I'm having a decent sized wedding, probably 210 people, at least 150 drinkers. Our venue is BYO so my fiance and I are trying to work out what to buy right now. Our caterer gave us an awesome list that we're working from that has quantities of alcohol for 50 people.
One thing that makes our wedding unique is that in my fiance's culture, they don't do bars... they do bottle service. They put a bottle of high end vodka and whiskey on every table, plus a bottle of red wine and coke to mix. The caterer told us to figure 1.5 bottles per table. Now, my side of the family doesn't do things this way and I'm not sure what to expect in terms of number of bottles to buy. The thought is to maybe purchase 1 bottle per table and place all the bottles on the tables. Then the waiters can ask the non Armenians at the wedding if they'd like to keep the bottles or use the bar. If they opt for bar, the bottles can be put in the reserves for the bar/other tables. We'd buy more for the bar in addition to the table drinks.
Now, in order to keep costs down as much as we can when providing high quality bottles on every table, we're discussing doing a fairly selective bar with signature drinks that utilize a few types of alcohol. Also, since it's a spring wedding, I'm liking the idea of utilizing seasonable fruit to highlight the fresh, romantic feel of the wedding. And for the record- I'm aware that fresh fruit goes against the saving money idea.
Here's my signature drink ideas:
Raspberry Lemon Martini
31/2 raspberries
1 1/2 oz lemonade
1 1/2 oz cranberry juice
1 oz simple syrup (one part sugar, one part water)
11/2 ozs vodka (Premium citrus)
Grapefruit Margarita
3 ozs tequila
2 ozs orange liqueur
2 ozs lime juice (fresh-squeezed, ~2 limes)
6 ozs grapefruit juice (fresh-squeezed Texas, 1 grapefruit)
simple syrup (to taste, optional)
salt (for rim, optional)
grapefruit (wedges, for serving, optional)
Strawberry Mojito
1/4 cup mint leaves (fresh, not packed)
2 limes (cut in quarters)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 liter club soda
white rum (as much as you want)
11/2 cups ice
6 strawberries (riped, or and other fresh fruit)
So then for alcohol we would provide at the bar: vodka, tequila, rum and whiskey + wine, champagne and beer
Mixers: triple sec, lime juice, lemonade, cranberry juice, grapefruit juice, orange juice, simple syrup, grenadine, vermouth, plus maybe a sour?
Additional: mint, raspberries, strawberries, limes
Does this sound extensive enough for a fairly formal wedding reception? Also, should we have fun naming the drinks or is keeping it simple the better approach?
Thanks