Signature Cocktail for a Wedding

[toolprincess]

Hello all,

Recently engaged my fiance and I have started wedding preparations. We are trying to keep within a budget and one of the suggestions has been to have a beer and wine bar with the only liquor offering a "signature" drink.

any advice or ideas anyone had is much appreciated. My fiance tends to be a Jack and Coke drinker and I tend to favor Caipiranhas, Mojitos, and Margaritas so our drink tastes are not exactly "compatible".

[Chris Amirault]

Congratulations!

Can you say more about what you'd like this signature cocktail to, well, signify? Do you want it served once for, say, a toast before eating, or served with appetizers, or dinner, or throughout? Will you be having bartenders at the event making it a la minute or do you want to batch prepare it?

I know those might sound like a lot of questions, but they'll help people figure out some ideas for you!

[toolprincess]

Thank you. I am excited and happy and a bit overwhelmed by all the details that have to be figured out.

We are thinking that the drink would be served throughout the event and made to order by a bartender.

An alternative idea is to serve a limited selection of mixed drinks plus the signature drink.

we would like to have a mixed drink offering but want to limit the costs of the bar but not having to provide a full bar (i.e. vodka + mixers, whiskey + mixers).

We want to have something that will be nice/fun for the guests but keep with in the reality that we don't have an unlimited budget.

We plan to have between 50-60 guests at the wedding.

[judiu]

At what time are the nuptials scheduled for, and what time of year? A proseco (sp?) cocktail or Bloody Mary would be good for an early afternoon warm weather setting, whereas a hot toddy of some type might be better for a late afternoon cooler weather affair.

[Chris Amirault]

Thank you. I am excited and happy and a bit overwhelmed by all the details that have to be figured out.

Enjoy the moment -- you'll only be more overwhelmed!

We are thinking that the drink would be served throughout the event and made to order by a bartender.

An alternative idea is to serve a limited selection of mixed drinks plus the signature drink.

I'd go with the latter: have simple stuff (Jack & Cokes, lime sours) ready to go and then have your signature drink available for the more adventurous.

Given what you've written, one thing to consider [ETA: as judiu suggested!] is a champagne/prosecco/cava cocktail. You create a base with some interesting things, batch that (make a large amount of it ahead of time), chill it, and then the bartender merely has to pour a couple of fingers of the base into a flute and then add the bubbly. This William's Next Cocktail -- which I'm about to serve in a few hours! -- is a good example. You get quality control and ease of service at the same time.

One word of warning -- and forgive if you know already: citrus juice is essential to good drinks and cannot be batched far in advance. This is particularly true for lime juice, which oxidizes into a nasty liquid after 3 or 4 hours. That is to say, if you want to do lime sours, get bartenders who'll juice either at service or just before.

Edited June 12, 2011 by Chris Amirault (log)

[toolprincess]

At what time are the nuptials scheduled for, and what time of year? A proseco (sp?) cocktail or Bloody Mary would be good for an early afternoon warm weather setting, whereas a hot toddy of some type might be better for a late afternoon cooler weather affair.

Thanks for the ideas. currently it is looking like a winter wedding - although here in the moderate wintered south (north carolina) that could mean 65 degrees or 35 degrees.

Wedding time will most likely be late afternoon/early evening.

[toolprincess]

Thank you. I am excited and happy and a bit overwhelmed by all the details that have to be figured out.

Enjoy the moment -- you'll only be more overwhelmed!

We are thinking that the drink would be served throughout the event and made to order by a bartender.

An alternative idea is to serve a limited selection of mixed drinks plus the signature drink.

I'd go with the latter: have simple stuff (Jack & Cokes, lime sours) ready to go and then have your signature drink available for the more adventurous.

Thanks for the reminder! Our goal is to have quality over quantity so fresh squeezed limes would definitely be in order!

Given what you've written, one thing to consider [ETA: as judiu suggested!] is a champagne/prosecco/cava cocktail. You create a base with some interesting things, batch that (make a large amount of it ahead of time), chill it, and then the bartender merely has to pour a couple of fingers of the base into a flute and then add the bubbly. This William's Next Cocktail -- which I'm about to serve in a few hours! -- is a good example. You get quality control and ease of service at the same time.

