Wine at the tables

mrussell1983

Ok, I have had an interest in this for quite some time, but am now beginning to actually consider it for our wedding. I would love to hear any tips about doing wine bottles at the tables from anyone who has or has seen this done. I have never been to a wedding where it has been done. We are not planning to do a traditional champagne toast. At all of the weddings we have been to at least 75% of the champagne was left untouched. I know we have a lot of friends and family that enjoy wine so we are thinking that will be more appreciated by our crowd.

cg-pm52111

My cousin did this at his wedding a couple years back.  They had a bottle of red and a bottle of white on each table and a bottle opener.  There was a little note on each bottle telling the guests to help themselves.  It was a backyard, tented reception so my only complaint would be that the white wasn't cold.

We asked our venue about doing this and they said we could as long as we purchased the wine from them.  I think it's a nice alternative if you can't afford an open bar, but still want to do something for your guests.  And if bottles don't get opened you can just save them for later!

[Deleted User]

i have considered doing this- especially since we are getting married at a winery.
but would 2 bottles be enough for a table of 8?

chica7484

We are doing something similar. We will be purchasing bottles from our venue and having wine service. Our guests still get free booze, but we have more control over who gets the wine.

When I was 16 I went to a wedding where there were bottles of wine on every table. The 8 underage people at my table certainly drank all that wine. Stupid, but we were teenagers. We don't want that kind of liability at our wedding, even if I've been on the other side of things.

elahenara - Two bottles should be good - you usually get 5-6 good sized glasses out of a bottle of wine. 

Arez16

My family is portuguese and there is ALWAYS wine on the tables at every party. 

One bottle of red and one bottle of white. The waiters if there are any usually open the bottles or the people sitting at the table due with a provided wine bottle opener.

My parents made the decision to do a wine pour at my reception instead of wine bottles at the table. There will be 2 bottles of wine reserved for each table out back. The staff will pour wine at certain intervals/when asked. This way no under age people can drink and no bottles go wasted. (Usually if a bottle is open they won't let you take it home even if its full)

mrussell1983

Thank you for the tips and info everyone! If we have them at the table I will consider a bucket with ice to keep the white in (thanks for pointing that out cg-pm, I rarely drink white so it probably would not have even crossed my mind to consider the temp!). I know that we will have to purchase them through our venue so I will have to inquire about the wine service if it isn't extra it could be worth it.