How much wine and champagne for a wedding?
Par Pépites de vin
The date of your wedding is approaching and you can finally see the end of the organization tunnel: the wedding venue is booked, the caterer is booked, the wedding dress is undergoing alterations at the dressmaker’s and the table plan is being finalized. Phew!
Now comes a thorny subject that we often forget to anticipate well in advance: wine and champagne. How much wine and champagne for a wedding? A difficult question!
So the Pépites de Vin sommeliers have decided to give you some of their tips for choosing the right number of bottles of wine for a wedding!
Topic
How to calculate the quantity of wine and champagne for a wedding?
The amount of wine and champagne required for a wedding depends on a number of criteria. Before getting started, here are the preliminary steps to take:
Step 1- Draw up a guest list (if you haven’t already done so!).
Step 2- From this list, evaluate the consumers and non-consumers. You can already remove children, pregnant women and people who don’t drink by choice or religious prohibition.
Step 3 – Draw up your wedding menu from starter to dessert, so that you can choose the wines that go perfectly with it.
If you’re not sure how much wine and champagne you’ll need, and you’d like some help in selecting the right wines and champagnes, don’t hesitate to ask our sommeliers!
Depending on your tastes and budget, they’ll set up a free, no-obligation tasting appointment and take care of everything from organization to delivery to the venue and date of your choice.
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How much champagne for the vin d'honneur?
An important part of your wedding day, the cocktail or vin d’honneur kicks off the reception, and it’s often during the vin d’honneur that people drink the most!
If you’re only planning champagne (or crémant) as the alcoholic beverage for your wedding’s vin d’honneur, you can count on :
3 glasses of champagne per person if the majority of your guests are under 30, i.e. 1 bottle for 2 people
2 glasses of champagne per person if your guests are older or wiser, i.e. 1 bottle for 3 people.
If you’re serving other beverages like beer or cocktails, you can count for all guests:
2 glasses of champagne per person, i.e. 1 bottle for 3 people.
You can, of course, replace the champagne with white or rosé wine of your choice, or even make a mix to please as many people as possible. But don’t forget that, at a wedding, people tend to prefer bubbles to any other beverage you offer!
How much wine for a wedding meal?
For dinner, the first thing to consider is the menu to be served. Is it mainly meat or fish? Red meat typically calls for a strong red wine, white meat for a lighter red, and fish for a white.
How much red wine for a wedding meal?
- If you’re only planning red wine:
You can count on about 1 bottle of red wine for every 3 during the meal. This is because guests tend to drink large quantities of red wine during the meal. If you’re planning a cheese platter, they’ll drink even more of it.
How much white wine is right for a wedding meal?
- If you only plan to serve white wine, you can count on 1 bottle for 3 during the meal.
- If you plan to serve both colors (white and red wine) during the meal, you can count on one bottle for 3 people in total, but count on more red wine than white. In fact, most people prefer to drink red wine at the table.
In this case, count on 2/3 red wine and 1/3 white wine.
How much champagne for a wedding dessert?
A little bubbly or white wine with dessert never hurts! But there’s no need to go overboard.
Count on one glass of champagne per person, or 1 bottle for every 6. Your guests will be delighted to finish the meal with a little freshness!
How much wine and champagne for the evening?
During the evening after dinner, bring along a few bottles of hard liquor or cocktails, as well as beer, which is often a big hit to cool down the hot dancers!
Guests who like wine and champagne can finish off the remaining bottles from dinner and cocktails.
BONUS: You can even include a few extra bottles of champagne, to be served in the middle of the night to reward guests who are still up!
Most guests may already be in bed, so you can plan for one glass for every two people, or one bottle for every 10.
This will be the perfect opportunity to get the party going again when the guests get tired.
How many bottles of champagne and wine for a wedding?
- Vin d’honneur: 1 bottle of champagne for 2 or 3 people, depending on your guests’ personalities (more of a party animal or more of a quiet one!)
- Wedding dinner: 1 bottle of wine for 3 people, red or white, or a mix according to your menu.
- Wedding dessert: A bottle of champagne or white wine for 6 people
Bonus for a memorable evening: One bottle for 10 people, served around 3am!
Here’s our summary of the number of bottles of champagne and wine for a wedding, depending on the number of guests:
| Nb de personnes | Quantité de champagne | Quantité de vin |
| Mariage 60 personnes | 40 Bouteilles | 20 Bouteilles |
| Mariage 100 personnes | 66 Bouteilles | 50 Bouteilles |
| Mariage 120 personnes | 80 Bouteilles | 60 Bouteilles |
| Mariage 200 personnes | 132 Bouteilles | 100 Bouteilles |
If you’re not sure how much wine you’ll need for your wedding, and would like some help in selecting the right wines and champagnes, don’t hesitate to call on our sommeliers!
Depending on your tastes and budget, they’ll set up a free, no-obligation tasting appointment and take care of everything from organization to delivery to the venue and date of your choice.
You can contact us using the form below:
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