Choosing to marry in the summer gives you the advantage of longer daylight hours, warmer weather and (hopefully) glorious sunshine, so take inspiration from the season and set the tone of your wedding reception from the get-go with your welcome drinks.
Couple’s cocktails
Make your drinks reception reflect you both by serving each of your favourite cocktails or invent a new cocktail recipe with your favourite ingredients. Personalise a traditional cocktail by renaming it with a fun title incorporating your nickname, first name or new surname. If you have a competitive edge, ask your guests to choose their favourite cocktail and, at the end of the welcome drinks, reveal whether you or your spouse won.
Frozen cocktails
Tap into a summer holiday vibe by serving iced cocktails. Think frozen strawberry daiquiris or a margarita slushie served in cocktail glasses for a twist on traditional welcome drinks. Finish the desert island-inspired drinks with sugar-rimmed glasses, lime wedge garnishes and striped straws.
Drinks station
A fun way to serve drinks, drinks stations also add to the styling of your wedding day. Picture a ‘Pimp your Prosecco’ station, complete with jugs of peach and raspberry purée and fresh berries, so your guests can make their own bellini or garnish their prosecco with fruit.
Just the tonic
Place different gin bottles on a table with a choice of mixers, fresh fruits and herb garnishes for your guests to mix their own drinks. To make even more of a feature of the area, decorate the drinks station with fresh flowers in bud vases, bunting, chalkboard signs or twinkling fairy lights.
Beer buckets
For a relaxed wedding vibe, dot a few large beer buckets outside and fill them with ice. Place bottles of beer, juices and miniature bottles of wine into the buckets for guests to grab a refreshing drink after the ceremony (and don’t forget to attach a few bottle openers for everyone to use!). As well as beer buckets, you can use an old tin bath, wheelbarrows or wooden troughs for a more rustic effect.
Prosecco wall
Move over doughnut wall; the new trend is a prosecco wall! Designed with purpose-built shelving, the wall holds rows of flute glasses for guests to help themselves, creating a feature area and a bubbly backdrop for photographs. Be conscious of where you choose to display a drinks wall, though; if you put it in a narrow area you could end up with guests having to queue to get a drink.
Anyone for Pimm’s?
Nothing shouts summer like an iced glass of Pimm’s and lemonade garnished with mint, cucumber, strawberries and orange slices. Display tall glasses of Pimm’s in pretty crystal-cut glasses on a decorative cart at your summer wedding. Put out little dishes of fresh fruit for guests to add their drinks, along with striped straws in your wedding colours.
Silver service
Ensure your wedding is a sophisticated affair by hiring a waiting team to circulate with a silver tray of drinks throughout your welcome reception. Offer a choice of welcome drinks, whether it’s classic cocktails, bubbly or beer, for your guests to select their favourite.
Champagne tower
A tower display will become a wedding moment, much like the cutting of the cake. Guests watch as the happy couple pour champagne into the top glass until it overflows into the next layer of glasses down the tower to the bottom tier. Pause for a picture during the spectacle, toast to your marriage, then hand each of your guests a coupe glass filled with champagne.
Spanish sangria
Traditionally made using red wine, brandy, oranges and apples, give your guests an option by creating a white wine or rose wine version too. Pair rose wine with strawberries and raspberries and create a white wine recipe including sliced peaches and elderflower cordial for a lighter take on sangria. Serve in the traditional way, in a large jug with a wooden spoon, ready for guests to pour, sip and embrace a balmy summer’s day.
Jars of joy
Large Kilner jars of colourful, iced soft drinks look so inviting on a hot day. Display a selection outside on a wooden trestle table. Choose flavoured waters infused with fruits and herbs, a selection of fruit juices and thirst-quenching cordials to keep all your guests hydrated. Friends and family can grab a glass, turn the tap on the jar, pour their drink and feel instantly cooled as they enjoy it.
Decorative drinks
Make your drinks look interesting with elegant garnishes. From patterned paper straws to edible flowers and sprigs of herbs, make more of your welcome drinks with decorative garnishes. Consider your wedding theme and echo it in the way you serve your welcome drinks. For a beach wedding, how about completing your drinks with cocktail umbrellas in your chosen colour scheme? For a countryside wedding, garnish your drinks with floral ice cubes and fresh berries. For an elegant finish, choose crystal or coloured glassware to reflect your wedding style.
words Becci Clubb
Header image iStock.com/Moussa81
.jpg)
