How many bottles of champagne should you plan for your guests?
That's the question on everyone's lips! Champagne is often an essential beverage for celebrating special occasions such as weddings, christenings or communions. As well as choosing the memorable champagne you're going to enjoy at your wedding reception, you also need to plan the quantity you'll need for all your guests to toast.
As a general rule, a bottle of champagne (75 cl) corresponds to 6 to 8 flutes of champagne. The delta corresponds to the different types of champagne glass with varying capacities. You can choose between champagne glasses, champagne flutes or tulip-shaped glasses.
How many bottles of champagne do you need per person for your wedding? To help you decide, consider at what point in the evening you'd like to drink champagne. It's usually during the vin d'honneur or cocktail reception and the dessert that champagne is most in demand by guests.
It's customary to plan for one bottle of champagne for every 2 to 3 guests, given that two flutes are used for cocktails and one for dessert. For example, if your wedding has 50 adult guests, you'll need around 20 bottles.
Of course, it's up to you to calculate the number of bottles needed according to the number of guests and the different drinks you'll be offering throughout the evening. Champagne can be the must-have drink of your meal, or a special touch for the pièce montée: the choice is yours.
When is the right time to serve champagne at the vin d'honneur?
As we explained in our article on serving champagne serving champagne for the best possible tastingChampagne should be served chilled, but not iced. During the vin d'honneur, it's important not to serve champagne too early... otherwise it'll be lukewarm by the time you give your wedding toast!
If you place your bottles in buckets half-filled with water and half-filled with ice to keep the champagne cool, you should serve within 20 to 30 minutes. You could, for example, start discreetly when the penultimate speaker begins his or her speech, so as to serve fresh champagne with his or her assortment of petits fours.
Should I buy classic champagne bottles or larger bottles?
The champenoise bottle (75 cl) is the most classic type of bottle, but there are also larger champagne bottle sizes up to 30 liters for Melchisédech. Is it more advantageous to buy 75cl bottles or larger containers such as a champagne magnum (1.5 liters) or a champagne Jeroboam (3 liters)?
Given that a magnum is equivalent to two bottles, for example, you might think that it would be cheaper than a classic bottle. But this is not the case, as the production cost of large containers is higher than that of standard champagne bottles!
Rather than choosing between classic bottles and large containers, why not mix and match your champagne bottles? You can choose your champagne according to the moment, with classic bottles in larger quantities for the vin d'honneur and a few large containers like magnums (1.5 liters), Jeroboams (3 liters) or even a Methuselah (6 liters) for dessert.
A very large container to start the party or as a finishing touch to the meal will look great and create an unforgettable moment! After all, this is the happiest day of your life. And as the icing on the cake, a large bottle of champagne will be an exceptional witness to this very special day. You can keep it at home afterwards. We therefore recommend that you mix and match the containers in your champagne selection, to vary the pleasures.
Is it possible to keep the champagne once opened?
Since some of your wedding guests will be coming from afar, it's quite likely that you'll still be enjoying a meal with them the day after the wedding.
If you've opened your bottle the day before, it's perfectly possible to finish off your champagne the next day, having taken care to reseal the bottle with a suitable cork. There are special hermetic champagne stoppers. They delay the escape of bubbles and allow you to toast the next day.
Opened champagne generally keeps for 48 to 72 hours. Prolong the celebration of your union, without forgetting to do so in moderation.
What's the best champagne for a wedding?
Champagne brut, champagne demi-sec or champagne Blanc de blancs? How do you choose between the different types of champagne to delight all your guests? The major champagne houses offer a wide range of festive champagnes, but the producer champagnes also have some fine references. To help you decide, here's some useful information to keep in mind.
Of course, brand-name champagnes (Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, Moët & Chandon, Mumm...) remain an excellent choice for making a lasting impression. For champagne lovers, don't hesitate to turn to the various great houses, but also to champagnes from more confidential producers, to really mark each moment with a particularly suitable champagne.
For a touch of refinement during the vin d'honneur, Blanc de Blancs champagne (with its fine bubbles) seduces with its delicacy and elegance during the famous wedding toast, as does brut tradition champagne with a majority of chardonnay.
Don't forget the meal! For a perfect match with a white meat or fish dish, Champagne Blanc de Blancs is an excellent choice. For a perfect match with a red meat dish, choose a Blanc de Noirs.
For dessert, a Champagne rosé brut is the perfect Champagne if you're offering a red fruit dessert for a beautiful match and a touch of gourmandise. For cream-based desserts, the ideal Champagne is a powerful one, such as a vintage champagne or Blanc de Noirs. You can also choose a demi-sec champagne to accompany your desserts.
To calculate your champagne budget, expect to pay around 20 to 30 euros for a quality bottle, depending on whether it's from a winemaker or a major Champagne house. Then, the average budget depends on your selection: you could, for example, go for a discount champagne for the vin d'honneur if you want to keep costs down.
With this article, we hope you have all the answers to your questions about choosing quality champagne for your wedding. Of course, don't forget that alcohol should be consumed in moderation!
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