One word of warning -- and forgive if you know already: citrus juice is essential to good drinks and cannot be batched far in advance. This is particularly true for lime juice, which oxidizes into a nasty liquid after 3 or 4 hours. That is to say, if you want to do lime sours, get bartenders who'll juice either at service or just before.

[EvergreenDan]

Maybe a Whiskey sour -- appealing to both bourbon drinkers and sour drinkers? It's a great drink that isn't that popular anymore, so many folks won't have had one in a while. Sometimes an eggwhite is used to make the nice froth. I'm not a bartender, so I'm not sure if it could be safely batched ahead of time and kept on ice. It would also be more effort to shake them because they would be shaken first without ice and then with.

And maybe one other cocktail, like something with sparkling wine? Perhaps with a touch of St Germain Elderflower liqueur, Cassis (currant liqueur), or some other flavor that is meaningful to you?

Edited June 13, 2011 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Emily_R]

I know this isn't quite what you asked for, but just chiming in to say that to the extent that you'll have beer, wine, and something bubbly, its not clear to me why you need mixed drinks at all. Particularly if budgeting is an issue. If its late-afternoon early evening, it seems to me that people should be just fine with beer and wine.

The other option that hasn't been mentioned is some kind of specialty punch, which can be pretty, laced with alcohol, and prepared ahead of time.

[janeer]

Not to sound too corny, but I like the idea of trying to "marry" your very different tastes--using the Jack and then some element of what you like. Which actually does imply a sour of some kind, my personal favorite drink. I make a sour with maple syrup and lime that is very good. You could write up a little card for the bar that tells the story of your "marriage cocktail."

Actually, I think if you have a "signature" cocktail, other liquor drinks detracts from that special item. I'd stick with beer, wine, and the sig cocktail.

[KatieLoeb]

I wrote an article on this very subject that I could forward to you or have posted here by a manager as an attachment as it's in PDF format. In fact, Cocktail Guru was very helpful and I quoted him in there extensively. Thanks again, Jonathan! Let me know if I can give you some material to read over that might help you narrow down your options.

[Will]

Are you bringing in your own bartenders / equipment, or are you using the bartenders at the venue? Unless the place you're having the wedding has a really phenomenal bartending staff (or unless you're bringing in your own staff), I would worry that execution might be a problem - even if you come up with a great idea, the actual drink may be ruined by wet ice, incorrect mixing, poor ingredients, and so on. We both enjoy a well made cocktail, but for our wedding, we just let the hotel staff do their thing at ours (open bar), and let the guests choose their own drinks.

[judiu]

Maybe a Whiskey sour -- appealing to both bourbon drinkers and sour drinkers? It's a great drink that isn't that popular anymore, so many folks won't have had one in a while. Sometimes an eggwhite is used to make the nice froth. I'm not a bartender, so I'm not sure if it could be safely batched ahead of time and kept on ice. It would also be more effort to shake them because they would be shaken first without ice and then with.

And maybe one other cocktail, like something with sparkling wine? Perhaps with a touch of St Germain Elderflower liqueur, Cassis (currant liqueur), or some other flavor that is meaningful to you?

Dan's idea sounds really good to me; if you have a premade sour mix, you could offer whiskey and scotch sours. If you decide to go with the Bloody Mary idea and the weather turns chilly, you could batch the base and some beef broth (add citrus AFTER serving) and warm in a crock pot, adding booze on request. (I personally prefer a Bloody Awful, at least to start...) I believe that there's a product on the market called "Foamy Head" or something similar, to help avoid the use of raw egg whites. Pros, please correct as needed!

[thirtyoneknots]

For my own wedding last October we offered wine and beer throughout the reception but also had two bowls worth of Fish House Punch batched to where the bartender could just pour the bottles in with the ice block. It went over so well it was all but gone by the time the wedding party arrived at the reception from taking photos. I had everything but the lemon juice done beforehand which my groomsmen handled that morning. The bartenders were friends of mine, and quite competent, but the venue didn't really allow for complicated, made-to-order drinks, so the punch was a good way to do a "cocktail" without burdening them as they expertly dispensed the refreshment from a far too cramped space.

I'm still getting complements and commentary on the punch, and expect I will for some time to come.

