D- Day is fast approaching and you are starting to get ready for your wedding preparations. Many of you tell us: organizing a wedding takes a lot of time! And to save you some, we offer you a little help for the quantity of wine to provide for your wedding . We suspect that you will welcome your guests like kings, and for that, it is better not to be mistaken in the quantities of wine. We are here to advise you, we tell you everything about the quantities of wine to be expected , let's go!
The basics: the quantity of wine to provide for your wedding
The secret to getting ahead is knowing where to start. At Oé, we are friendly, we explain the basics to you to plan the quantity of wine for your wedding . The key is to avoid both extremes. Like Grandma Huguette who reserved her famous sauerkraut for us three times on Sundays and gave us leftovers for the whole week. It starts with very good attention but in the end you don't know what to do with it. It's the same with weddings . We understand you, it's very comfortable to make sure you have enough wine for all the guests. The trap is to plan a little (a lot) too much and end up with half the bottles closed. And even if that always makes for gifts to offer to guests or to fill your cellar, when you have to monitor a budget not to be exceeded, it is better not to make a mistake!
The converse is true: a marriage that lacks wine and Crémant sucks. Believe the experience of some. Like Marie, one of our sales managers who had this bad experience during her last wedding invitation. A wedding is celebrated and when we celebrate, whether with fruit juice or Oé wine , we toast. So, you have to know how to hit the Émile mile.
How much for the reception and the dessert?
Let's start at the beginning: the reception . The wine of honor is the famous cocktail that is offered to all the guests between the ceremony and the wedding meal . This is the moment when we swap the “Yes I want it” for the “Tchin Tchin” and when everyone raises their glass to celebrate your union. T he wine of honor generally lasts between two and three hours, it is necessary to plan what to refuel and delight your guests, in other words, to drink well and eat well.
For food, petit fours and verrines cost about 10 savory pieces per person per hour and 5 for sweet pieces . To accompany everything, champagne and crémant are the stars of the aperitif, so we bet on the right quantity since they will also be at the end of the meal to taste the dessert or the wedding cake . A bottle of crémant allows you to serve between 6 and 7 glasses, if you plan to serve only sparkling wine for your reception, you can use one bottle for 3 guests and for 4 if you offer other alcohols. For dessert, we tend to plan one cup per person, i.e. one bottle for six guests .
How much red wine and white wine for the meal?
Wine is the key element of the wedding meal, it is with it that you will accompany the delicious and tasty dishes on your menu. White wine and rosé can be tasted at the entrance, to help you decide on the quantity to choose, we advise you to provide one glass per guest, or one bottle for six guests . If the main dish on your menu goes more well with white than with red, then we recommend one bottle for three guests. No need to be too generous, white wine is generally drunk less than red wine which stays longer at the table.
And yes, for red wine , it's almost the same story, so you'll have to plan a little more than white wine . Not enough to make a cheese out of it (especially since a good red wine goes well with it). You can start with one bottle for two guests and an additional glass to accompany the cheese, which amounts to two bottles for three guests.
How much should I plan for other drinks?
Champagne and crémant are generally not the only guests at the vin d'honneur . If you want to offer your guests a wider choice of drinks and offer cocktails with strong alcohol, you can provide one bottle of alcohol for 14 people and two bottles of fruit juice per bottle of alcohol. If beer is also invited to the party, provide one per person will please those who like foam.
Don't forget the soft drinks for the guests who will not drink or drink little alcohol. With one bottle of water per guest and one bottle of juice for 4 people, you'll be sure everyone will drink their fill.
Can you find your way there? Come on, we'll help you see things more clearly with this little recap.
For a wedding of 50 people, it is necessary to count for:
- The wine of honor : 17 bottles of crémant or champagne , 4 to 5 bottles of strong alcohol such as gin and rum and 8 to 10 bottles of soft drinks (to be adapted if there are more people at the wine of honor),
- Entry : 9 bottles of white wine or rosé wine ,
- The main course : 25 bottles of red wine or 17 bottles of white wine ,
- Cheese : 9 bottles of red wine or fruity white wine of your choice,
- The dessert : 9 bottles of crémant or champagne.
