We can supply you with any wine from our range for your event and can suggest wines suitable for most budgets. However, for a large gathering you need to cater for a wide variety of tastes, and a very expensive wine or champagne will most likely be wasted on many of your guests, so here's a few things to consider to help you with your decision.
Your Guests
First of all what kind of wine do you like (after all it's your day!)? What do most of your friends and family prefer? Would they enjoy a glass or two of really nice wine to sip as they socialise? Or indeed is wine not that important to your guests?
The Time of Year
Is your reception in the middle of summer or in the dead of winter? The season can definitely make a big difference as to which wine you decide to serve them. Are you trying to warm them up or keep them refreshed?
For example for a winter wedding you may even offer a mulled wine as an option as your guests arrive at the reception. In the colder months, red wines may be more popular than whites and vice versa in the warmer part of the year – maybe even consider a dry rose.
The Menu
We at Wine 2 Dine 4, are great advocates of choosing wine which compliments the food and have a comprehensive wine and food matching section on this website – click on the following links to find out more:
Matching Food & Wine - Basic Rules of Thumb
Golden Rules for Dinner Parties
"What goes with what" Food & Wine search engine
What's Your Budget?
I began this section by saying that really expensive wines will very often be wasted on most of your guests, so it's good to bear that in mind when choosing your wines.
Having said that wines do not have to break the bank to be regarded as ‘very good' and we at Wine 2 Dine 4 have an excellent range of mid-priced wines which would undoubtedly fit the bit for most tastes.
If you need assistance selecting the wine, please contact bob@wine2dine4.co.uk and we'll be delighted to help.
Champagne or Sparkling Wine
As no wedding is complete without a bit of bubbly, we generally suggest one of our house Champagnes for large events as they offer such good value. However, we can supply alternative sparkling wines to suit your budget. We even have an English sparkling wine which has beaten many French Champagnes in blind tastings!
How much wine will you need?
As ever with large gatherings, some guests will drink less than others, but as a general rule of thumb allow for about half a bottle per guest. (There are approx 6 glasses per bottle).
It's also a good idea to consider what time of day you're having your reception. People often drink a little less at an afternoon wedding than at an evening event. If they're drinking in the afternoon, you may find one or two having a snooze by early evening!
