Mmmmm… Bubbles!
February 13th, 2008 @ 1:39 pm by Mrs. Peacock
One of the unfortunate details in our liquor contract is that we have to pay for a champagne toast by the glass. I LOVE champagne/sparkling wine and I would prefer to have it flowing all night. I also don’t think that everyone (Mr. Peacock, namely) likes the bubbly as much as I do and so many glasses will go to waste.
If I could have my way, I would bring in a few cases and just let everyone pass the bottles around. I would also get something a little better than the Freixenet that is currently part of my package. We tried Coppola’s Sofia at our engagement party. It was yummy and came in a beautiful shabby chic bottle. That bottle was wrapped in pink plastic wrap, which adds a little excitement.
It was a little sweeter than I usually prefer, but not sugary enough to turn me away from it. I also love that it is named after Sofia Coppola and I usually enjoy her movies. Her father, aside from being a famous movie maker, also has a beautiful vineyard in Napa where he makes some very tasty Cabernet.
There is also a mini, canned version of this champagne which might be adorable at a wedding reception. The cans are cute, anyway. The popping noise might be kind of funny right before the toast. I guess it depends on what kind of bride/hostess you are. Crass and quirky is apparently right in my wheelhouse.
If I really wanted to implode my budget, I would buy a few cases of Vueve Clicquot Rose. The VC Yellow Label was my gateway drug into the world of fizzy cocktails. I have been totally on board with the recent re-emergence of pink champagne and the VC Rose is a great example.
I know a lot of places have rules about the champagne toast. Has anyone found a less expensive way around it? If you are married and ordered it by the glass, did a lot go wasted?
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13 Responses to “Mmmmm… Bubbles!”
The Sofia in a can is really fun, but it doesn’t taste very good! (I don’t think the Sofia in a bottle is all that wonderful, and its flavor is less good out of the can.) However, it is great for walking around the city on a Friday night because no one will know you’re drinking champagne! Tee hee!
I love the Piper-Heidseick Rose Sauvage - it’s made from Pinot Noir grapes and is a beautiful deep pink shade and also tastes awesome. It’s what I will be using for my champagne toast!
I’m fortunate enough that my venue (The Evanston Woman’s Club for you Chicago girls) allows us to bring in out own liquor. So we will be having Wine and Beer and Champagne! I love me some Champagne and am a proud founder of “Champagne Thursdays”. There is no better excuse to drink champagne than Thursday night in my book. I was at a wedding a few weeks ago and they have VC, at the end of the night they were popping open the last bottles. None of that precious liquid was wasted.
I love Veuve! I get mine at Costco for $36 a bottle - you can only buy a few bottles at a time, but it’s a great price. They also have an adorable little gift package with a bottle of Veuve, a yellow case and two champagne bottles that I’ve given a few times as a gift.
Two champagne *glasses* - jeez, I am the Weddingbee typo queen lately.
This probably isn’t much help to you but it may be to people who are getting married in 2009. We bought cases of champagne right after New Years. We were able to get them for about half off.
We bought 60 bottles for 225 guests and only had 3 bottles left over by the end of the night.
I probably can’t help either since we got married at the Kennilworth Club and got to bring in our own booze.
We got bought cases of sparkling wine from one of our favorite wineries in MI. Made for a fun tasting event, too, when we bought it last summer!
We have a few bottles left over and we’ve been drinking them for special occasions (any excuse will do) and reminise about the big day.
Since we are getting married on a vineyard, we must serve their wines. But since they don’t make a sparkling wine (”champagne”), we get to bring in our own. Costco here we come!! To save $$, we will be doing an “open glass toast” - i.e. people toast with whatever they are drinking. This saves money in several ways (we learned all this from our caterer). We rent less glasses. When people sit down for dinner there will only be two glasses: water glass and a wine glass that is designed for red or white. So we saved $200+ by not having a champagne flute at every seat and another $200+ by not having both a red and white wine glass. They also said that when you have a champagne toast, less than 50% of guests drink any of their champagne - for a wedding of 200, that means 100 glasses, or 15-20 bottles of pretty champagne wasted! The horror 
If guests ask for champagne (at the bar, at the cocktail hour, or while seated for dinner) the waiters will gladly bring them champagne in a glass. Personally, I will only be drinking champagne!
we had pink champagne all night long. it was the best.
we did champagne punch… cut the cost way down, but still provided the bubbly we needed 
i’m not sure what kind of champagne we used (the venue provided it) and then it was mixed with white grape juice and a little gingerale. i’m sure this option isn’t for everyone, but my husband and I aren’t huge on alcohol of any kind, and it was really yummy!
a friend of mine and her now husband don’t drink at all (she’s allergic to grape products) so they served/toasted with sparkling apple cider. It looked like champaign, but wasn’t!
Did you know that Sofia was made by Francis Ford Coppola as a gift to his daughter Sofia for her wedding. That is another reason why it is such a cool wedding Champagne.
Would it be weird to put something like that on an RSVP card? In a way, it’s just like getting a headcount!
Miss Peacock, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 26, PhD Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Internet Whiz
Engagement Date: December 5, 2006
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 13, 2007
Venue: St. Clement Church, Cafe Brauer (or a big church wedding and a fancy party at a cafe in Lincoln Park.
About Me: I am a grad student with a secret obsession for all things wedding related. I also love to read, travel, drink champagne and go for walks with our dog, Maisy, and Mr. Peacock. We are planning our very vintage wedding in the greatest city in the world, our hometown of Chicago. I am so proud to be a Bee!
We bought five cases of the VC Yellow Label and by the end of the night, we had 2 bottles left. Not only did our guests love it for the toast, they ended up drinking it throughout the night!