In the day of hand-crafted cocktails, infused liquors, home-made simple syrups and boundless cocktail/mocktail choices, it’s no wonder there can be a lot of confusion around what to serve at your bar on your wedding day? Your parents remember kegs as the sure way to satisfy a drinking crowd, but endless options, from marketed RTD’s, (ready to drink spirits) craft brews and marvelous mocktails, make deciding on your bar even trickier than the food menu.
As owner and bar manager of Weymouth Hill Event Venue, I see it often. When I ask a client what they would like to serve, you can see that nervous shift of “let me think on that.” What I suspect is they don’t want their event to seem “less than” by going simple, and they feel pressure to get creative with their bar menu. Wedding bar planning can start to get very stressful.
Let me first say, providing a bar at your wedding is always an appreciated gesture, even if not all your guests will drink. It provides a festive touch that is most hospitable. After all, entertaining 101 is to offer your guests a beverage upon arrival (or in the case of your wedding, directly after the ceremony).
Sometimes couples are confined to restrictions of their venue or limitations by bar staff, meaning not all event bar staff is adept to mixing every conceivable drink such as knowing what goes into a Mai Tai or a Dark and Stormy. When searching a venue, you may want to ask about these restrictions, looking for bar services that will offer you bar upgrades and flexibility. At Weymouth Hill, we delight in helping couples come up with bar and beverage service to wow their guests even welcoming recipe cards for new drinks.
That said, when your bar service will be curated, it’s always nice to have good signage on hand to let guests know the choices. Remember, there are varying levels of cocktail knowledge, so descriptions are always good to accompany the drink list.
Wedding Bar Planning Tips
For this blog, I’ve constructed five scenarios of creating a creative bar, without necessarily breaking the bank. I will begin by stating open bar is the most common at a wedding, whereas your guests can access your pre-paid bar during cocktail hour and reception, for typically 3-4 hours total, but sometimes five.
- Keeping it simple, and our most popular scenario is to offer beer/wine and his and her signature cocktails. Why this works: It gives you another opportunity to put your personal touch on your wedding. She’s a gin gal, while he’s a bourbon guy. By providing two signature cocktails, you’ve elevated the bar to something other than beer and wine. Tips to make it work: Drinking guests like cocktails and will go here first. Be prepared to up the cocktail batch if you run out of the first round and know that some cocktails are just more popular than others.
- Wine lovers lead the way. If wine is special to you and your dinner option lends to a nice glass of wine, talk to your venue about ordering a select vino to be served with dinner. Your open bar can still serve the usual beer/wine choices, but embolden dinner with a select wine pour.
- Adding in a celebratory champagne. You can keep your typical bar service of beer and wine, but adding a champagne toast is always a nice touch. With champagne, you can offer it at one of four different times. You can have welcome champagne flutes to your guests pre-ceremony as they arrive, directly after your ceremony, just before speeches or during send off. Just ask your bar service about champagne pours or a welcome table.
- Signature cocktails: While full bar is always a sure luxe way of wowing your guests, I’m seeing a shift to an array of signature cocktails instead. The bar menu might contain four to five cocktails with different liquor choices. Why this works over full bar: it eliminates so many choices at the bar line creating a bottle neck. When the sky is the limit, people don’t typically know what they want. If options are in front of them, they can choose more readily. Tip for this option is to choose an array of cocktails that encompass a variety of liquors giving everyone a tasty option. By all means, if full bar is your preference, do consider it, but talk to your bar about having enough bartenders to keep things moving.
- Adding non-alcohol drinks: Say you go with a simple bar option, but still want to provide a variety, especially to your non-drinkers. Look into adding a mocktail or two. Mocktails can give a wow appearance to your bar menu. You can take it a step further and add dirty sodas or a coffee bar, which are sure crowd pleasers. Why this works: it gives a big variety to the drinkers and non-drinkers without going short on anything. Tip for this option is to perhaps separate the dirty soda or coffee bar, making these separate stations from the bar so as not to create long lines.
Here is a running list of some our most requested favorite wedding cocktails. Of special note: classic cocktails with a seasonal twist seem to be fan favorites. You also want to avoid complex drinks that will slow down your bar line.
Most Requested:
Classic Gin and Tonic
Margarita (spicy or seasonal fall)
Moscow Mule (look at variations)
Old Fashioned (can smoke to add some flare)
Mojitos
Fan Favorites:
Weymouth Hill Signature Sangria
Rum Punch
Blackberry Bramble or Smash
Blushing Bride
Whiskey Sour or Slushie
Wine Slushie (venue must have a slush machine)
Modern and Trending
Aperol Spritz
Paloma
French 75
Espresso Martini
Negroni
