When attending an evening wedding, if you’re a drinker, you’re probably scoping out the bar situation right away. No we’re not all alcoholics, but some people like to imbibe a bit so they can kill it on the dance floor. I’ve been to dry weddings where the dance floor was still pretty lively and the reception was really nice, not to mention the couple saved a ton on drinks. What if that’s not your style though? You’re thinking, “I know what my guests expect and they expect me to serve some liquid courage!” … read more

Weddings are known for crazy drinking almost as much as they are for big cakes. It’s expected and can be a point of contention if you opt not to provide any. But it doesn’t have to be standard to serve alcohol if you don’t want it to be. It’s simply up to each couple. Some may feel the cost is too high, some might have families that just aren’t excited about drinking, or there may be guests that will have a problem with alcohol and the couple wants to avoid trouble. There’s just a lot to think about when deciding whether to serve alcohol or go dry. … read more

A toast is the joyous salute to good speeches and well-wishes to the couple; the drinks used in said toast should mimic all those good feelings. So what makes a good toasting drink? Well, a little bit of sparkle never hurt and a light, delicious flavor is perfect for quick happy sips. They should also be special in some way, whether they’re just really delicious or really pretty. Here are some examples of drinks that are definitely toast-worthy. … read more

Wedding Alcohol Guide

Let’s chat about corkage while we’re on the “be our guest” theme. Having an open bar was a priority for us, and we figured corkage (us supplying all of the liquor for our wedding) was the best and cheapest way to do this. The challenge in doing this? Figuring out how much alcohol we needed to buy. You want to buy more than you need so that you don’t run out, but you also don’t want to haul a bunch of alcohol back home at the end of your wedding…so we needed a wedding alcohol guide to help us figure out how much to purchase.

A Horseshoe wedding preview…our post-ceremony toast! | Photography by PMG Image

The first step: trying to figure out how much your guests will drink.

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Signature drinks can get complicated. And half of the time isn’t it all about the punny name more so than the recipe? Ditch the hassle and the mixers…THIS is your wedding signature drink, and all it requires is someone to pop the cork and a glass.

Blanc de Bleu Cuvee Mousseux from Bronco Wine Company is the world’s first blue sparkling wine. It’s dry, crisp, and delicate, with a hint of blueberry flavor and a gorgeous blue color to match.

The color blue is symbolic of loyalty and faith, which makes this the perfect color beverage to toast to your newly minted marriage status! It can even serve as your something blue.

Imagine this scene: Everyone’s seated and waiting for your toasts to begin, and the bubbly is served. Imagine if the glass they get is filled with  gorgeous blue-hued sparkling wine. It sets the scene for some epic wedding toasts and pictures. Even better, year after year, you can pop open a bottle on your anniversary and reminisce about how fantastic your wedding was (and how glad you are to have put the planning behind you).

Image credit: Clickchickphotography | Scarlet Plan and Design

Blanc de Bleu is available worldwide. Visit Blancdebleu.com to locate the nearest retailer. It comes in 750 milliliter bottles (perfect for the wedding) and in 187 milliliter-sized bottles (perfect for wedding-party gifts or out-of-town bags).

Find Blanc de Bleu on the web:

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This post is sponsored by Blanc de Bleu. Marketed by Bronco Wine Company, Ceres, CA / 855-874-2394 / Blanc de Bleu is a sparkling grape wine with natural flavors and certified color. / Drink Responsibly. Drive responsibly.

Most wine drinkers have a preference for white or red. But now there’s another option, and it just happens to be the perfect color for weddings: Blanc de Bleu Cuvee Mousseux, a BLUE sparkling wine with an added hint of blueberry flavor.

Created in 2006 by Premium Vintage Cellars, Blanc de Bleu is the world’s first blue grape sparkling wine. Made from grapes grown in the quiet vineyards of Northern California, Blanc de Bleu is dry, crisp, and perfectly refreshing.

We totally heart the gemstone hue, which could serve as your “something blue” if you’re wanting to put a unique spin on the tradition. Bonus: The sky colored hue would look amazing with white & red flowers, pastels, or even deeper plum hued florals. And the color blue is symbolic of loyalty and faith, which makes it the perfect color beverage to toast to your new marriage!

This sparkling beauty comes in 750 milliliter bottles and in a smaller size, too. “Mini”187 milliliter-sized bottles of Blanc de Bleu would make fabulous bridesmaid gifts. Think about the getting-ready-photo potential!

