When it comes to your wedding day, there is a lot to think about. My best advice would be to split the day up into manageable chunks. Starting with arrival drinks, for example. In this blog post series I’m going to be talking you through the different drink options available at Ever After and suggestions about what to provide.
Arrival Drinks
If you are getting married at the venue, then you will probably invite your guests to arrive an hour before the ceremony. You guests will then gather by the ponds (weather permitting) and enjoy a beverage (or two) before being ushered to the wedding barn to watch you get married.
An hour is not actually that long, especially when you factor in 5-10 minutes or so seated before the ceremony begins. Also, legally, there cannot be any alcohol in the ceremony space. So guests will have to finish all drinks before being seated. With that in mind, it’s worth thinking about simplistic drinks to serve at this point of the day. But, more on that later…
The Options
You may or may not be familiar with Ever After’s drinks package, new for this year. The package widens your options, and is designed so that you won’t need to source a mobile bar. You, of course, don’t have to use one of our packages and are still free to provide your own drinks (still no corkage!).
Here are your options…
Bringing your own drinks – As I said, you are still welcome to do this and there is no charge for doing so, although you will have to pay waiting staff.
Ever After’s Splendid Package – This package is £6pp and includes; prosecco or pimms with garnish & straws, bottled lager, soft drinks.
Ever After’s Premium Package – For £10pp your guests can enjoy; English sparkling wine, bottled fruit cider, bottled lager, soft drinks with straws. This is also an unlimited package (for the duration of arrival drinks).
Ever After’s Ultimate Package – Another unlimited package for £13pp, including; Gremillet NV Champagne with optional edible flowers or West Country Pimms with straws, premium bottled beer, premium soft drinks with straws.
All the Ever After packages include staff costs.
Drink Suggestions
As I mentioned earlier, this part of your day is usually only 45 minutes to an hour long, so not huge amounts of time for complex drinks. Things like ‘pimp your prosecco’ stations are best saved for the reception drinks as they are time consuming and guests may end up having to leave a half-finished drink before heading into the ceremony.
For your arrival drinks, keep things simple and don’t offer too much of a choice. Complicated cocktails are wonderful for the post-ceremony drinks reception, but pre-ceremony not so much. You also don’t want to end up with half-cut guests before the ceremony has even started, so spirit based drinks are best avoided.
Some drink suggestions…
- Prosecco & bottles of beer, as well as a soft drink option (such as cucumber water).
- A glass of pimms & bottles of cider, with an elderflower fizz for the non-drinkers.
- Wine & lager, and a non-alcoholic raspberry lemonade.
- Keep things simple and just offer soft drinks; guests will have plenty of alcohol throughout the rest of the day.
And if you want to make a simple drink more interesting, you can always add garnishes such as edible flowers, fruit, or colourful straws.
If you have any questions then feel free to send me an email ([email protected]). Happy planning!
Take a look at some of last year’s weddings for inspiration…
