A great glass of wine is my favourite treat to have on the weekend. It has to be good wine, which most people believe that means it has to be expensive wine which is not the case.

Purchasing wine for your wedding can get a little overwhelming as there are so many different wines to choose from! Make sure you check with your venue and ask if you are able to bring your own wine in. This will eliminate a lot of extra costs for you.

How much wine do we purchase? How much wine will the guests drink? These are the number one questions that the soon to be bride and groom ask. I have put together a “How To Guide” for your wedding wines!

1.Before You Buy
Before you even begin to choose and purchase wine it is important to ask yourselves these questions:

• How many guests are you expecting?
  This will determine how much to buy. Obviously a larger group of guests will drink more than less!
• Is the environment of the wedding more relaxed or formal?
  A relaxed event has more people drinking at a faster past. A formal event has a much slower pace with the alcohol consumption.
• What time is the wedding scheduled to?
  A later wedding will need more booze!
• This one is the good question – What is the average age of the guests?
  I know the last few weddings I have been a guest at had a lot of younger guests who like to drink.

2. The Golden Question
How much to buy? This is the golden question. Each bottle of wine is 750 ml which will server about 2 – 3 people depending on how much you serve in the glasses.

These are rough estimates I found online to help you out. This wine estimate is based on three hours of drinking time and calculated based on 750ml bottles or 6 x 4 oz glasses. Also we are keeping in mind you will not only be serving wine at the wedding. The wine however should be about 30% of your alcohol served.

• For 50 guests you will need 10 bottles of wine.
• For 100 guests you will need 20 bottles.
• For 150 guests you will need at least 30 bottles
• For 200 guests at least 40 bottles
• For 250 guests at least 50 bottles
• For 300 guests at least 60 bottles

3. Basics Is Best
Always stick to the basics so you know the guests will enjoy the vino. The whites should be Chardonnay and the Red’s should be Merlot. There should be equal amounts of both.

4. Good’n Cheap!
Good but cheap wines come with the price range of $12 - $15 each bottle. But you can shop around and find some really great hidden gems out there for cheaper! Try going to a local wine shop in your area and ask for a taste testing session. This will help you out so much in the choosing process and it will be a fun day out!

4. Sneaky
Too much is better than too little so ask the waiter to make sure they don’t always top up the glasses especially closer to the end of the night….sneaky I know…but this will help keep your mind at ease that you will have enough wine the whole night through!

Choosing the perfect wine for the wedding is important and fun! Now go enjoy a glass of wine!

ta-ta
Kris

images courtesy of www.wineglassinfo.com