serving wine with dinner?

cglennon

We are going to have an open bar at our reception.  I'm trying to decide if we need to have wine "served" with dinner or just have guests continue to go up to the bar if they want a glass of wine with their meal.  I am thinking that if we have the served wine, a lot of alcohol might be wasted, since people will either abandon whatever they were drinking before, or just let the waiter pour the wine and not drink it.  On the other hand, its a nice touch to have a waiter come to you and ask "red or white?"  Any thoughts on money-saving or etiquette?  Thanks!

MyNameIsNot

Etiquette wise, either way is fine.  If you're doing a super formal wedding, passing wine would be nice.  But you're right, it's more cost effective and practical to just leave the bar open and let people continue to help themselves to whatever they like.  At most of the weddings I've been to, it's done this way, and I think people would expect this.

If you have the extra staff, you could have a server walk around and offer to go get drinks for people, if you don't feel comfortable with people having to go to the bar during dinner.

Da0419

We're having wine with dinner and closing the bar during the dinner hour.  I think it would interfere with dinner service for people to be up and walking around while the waitstaff is trying to get 175 meals out.  There's a lot of juggling to be had without guests to dodge.

Chanel8174

If budget matters, I would suggest that you just use the open bar that you are already paying for. Wine served is a nice bonus...but will it not be missed it you don't do it.  Many of the things we THINK our guest will care about or notice....they won't. They will just be happy to be there celebrating with you, eating good food, and drinking for free allllllllllllllllll night. lol

danieliza1127

I wouldn't serve wine with dinner if the open bar is available.  People will already have their drinks, and since many people don't drink wine, you might have a lot go to waste. 

cglennon

Thank you so much everyone for helping me think through this!  I think I will forgo the wine serving.

sbf2

Our open bar is included with the venue, so closing it would be a waste of money. But I do think servers might be overloaded serving wine as well as food...this causes meals to come out late for other tables sometimes. I am going to place a couple of bottles on each table...so its family style, serve yourself kind of thing...but without having to get up and go to the bar.

DanielleD7782

I think it depends on if you are paying for the open bar by glass, by hour, or providing your own alcohol. You can save a lot of money by closing the bar during the dinner. I agree that it can be distracting with everyone getting up and down during toasts, dinner, etc to get drinks. I think we are going to close our bar during the dinner to save costs. If you close the bar I think its a nice option to have wine available whether its on the table or served.

shauni27

i think having a bottle of red and a bottle of white on each table is a great idea.  especially if you close the open bar during dinner, but even if you don't, it allows people to have a nice drink without having to get up. 

i also disagree with most posts that a lot of wine will be wasted if you have a wine service.  i catered weddings for a long time, and people generally say no if they dont want to drink it.  they do not say yes just to be nice. 

most servers return the wine to the open bar after wine service and then the bartender uses any leftover wine from dinner service before opening more bottles, so you will not pay for double.  good luck!

ootmother2

I usually see the tables set up with three glasses, water, white wine glass and red  wine glass.  The wine server asked each person "red or white" and poured their choice. The other wine glass is then removed from the setting.