Blanc de Bleu is available worldwide. Visit Blancdebleu.com to locate the nearest retailer.

Marketed by Bronco Wine Company, Ceres, CA / 855-874-2394 / Premium Vintage Cellars is located in Burlingame, CA and was founded in 2005 by president Koh Ohsedo. Blanc de Bleu is a sparkling grape wine with natural flavors and certified color / Drink Responsibly. Drive Responsibly.

Find Blanc de Bleu on the web:

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• Facebook
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This post is sponsored by Blanc de Bleu

Alcohol Free Wedding

Now that we had the beach, the venue, and the guests for our destination wedding, it was time to crack down on the drinks. I know that an alcohol free wedding is a touchy subject for a lot of people, but I also knew having one was a major part of my wedding vision. Yes, even as a little girl, I just knew I was not going to have alcohol at my wedding. I had seen the negative side of it too many times, and I didn’t want to pay and contribute to something I am against. I am NOT putting down any brides who chose to incorporate alcohol, it just isn’t for us and our wedding vision.

I also realize that the guests are a pretty important part of the wedding day, and I didn’t want to put them out or bore them because we chose to have an alcohol free wedding. Honestly, we chose to have a destination wedding to get away from some of the people that I know use these events as an excuse to get trashed. Out of the guests that we are inviting, only a few drink occasionally, but I still want them to have a great time. These people are, after all, traveling pretty far, and I don’t want them to feel like we are being cheap and don’t appreciate them coming to our wedding. Although it isn’t the ONLY reason, I will admit that prices are a small factor for us having a dry wedding. We originally thought about having some champagne just for the toast, but it was almost $200 just to have someone pour it and only a couple of people would be partaking in it. It just wasn’t worth it in the end.

After we both agreed to the alcohol free wedding, we had to actually tell our guests about this major decision. I was very nervous, because I had been told that people will find the wedding lame and will leave early. I didn’t want to have a lame wedding, but I really also didn’t want to have alcohol there. I pictured angry people running at me with pitchforks and torches, demanding alcohol.

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This whole wedding-planning process has been surprisingly waffle-free for me. I mean, I’m not saying the decision-making has been all easy, sunshine and roses—there were plenty of vendors that I researched exhaustively before we finally picked one. But usually, we’ve been able to make a decision, stick with it, and move on.

But there are two decisions that I’ve been stressing about, even though we’re 95% sure where we’ll land with them. I just keep second-guessing myself. Should we spend the extra money for these little extras for our guests? Or should we save that money for more booze?

Decision number one is transportation. Because of the way Cape Cod accommodations are (lots of small, non-chain motels), our guests are likely to be scattered in hotels all over the place, and thinking about trying to coordinate stops at all those places without paying an arm and a leg for it makes my head hurt. Also, our open bar will be wine-and-beer only—i.e., harder to get wasted—and our guests are all adults and can figure out how to coordinate designated drivers. And actually, I’ve only ever been to one wedding where transportation was provided, so I don’t think it’s quite as prevalent as the wedding blogosphere would have us believe. It’ll be fine. Right? Right???

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As you read several posts back, Mr. C and I are serving breakfast food at our evening wedding. I was honestly a bit nervous to post our full menu, since I wasn’t sure how people would react to such a drastically out-of-the-ordinary wedding menu.

I just have to say, though, that you bees made my heart explode with happiness and relief. Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement on our “brinner” post. During the entire wedding-planning process, we have tried to stay true to ourselves while stepping back and seeing our wedding from our guests’ perspectives. While we cannot please every single guest, we hope that they will be able to see a reflection of Mr. C and me in our wedding and every aspect of it—even the food. So, again, you are all awesome and made me feel confident in our decision to serve bacon and omelets and donuts at our wedding. #endmushygushyrant

Several of you also commented on the “brinner” post, asking what type of drinks we would be serving alongside our full breakfast menu. Have no fear, bees—we will be having an assortment of yummy beverages for our guests to enjoy both during the “coffee hour” and the reception as well. You really didn’t think I forgot about mimosas, did you? 😉

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I have been getting a lot of questions recently about what kind of trendy, Pinterest-type ideas I am going to incorporate into our wedding. And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE so many of the trending ideas that are popular in the world of weddings, but if I tried to do all of them, I know I would be overwhelmed. Plus, some ideas just don’t work for our wedding style.

We thought about having a brunch wedding with a cool mimosa bar. / Image via BlueBird Hill

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