[haresfur]

For my own wedding last October we offered wine and beer throughout the reception but also had two bowls worth of Fish House Punch batched to where the bartender could just pour the bottles in with the ice block. It went over so well it was all but gone by the time the wedding party arrived at the reception from taking photos. I had everything but the lemon juice done beforehand which my groomsmen handled that morning. The bartenders were friends of mine, and quite competent, but the venue didn't really allow for complicated, made-to-order drinks, so the punch was a good way to do a "cocktail" without burdening them as they expertly dispensed the refreshment from a far too cramped space.

Probably just as well to keep the groom away from the punch, anyway. Seems to me that this is precisely the situation punch is meant for (although my copy of Dave Wondrich's book hasn't arrived yet). Then again, I'd probably go for something a bit lower octane, at least with crowd who isn't used to old style punch.

[thirtyoneknots]

For my own wedding last October we offered wine and beer throughout the reception but also had two bowls worth of Fish House Punch batched to where the bartender could just pour the bottles in with the ice block. It went over so well it was all but gone by the time the wedding party arrived at the reception from taking photos. I had everything but the lemon juice done beforehand which my groomsmen handled that morning. The bartenders were friends of mine, and quite competent, but the venue didn't really allow for complicated, made-to-order drinks, so the punch was a good way to do a "cocktail" without burdening them as they expertly dispensed the refreshment from a far too cramped space.

Probably just as well to keep the groom away from the punch, anyway. Seems to me that this is precisely the situation punch is meant for (although my copy of Dave Wondrich's book hasn't arrived yet). Then again, I'd probably go for something a bit lower octane, at least with crowd who isn't used to old style punch.

Punch if properly made with the full dose of water is only slightly stronger than table wine, and certainly a more moderate strength than full-on cocktails. That said, we purposefully allowed for it to run our fairly early so as to mitigate the intensity of the merriment.

[Make me a Cocktail]

I went to a wedding last year (in the summer) and we got Mojitos or Pimms on arrival. In fact thinking about it I've had Pimms at 2 weddings when we arrived. Both went down really well - if its a nice summer day maybe think about those. If its a bit cooler then maybe have some more "warming drinks" on hand (thinking Whiskey based, or my more recent purchase of Drambuie could be an option).

I did start to make a list of Wedding cocktails:

http://makemeacocktail.com/list/46/

But think it might need some more adapting.

Good luck and hope the day goes well!

[LizD518]

Are you bringing in your own bartenders / equipment, or are you using the bartenders at the venue? Unless the place you're having the wedding has a really phenomenal bartending staff (or unless you're bringing in your own staff), I would worry that execution might be a problem - even if you come up with a great idea, the actual drink may be ruined by wet ice, incorrect mixing, poor ingredients, and so on. We both enjoy a well made cocktail, but for our wedding, we just let the hotel staff do their thing at ours (open bar), and let the guests choose their own drinks.

These are all good points. I am a caterer and hold the liquor license for my venue. We don't allow guests to bring in their own supplies, and while we will make requested drinks (like a punch or other batched items), we are working with limited facilities (like large bowls for ice, that don't drain off the excess water) so some of the finer points of cocktail making are nearly impossible to execute, and will cost more to do so. (more labor, etc). For 50-60 people there will probably be only one bartender, maybe a second person with limited skills available to jump on the bar if the line gets really long in the beginning. Keeping the selections simple will keep the quality high. That said, a butlered drink as guests arrive, is a nice way to kick things off, with beer and wine, and maybe more of the selected beverage available at the bar. But I don't recommend anything that takes too long to execute, or has too many different elements.

[weinoo]

AT my niece's wedding last year, the signature cocktail was called a Pucker Up. And it was darn good. Take a look right here.

There appear to be a number of drinks with the same name. Here's their recipe:

Pucker Up

juice of one lime

two slices of ginger

1 barspoon simple syrup

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2 oz. bourbon

seltzer to fill

Muddle lime, ginger, bitters and simple syrup. Strain into glass of ice. Add 2 ounces of bourbon. Fill with seltzer and stir. Enjoy in the sunshine.

This is also a great cocktail to make ahead in batches. Simply muddle all your ingredients, strain and add the bourbon as a base. Then, when ready to drink, add seltzer to taste and dole out by the pitcherful.