Save On The Bar With Signature Wedding Cocktails

A Bride On A Budget received the three small bottles of Couvoisier for this post. 

If you love these recipes, be sure to Yum them here: Yum

When you're making your wedding budget, the bulk of your money will go towards your reception. Food and drinks for your guests is expensive, but you can't expect your guests to show up on a full stomach. If you want to save money on the venue, make smart decisions about the bar.

You have a couple options. You can have a cash bar (so your guests pay for their own drinks, although I'm not a fan of that at all); you can have a set tab (and when your guests drink through your set budget it turns into a cash bar); you can close the bar during dinner hour (so your five hour reception only costs you four hours of an open bar); or you can serve beer and wine without liquor. If you choose the latter, consider tweaking it just a bit and serve signature cocktails. That way, if your guests do want mixed drinks, you can still provide them, but at a much cheaper cost. See, by offering signature wedding cocktails, you only have to stock the bar with a couple types of liquor instead of a full bar of them. Less liquor equals less cost.

Cocktails are hot right now and craft cocktail bars popping up all over. In fact, we went to two last summer for Pete's birthday that had very cool and different -- and extensive -- menus. Neither of them had taps, and I actually don't think you could get bottled beer either. There was a lot on the menus that I had never heard of (although, I don't drink alcohol, so it's not exactly difficult to find drinks that are new to me).

If your guests are the kind of people who order the usual every time they're at the bar, you might want to introduce them to something new. You can either create a signature cocktail for your wedding (if you're into craft cocktails, this is the way to go) or you can just suggest drinks they might not choose otherwise. But you're not going to be tending bar so you can offer options. Instead, create a cocktail menu for the bar, then hand a recipe menu to the bartenders.

Photo credit, MilkBananaStudio on Etsy

I found the above menu made by MilkBananaStudio on Etsy. You can base your wedding bar menu off those signature wedding cocktails or you can use our suggestions.

WEDDING SIGNATURE COCKTAIL

Courvoisier Sidecar
Ingredients:
2 parts Couvoisier VSOP cognac (50 mL bottle)
1/2 part lemon juice (2.5 tsp.)
1/5 part sugar syrup (1 tsp.)
1/2 part orange liqueur (2.5 tsp.)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake. Strain into a glass.

WEDDING BRUNCH

Bloody Mary

3 parts tomato juice
1 1/2 parts vodka
1/2 part lemon juice
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
To taste:
Ground pepper
Hot pepper sauce
Horseradish
Garnish:
Celery stalk

Mimosa

3 parts champagne

1 part orange juice

(Check out my DIY Mimosa Bar from our wedding)

EVENING WEDDING

Tuxedo

1.5 ounces gin
1.5 ounces dry vermouth
0.25 teaspoon maraschino liqueur
0.25 teaspoon anise liqueur
2 dashes bitters
Maraschino cherry for garnish

Wedding Cake Vodka Tonics
1 part wedding cake vodka
2 parts tonic water

If you like signature cocktails, be sure to check out our wedding signature cocktails by season:

• Spring Signature Cocktail Ideas
• Fall Signature Cocktail Ideas
• Winter Signature Cocktail Ideas
• Summer Signature Cocktail Ideas

BRIDAL BABBLE: What signature wedding cocktails would you add to your menu?