region of France.
(Perhaps they will also be too polite to mention the fact that they are in fact drinking cava, the Spanish version, or Prosecco, from Italy.)
2) Mix it up. There’s no need to offer exclusively wine or champers at the reception. Ask your caterer for mixers like Buck’s Fizz (orange juice and bubbles) or more unusual concoctions such as peach juice, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice or elderflower cordial. Mixing one of these with that sparkling wine will make your alcohol go twice as far – and potentially help prevent any embarrassing scenes if a few guests are a bit too, um, thirsty . . . Name the cocktail something personal to the bride and groom and you’ve got an individual tipple with which to wow everyone.
3) However, don’t have too much choice . . . Offer guests beer, wine, soft drinks and that signature cocktail and you’ll keep most people happy. Don’t worry about spirits or other specific drinks.
4) Keep the reception short. Think of your own drinking maths: go to a bar for half an hour and you’ll have one drink, possibly two. Go for an hour, especially in a bar with not enough chairs, and you’ll easily knock back four drinks or more, right? Keep the reception brief and people will need a lot less booze to get by.
5) Do your sums. When making your bar sums, think about volume as well as price. How far will your alcohol allowance stretch? How much do you think your guests will drink in an evening? Those who are pregnant or driving home that night will consume less, for example,
so you can work out a rough drink-per-head figure. After that, talk to the wedding coordinator at your venue to work out your options.
– Some venues will let you bring in your own alcohol to stock the bar, meaning you can choose what you want, and usually secure it at a much cheaper price. If so, a bar that’s free to your guests might be more achievable. (See below for cheap alcohol-sourcing ideas.)
– However, if you have to pay bar prices, and they’re expensive, an all-night free bar might not be an option. No one is going to think any less of you if you can’t afford it, or can put up a bit of cash but not enough for the whole night. If there will be a cash bar, be sure to let people know in advance.
– For another idea, you could consider providing free wine, beer and soft drinks to guests all evening, but ask those who want to have (pricier) spirits or champagne to put their hands in their pockets.
– If you’re having some guests just coming to, say, dessert and dancing or the evening celebration, it’s worth thinking if there’s a way of offering these guests a drink on arrival – perhaps with a waiter holding a tray of wine, beer or bubbly as they walk through the door.
6) Booze cruise. If you are allowed to supply your own alcohol, there are lots of ways to cut the cost. If you’ve time, book a booze cruise to Calais as a pre-wedding day
trip to test wines and load up the car with the best ones to kick off your celebrations. The strength of the euro put the skids on this trip for a few years, but now there are bargains galore once more. The ferry is usually the cheapest way to get to France, so look up ticket prices via a ferry aggregator site such as ferrysavers.com or AFerry.co.uk. Use these to find out who operates the routes you want, and when, and how much cheaper they are
at particular times of the day, week or year. Then, when actually booking, check the direct price first as doing so often triggers a saving as you avoid agency or booking fees. If you have flexible working hours or can take time off work, weekday crossings – especially in on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays – tend to be less expensive than weekend ones, but avoid the school holidays if possible. Be aware of HMRC’s tax rules: ‘When arriving into the UK from an EU country you can bring in an unlimited amount of most goods. But you transport the goods yourself; and the goods must be for your own use or as a gift.’
7) Bargain hunt. If you’re buying booze in this country, there are still ways to do so cleverly and cut the cost. Start scouting for bargains as soon as possible – if you get
engaged at Christmas, for example, seek out bargains in the January sales, as long as you can keep the booze in a cool place that will prevent in from spoiling. It’s also worth
having a look at the offers at wine clubs and online retailers such as Virginwines.co.uk.
8) Be vino-savvy. Remember, there’s a difference between cheap wine and good wine and you’ll have to do your research (including tastings, obviously – possibly one of the best bits of wed-research around), as supermarkets and wine discounters will boast about bargains even when you can actually get the same stuff from elsewhere for far less. The experts in specialist stores such as Majestic Wines (majestic.co.uk) will be able to advise you on the best deals and wines to suit your planned meal and budget – and if you’re buying a large number of bottles, they may be able to cut you a deal too. The website quaffersoffers.co.uk also lists current deals at supermarkets and other wine-sellers, as well as having extensive expert reviews which will help anyone who feels nervous about picking drinks for all their guests, courses, etc.
9) Look out for bin ends. Shops are often trying to get rid of last year’s stock for no other reason than they want fresh bottles on their shelves. This also means you can
serve lesser-known bottles of wine, which has another benefit if you’re worried about snobbery. While any vaguely wine-interested people might know that, say, a particular vineyard or vintage was going cheap, an alternative coming from, say, an Australian vineyard might be trickier for them to price.
10) Bulk buy. Make the most of discount stores and cash ’n’ carries such as Costco (costco.co.uk), Booker (booker.co.uk) and Makro (store.makro.co.uk) plus the likes of Aldi and its rivals (aldi.co.uk, lidl.co.uk). These often have decent deals on wine, spirits and mixers. Always try a sample before you buy a large quantity to make sure it suits your taste.
11) Become a vintner. Alternatively, if you’re really into money-saving, you could try making your own wine. Buy a kit – the very specific, extensive instructions, are fairly easy to follow. I once made some of my own red wine that was really drinkable. I admit not being brave enough to serve it at my wedding, but if you’re good at it, can make the wine
(or ale) in advance and find others like it too, it’s an easy way to serve up booze at a fraction of the normal cost.
FROM YES TO I DO by Lucy Tobin is published by Heron Books, £9.99.
Published in Kindle
or hardback
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