So all that is for the theoretical side. In practice, several elements must be taken into account, all marriages are different. With the team, we adapt to all your desires and situations to help you make your choice and we give you some advice.
Practical questions for planning the right amount of wine
Who will take wine?
First, you must ask yourself a simple question: who does not drink wine during the reception and the wedding meal ? You can already take into account children, pregnant women and non-drinkers. Also take into account the organization of your wedding . If beds or a shuttle system is in place, the more revelers will stay with you until the end of the night and the more adventurous will even be up when you go to sleep. On the other hand, people who will take the road to return home will normally limit themselves to two glasses of alcohol. As they say, drink or drive, you have to choose.
Knowing in advance how many guests will be at the reception, who will be staying for dinner, and how many people will be sleeping will help you plan for the right amount of bottles . And we can push the plug even further, if you take a little more interest in the profile of each guest, you will see that we can make two categories, the “little drinkers” and the “bons vivants”. A wedding generally brings together people of all kinds, from the funny father-in-law like Christian Clavier in What did we do to the good god to the attractive thirty-year-old Hugh Grant style in Four weddings and a funeral , passing through the well - rounded serials seasoned for the festivities like Owen Wilson in the movie of the same name. In short, a wedding is above all beautiful people. It is often the 18-40 age group that consumes the most alcohol and the older we get, the less we drink. Again, this is theory, in practice everyone is different. Tonton Roger, who will gladly drink a sip of wine between two jokes, could well prove the statistics wrong. So, to properly anticipate the number of bottles, you have to know your guests well.
What will be the wedding menu?
By dint of talking about drinks, we almost forget the dishes. To know how much wine to plan for your wedding meal , you need to know the dishes that will make up your menu. Choosing the right quantities of drinks for your wedding is done once your menu has been validated. For the rest of the process, you know the song: starter, main course, cheese and dessert , nothing could be simpler. You do not yet know what type of dishes to choose so that the marriage is perfect in the mouth. Come on, let's help you a little.
And as for the reception, we explain everything in detail here!
Food and wine pairings for your wedding meal
At the wedding meal , you have to find a menu that everyone likes. We avoid pork dishes that cannot be eaten by all your guests and it is also well seen to offer a vegetarian option. The main thing is that everyone is there. Take advantage of the moment to highlight local and seasonal products and call on small producers or caterers near you who can prepare seasonal, organic and even vegan menus like Le Comptoir Sauvage in Lyon.
No need to look for great vintages, you can keep it simple and good at the same time. Starters, vegetarian or not, go well with a glass of white Languedoc If you see life in pink, a glass of Corbières is ideal with sunny vegetables or a tomato crumble. For the main course, red wine and meat dishes have been a perfect match since time immemorial. If you opt for fish, a dry white will do just as well. For vegetarians, we prefer wines that are not too tannic, one of the components of red wines present in the skin of the grape and which can give a rough and astringent side to the wine.
To please everyone, we recommend a Vaucluse Principality of Orange which goes wonderfully with dishes based on red meat as well as with vegetable tians or candied eggplant. For the white, the Bordeaux can be eaten with seafood as well as with green vegetables such as an artichoke risotto. For dessert, we rely on Crémant d'Alsace which will make the end of your meal sparkle.
You are off with a solid foundation for planning part of your wedding . And that's not all, in addition, drinks and food, you will also have to choose the date and place of the reception, the decoration and the course of the day.
And if you need a hand to organize your wedding, we recommend eco-responsible wedding planners who will take care of everything for you. You can find them close to you wherever you are in France like Sarah Rozan in Lyon or Ma Vie de Bohème in Paris and they will take care of organizing a dream wedding that respects the planet.
On our side, we are there for you and ready to listen to all your questions. Write to us at hello@oeforgood.com , depending on the number of guests, the place of reception and the atmosphere you want, we will guide you in the number of bottles to provide to delight the taste buds of your guests.
