Wedding Forum - Wine on tables...

We are doing 4 bottles of wine for a table of 10.

I think I'll provide a little bit more than I just don't want people ending up with a whole bottle to themselves! Most of the men coming prefer beer so I can see them going straight to the bar lol. We are providing welcome drinks then table wine, everything else they will be paying for xx

I'm not a wine drinker so I have no idea but how many glasses can you get out of a bottle? Xx

More if they only have small glasses x

Exactly what I'm thinking Katie xx

We're providing 1/2 bottle per person on each table - this comes with our package, along with 2 reception drinks. We will probably have 8 on each table. These are the only drinks we're providing as there will be a bar in the lounge and in the evening we have a bar in the the reception room itself.

On each table of ten, we put one white and one red, was up to everyone on that tab,e how they distributed it

We have sparkling for the toast at one glass per adult,then were given were given what was left over. You don't have to put wine on the table if you don't want to,

hmm I dont think that 2 bottles on a table of 10 is enough, that isn't even a glass each!
If you are looking to save costs then supply 1 glass each of wine (or offer beer as an alternative) and leave it at that.

Personaly I'd be pretty miffed if I was one of the last to the table for some reason (like needing a loo break or a wardrobe malfunction etc) and all the wine had gone because there is not enough for a glass each! Would leave me feeling somewhat p'd off that I obviously wasn't valued enough for a single glass of wine but others were!

I do think you need to either offer enough for 1 glass each or offer none!

Our package is for a champagne reception (1 glass per guest), 4 bottles of wine per table (probably going to be 1 white, 1 pink and 2 red) and a glass of champagne to toast!
We are also supplying a sparkling elderflower drink for those who don't drink!
If they want anything different then they can get it themselves!

Exactly michelle. I don't want to pay for people to get drunk! If you can 4 glasses out of a bottle though I think two should be enough for my tables with up to 8 adults especially as I know most of the men will go up and get beer instead. It's not that I don't care enough about my guests, it's just that we are on a really tight budget! If my guests did complain about the lack of alcohol then I'd consider them to be rude and ungrateful xx

I wasn't going to provide wine on tables but I thought it would be a nice thing to do... I'm not buying dear wine though so if people don't drink it that's their problem xx

Alcohol at wedding is a difficult one and no 2 weddings are the same, Kirstie, perhaps instead of putting the bottles on the table, get the waiters to pour the wine and offer a glass or red or white, that way you know everybody is being offered a glass and those that want one get one, I get what Faye is saying re people pouring themselves a glass full to the brim and then others not even getting a full glass- you might even find that with the waiters pouring the wine then you actually spend less :-)

Our venue have advised half a bottle per person as well, plus a glass of bubbly for the toast. Just going with that as they're more experienced than me at organising weddings!! If anyone needs anything else then they know where the bar is xx

The last wedding I went to had 2 red and 2 white per table of 8 and as we were all red drinkers, we swapped with a couple of tables so we had all red. I think guests are happy to sort themselves and it gets them talking to other tables too :-)

The issue I have with providing half a bottle per person is that if half of the guests on the table decide to buy another drink or aren't drinking due to driving then the remaining four guests would have one bottle each and that's too much IMO. It's definitely a hard one xx

Kirstie- i Would do what you are doing, you know your guests, you have a budget so stick with it :-) as you say you will always have non drinkers and people who don't like wine and you have a pay for bar too! If tables are larger than 8 people I woukd consider 3 bottles so you don't appear cheap which is what you originally asked :-) xx

Just to add, I don't think guests should just expect anything in terms of beverages anyway. Whatever you provide is a bonus and they should be thankful for even one glass of wine xx

Agree with Flossie about not expecting anything, however if you do provide drinks you need to make sure its enough.
If not enough drink is provided its not rude to be unhappy about it, after all why should you be the only one on the table to have buy your own drink when others have had wine provided?
I think the waiter idea would be best if you are in a budget, that way everyone gets the same.
It's OK saying 'well if they don't like it there's a bar', but generally drinks are expensive at receptions. I've paid £6 for a pint of cider at a wedding, needless to say I didn't have much more!

Faye - I'm not having waiters so that isn't an option.
Michelle - thanks, there will definitely not be more than eight adults on a table as there will be children on each table too.
Flossie - exactly, thank you!
Steph - we aren't having waiters unfortunately. Our reception venue doesn't have its own bar so we are hiring a bar. I have put the hire bar prices below!
Emily - that's a good idea but would probably work out dearer in the long run.

These are the prices for the bar...
Fosters £3.70,
John smiths £3.20,
spirit and dash £3,
spirit and mixer (bottles) £3.50,
bottled cider £4
bottled lagers £2.50,
j2o £1.50,
pint soft drink £2
half soft drink £1.
Fruit shoot 50p.

I thought these prices were reasonable considering it's a hire bar but now I'm doubting them, what do you think? Xx

How much is a glass of wine Kirstie? I can't judge from those prices as I don't drink beer or spirits

We have 1 sparkling wine for champagne reception, 2 glasses of wine with meal and a sparkling again for toasts. Our venue will pour the drinks at the table do nobody will be left out and people can drink until the wine runs out x

Thanks lindsey
Faye - im not sure of wine prices, i didnt even realise wine was missing from the list lol.
Indreamland & mrs thompson - id love to be able to provide a bigger amount but we just cant afford too.
Emily - i thought the prices were quite cheap too, they're not much different to the pub prices here. No way would i have paid as much as your dad! Thats robbery xx

Those prices are cheap :-)

We are also going on the fact that there will be kids on some of the tables and they def won't be drinking wine so I think 2 bottles on a table of 10 is fine.