We’re having an open bar at our wedding. That’s just the way it has to go. Too many of our guests are looking forward to gratis drinkage. I’m not planning on getting drunk at our wedding reception because I want to remember all the details as much as I can, and because I’ll probably be so high on life I won’t need any alcohol. (I’m getting bad flashbacks to high school health class now.) Mr. Unicycle won’t get drunk because he’s not big into drinking. But our guests? I hope they’re completely shit-faced. However, just because we’re having an open bar doesn’t mean we can’t have signature cocktails, right?
I love the idea of offering a signature cocktail or two because it gives guests an idea of what they can order at the bar. I personally am always at a loss for what to order at a bar. I’ll drink pretty much anything besides beer, but I don’t know enough about bartending to know what to ask for. Enter the signature cocktail! I wanted Mr. Unicycle and me to each have our own signature cocktail to offer as another way of infusing our personalities into the wedding. His favorite liquor is rum, so he immediately chose a rum old fashioned as his drink.
Image via Drink of the Week
An old fashioned is basically just liquor with bitters and sugar, plus myriad garnishes. I friggin’ love garnishes, by the way. Mr. Unicycle is a classy dude, and this drink fits right in with our retro theme.
I had a much harder time picking my signature cocktail. I liked the idea of having a champagne cocktail, and I wanted something pink. Why pink? Not sure. I realize pink isn’t one of our colors, yet I’m still wearing pink shoes and serving pink cocktails. Maybe I’m just starting to regret not pinking my original color scheme.
I browsed Pinterest and came up with the following ideas:
Lemonade Sparkler:
Image via Valley & Co.
Pink Grapefruit Margaritas:
Image via There Goes the Cupcake
Barbie Shot:
Image via Glow Glass
Pear and Cranberry Bellini:
Image via Martha Stewart
Coconut Margarita:
Image via Martha Stewart
OK, so they’re not pink. But they have coconut around the rim, which I love even more than garnishes.
Grand Champagne Cocktail:
Image via Food Network
French Martini:
Image via The Knot
Starlight Royale:
Image via Martha Stewart Weddings
I sent the drink recipes to the catering manager at my venue and asked which would be allowed under our contract, and she said the rum old fashioned, the pink grapefruit margaritas, and the starlight royale were all doable. So Mr. Unicycle had his drink, but which should I pick? While margaritas are kind of my thing, I couldn’t get over the fact that the starlight royale had a sugared rim. It looked so pretty and girly! The only problem? It contains gin, which I had never tried before. It was the final frontier of liquors for me. So this weekend Mr. Unicycle and I went to a cool cocktail lounge in Milwaukee called Bryant’s to celebrate our fifth (and final!) dating anniversary, and I ordered a starlight royale. The bartender ended up making me a French 75 instead, which doesn’t have any grenadine in it, and thus isn’t pink, but I still really liked it, gin and all!
So that settles it! My signature cocktail will be a starlight royale, and Mr. Unicycle’s will be a rum old fashioned. I’d love to give them wedding-themed names for the signage. If we were doing a white Russian I’d totally steal Mrs. Labrador’s “Caucasian Mail Order Bride.”
What are your suggestions for cutesy names for these cocktails?
FANTASTIC CHOICE! I’ve always been a gin girl (and *always* get called an old man for it), but it really is a delightful liquor 
And, though I have never had a Starlight Royale, it looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL (and delicious), and I will have to try one (tonight…or maybe right now…)!
Also I just noticed my comment made me look like a total lush….
I love signature cocktails! We’re doing just one, but it was really fun to pick!
Good choice! It’s pretty and on a personal note, I love gin!
I love them!! You should call his drink the “Old-Fashioned” or “Classy Gent”. Yours should be the “Blushing Bride”. Hehe 
I want to do signature cocktails too (even though we also have open bar) because they are so much fun! My problem though is that our color is royal/cobalt blue. And there are not very many drinks in that color family 
I want to try all of them…now…they all look super yummy! That barbie shot one is just purty!
I am a big fan of gin and I now must try the Starlight Royale… I will piggyback on Alleycat with another vote for “Blushing Bride”, and maybe “the Gentleman”?
I’ve seen it done before, but you could do the Something Old (for the old-fashioned) and Something New (for yours… since it was new to you!).
Gin tastes like Christmas trees to me, but your drink looks so good, I may have to retry it 
Okay… hilarious story. I watched the original Father of the Bride (the one made in 1950 with Elizabeth Taylor). The most common drink they mentioned in the movie was an “old fashioned.” I actually looked it up because I was curious!
Oh man the starlight royale looks fantastic. Pinned it to pinterest to remind me what I’m trying next
I’ve never had a Starlight Royale, but it sounds yummy!
Your drink looks tasty. And if you don’t want to go the route of the wedding-themed names, maybe something meaningful to y’all?
We are having a full open bar too, so yay for getting our guests shit faced! We are also having the Old Fashioned as a drink. Where I grew up in southern Wisconsin, it’s as common as a rum and coke. I love and will drink them at any time. I plan to make it our signature, but not sure what to call it.
@Mrs. Seal: My liquor of choice was always whiskey so I’ve been called an old man too!
@Miss Aardvark: lol I LOVE FUN DRINKS TOO. Now we both sound like lushes
@Alleycat: yeah I was originally looking for yellow drinks to go with our color scheme, but pink was so much easier, even though it doesn’t match.
@seajo: ooh I like that! Maybe the “[Something] Old Fashioned”
@Miss Opossum: hahah good I hope that means it’ll fit our retro “theme!”
@anna4041: Mr. Unicycle lives in Milwaukee and he said the same thing about Old Fashioneds!
I completely agree with your reception drinking policy. We are going to have an open bar too but I am thinking of making a bar menu with some common drinks to help with indecisiveness (which I am very guilty of myself!). I love the signature cocktail idea too especially with corny names like Lindsytini…
I was surprised to find out that the beverage services I spoke with charge extra for signature cocktails. I thought that it would be less since they will be more popular with the guests than other drinks, so the bartender can mix a lot at once.
Mrs. Unicycle, Chicago, IL Age and Occupation: 23, Editor for a Web Publishing Company Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, MD/PhD Student Engagement Date: March 26, 2011 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Bridges of Poplar Creek About Me: I’m a writer by trade who likes analyzing pop culture, making fun of celebrities, and laughing until I cry. I’m the queen of half-assed crafts, and there’s nothing I won’t try to DIY. You can usually find me reading blogs on my laptop in front of a good Lifetime movie, wine in hand. I’m planning a polka-dotted summertime wedding to my physics geek college sweetheart, and when I’m not making stupid puns I’m freaking out about my wedding timeline.
Latest Gallery Pics