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For a lot of people, the best part of a wedding is the open bar (sad, but true). The venue Mr. Spaniel and I are using includes a three-hour open beer and wine bar in the base price, but not a full bar. I had thought that the full bar was an extra $25 per person per hour, but I’ve just realized that I misread the prices, and we could do a signature drink for $15 per person for three hours. Which is awesome, because I would love to have a signature cocktail, which I think really adds to the party because (1) more people are drinking, (2) people have more fun when they are drinking, and (3) a signature cocktail can really help tie together a wedding theme.
Anyway, we’re not totally sure we want to commit to the extra expense (it’s kind of a lot, you know?), but if we do, I’m trying to think of some good signature cocktail options that would fit in our wedding.
We’re getting married on the first day of spring, and while our main wedding colors will be primarily black and white/ivory (at least in terms of what the VIPs are wearing), all of our accents will be in shades of green (flowers, fabrics, and anything else that isn’t a dress or tux on someone’s body!).
So here are some options I’ve come up with:
Any suggestions?
Something with Midori. A friend of mine made some sort of Lemonade with Midori for a St. Patrick’s Day party.
what about tom collins? or whiskey or amaretto sours? or margaritas? mmmm i love lime drinks!
Hmm. I’d recommend an aoba (oba) mojito. It was a favorite drink among my friends at this Japanese/French fusion lounge that we used to go to… a lot. Anyway.
It’s a very light, refreshing drink with a cool “pop” to it–I think, moreso than your regular mojito.
It’s made with gin (Tanqueray) instead of rum, lemon juice instead of lime, and oba mint leaves.
What about a caipirinha (like a mojito, but with cachaca instead of rum and no mint)? The absence of mint makes it a little less spring/summer-y, IMHO.
I also like the idea of margaritas - who doesn’t love a margarita? - and if it’s made with fresh lime juice (rather than a mix) and garnished with lime, it’ll definitely match your green color scheme.
I’d steer away from anything too sweet, like apple pucker or midori - those are usually not crowd pleasers at formal affairs. Same with cream-based drinks like the key lime martini - while I’ve had very good versions, they are labor-intensive to make and *should* contain higher-end ingredients (like Liquor Cuarenta y Tres) that might blow your drink budget.
I was going to suggest margaritas, too! (although, personally, I can’t drink tequila b/c it makes me uber sick. and yes, that’s a technical term!)
We’re doing an open bar for the reasons you listed above — plus we don’t want people to have to open their wallets at our reception. I know it’s not for everyone, but it was the right decision for us (and fit into our food/bev minimum quite nicely!).
I honestly think that you are fine with wine and beer. Fifteen bucks pp seems really expensive for one signature cocktail. I love the key lime one though.
I would stay away from anything too sweet or creamy. Personally, I can’t drink more than one cocktail if it’s either of these things. I kind of agree with heather25. Unless you do a sure fire crowd pleaser like a margarita, it seems like $15 is a lot to pay if most people only have one drink.
@heather25 and @Miss Pudding: It’s TOTALLY a lot for one signature drink. For that price they actually offer a “Martini Bar” (or mojito, or margarita) and we’d make a signature drink out of that as the sort of keystone drink, but others in that category would also be available. I’m not really sure that it will be worth it for us (we are already providing beer, wine and champagne), but we’re thinking about it.
I also agree with heather25.
For my friend’s wedding, they had a beer list and a wine list. No hard liquor was served, and it didn’t appear that anyone missed it either.
I really think you’d be fine with beer, wine and champagne. You want people to enjoy themselves but not turn it into a bachelor party.
I am all about the cocktails! 
Are you specificlly wanting a green or clear drink?
You could do like a hard lime/lemonaid.
or
Melon Ball:
1 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Midori
5 oz Orange Juice
(you could probably sub the OJ for something else)
Lemon Drops… or a varation, like raspberry or peach… Hey, you could even have the lemon drop base and then offer the variations. I think it’s just adding raspberry/peach/cherry syrup to it..
Cosmos are nice too because they’re not too sweet.
HTH
I’d say no-go on the key lime. Even though it sounds good, you’ll either have few people drinking it, or lots of people drinking it and hurling. (My 21st birthday ended with some creme drinks. Let’s just say I have an ish with them now. :p)
We’re doing beer and wine and then a signature drink as well. I know a lot of ladies who aren’t fans of beer or wine. We gonna go old skewl and have hunch punch. (Holla. Or jungle juice, if you will).
Oh! Thought thought thought thought. What about vodka Tom Collins?
Basically it’s simple syrup, lemon juice (though typically it’s just a mix that has it all), some sort of fizzy (soda water) and then vodka. Traditionally it’s made with gin, but I know that people can get ‘meh’ about gin. You could garnish it with a lime twist rather than lemon. It’s really refreshing, and a big crowd pleaser.
@fiftyfootbride: Good point. Actually if I had my say, our signature drink would probably be a white sangria… but I’m not sure they’ll let us do that, and I definitely won’t pay $15 a person for it!
@fiftyfootbride: Whoops, missed your second comment. Vodka Collins is actually my drink, and with a lime it totally fits. 
I will have to talk to them about that!
@Miss Spaniel: Mine too! Sangria’s also a good one. I think we talked about this in a thread before, but I considered that. Who knows, I love changing my mind, so I might throw that back in.
aww, i love me an appletini…reminds me of JD in scrubs. lol =)
p.s.
as i have found out recently, i probably won’t be drinking much anyway during the wedding because a. i don’t want to do the fancy bathroom maneuvers in the dress and b. i don’t want to spill anything on the dress =)
@krissycake: That’s a REALLY good point… my dress is a handful.
I am with Moonbeam - what you have planned sounds great already! If you do decide to take the plunge into the signature drink, I’m with kayakgirl - we had friends do a bright green signature drink with midori. So pretty and delish!
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Mrs. Spaniel, Los Angeles Age and Occupation: 28, Law Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Psychologist Wedding Date: March 2010 Venue: Calamigos Ranch About Me: I'm a third-year law student trying to balance graduating with starting my career, keeping up a relationship, and, oh yeah, planning an Old World, multi-cultural, "mountain lodge" wedding for 180 guests! A South Asian Jewish girl getting ready to marry my handsome Catholic Dane, I'm hoping to blend our cultures in our wedding just a bit more gently than by providing samosas as appetizers and offering æbleskiver for dessert. (Although that would also be awesome.)
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