Weddingbee

When we budgeted for our wedding beverages, we knew we didn’t have the money for an open bar and we quickly decided that hard liquor was both costly and unnecessary for our wedding to be a success. We knew we’d have plenty of beer and wine to take care of our guests.

But we were still tempted by one popular option—a signature cocktail served during the cocktail hour. We wanted to serve something with a summery, Montana feel… like huckleberry martinis!

(Photo by Nicole Tavenner)

While it was a good idea, there were a lot of details that had to go into making signature cocktails.

Polebridge does have a saloon that would serve as a good source of liquor, but it wouldn’t be particularly helpful with the other ingredients we’d need, nor any good as far as pricing or bar tending. As our caterers, they were our best option. But they already seemed to be overwhelmed by our wedding, and were unlikely to make things simple for us. Hiring a bartender outside of Polebridge was out of the question because it’d put us too far over budget for just a simple signature cocktail.

As usual, the best answer was right in front of our faces. Polebridge allows us to bring in our own wine (with only a $50 corkage fee for the whole shebang!), beer, and liquor.  So, nothing HAS to be done through them. Luckily, one of our friends is an amateur bartender who loves making infused liquors!

Craig had already RSVP’d ‘yes’ for the wedding and happily agreed to provide us with a few infusions.  He also volunteered to play bartender during our cocktail hour as his wedding gift to us. Personal connections to the rescue!

We asked him to make us limoncello and huckleberry vodka as our two infusions, and he decided to make sangria as a third drink. Unfortunately, hucks were out of season when he needed to begin the infusion process (and it’s a late year due to heavy snows in the mountains), so he made blackberry vodka (yum!) with Northwest blackberries instead.

After a few failed test batches, he decided that the sangria was also a wash, and instead made us some lime-infused gin to go with our vodkas.

So now we have three liquors with which to make signature drinks! We’ll have a bar set up near the Polebridge stage after our ceremony, where Craig can dazzle our guests with his mixology.

I’ve been in love with glass jars since my mom used to make sun-tea in them when I was a kid, and I think they’ll add a nice bit of country-kitsch to our Montana wedding. We’re going to have a few big jars like these for water and Arnold Palmer (which is 1/2 lemonade and 1/2 iced tea)…

… a couple of smaller infusion jars like these for the vodkas…

… and a one-gallon ball jar with a spigot for the lime gin.

Yummah!

For mixers, we’ll have Arnold Palmer, tonic water, lime juice, lemon juice, Cointreau, Campari, and simple syrup. I figured I’d share our cocktails with you, which now number quite a few more than just one “signature” drink. Some of these recipes are real, established drinks, and others I made up using our ingredients. Enjoy!

TOM ARNOLD
Ingredients:

• 6-8 oz Arnold Palmer
• 2 oz limoncello
• ½ to 1 oz simple syrup, depending on sweetness desired
• Lemon to garnish

Pour limoncello over ice into a glass, follow with simple syrup, and then fill with Arnold Palmer. Garnish with lemon.

CITRUS BERRY COLLINS
Ingredients:

• 2 muddled blackberries
• 1 oz limoncello
• 1 oz blackberry vodka
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• Club soda
• Lime and blackberry to garnish

Muddle blackberries in a mixing glass, add all ingredients and shake. Strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass. Top with a splash of soda. Garnish with blackberry and lime.

LIMONCELLA
Ingredients:

• 2 oz limoncello
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 3/4 oz Cointreau
• A drizzle of Campari
• Lemon or lemon twist to garnish

Pour limoncello, lemon juice, and Cointreau into a shaker with ice, shake and pour into a cocktail glass. Drizzle Campari on top and add a lemon garnish or twist.

SUMMER BRUISE
Ingredients:

• 1 oz blackberry vodka
• 1 oz lime gin
• ½ oz Cointreau
• 6-8 oz tonic water

Mix blackberry vodka, gin, and Cointreau in a shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and top with tonic water. (This one might be better stirred, not shaken.  I’m not sure!)

GIN & TONIC
Ingredients:

• 2 oz lime gin
• 6 oz tonic water
• Lime to garnish

Add gin and tonic over ice, garnish with lime.

THE JASMINE

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1/4 oz Cointreau
• 1/4 oz Campari
• 3/4 oz lemon juice

Shake all ingredients with ice. Then, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

LEMON-LIME

• 1 oz limoncello
• 1 oz lime gin
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup

Shake all ingredients. Then, strain into a cocktail glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.

All of these drink recipes, as well as our other beverages for the cocktail hour (water, Arnold Palmer, beer, and bottled coke!), will be listed on one of the photo-framed signs that we’ll print out.

Are you having a cocktail hour at your wedding? What’s your signature drink?

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