I’m married to an Italian man so I’ve been to my share of weddings! At pretty much every wedding I’ve been to, there has had one bottle of red and one bottle of white wine on each table (or if we are lucky, 2 of each!). Even for a small event, the wine can represent a fair chunk of the budge,t so you want to make sure you have spent it wisely.
Here is my problem – how do you know how many people drink red or white at each table?
Maybe everyone drinks white so they’ll be lucky to have one glass each; and now a bottle of red wine has been opened and won’t be consumed (unless someone at another table figures it out and steals it!).
Then we have the problem of the actual wine service. One of your tablemates only remembers to fill his/her glass, but no one else’s at the table. Worse yet, they’ve had a little too much at the reception and pour wine all over the new dress you bought especially for this occasion.
There is a simple solution to all of this, whether you are planning a wedding or a conference dinner – have the venue serve the wine. This way, you can give them a maximum number of bottles to open (maybe still the equivalent of 2 bottles per table or whatever you are comfortable with) and let them figure it out. If the group drinks 1/3 white wine and 2/3 red wine, they’ll have that covered. If you are really lucky, they may not even need to open as many bottles as your limit and you’ll save a little on your bottom-line.
Salut!