Are you getting married at a location that allows a caterer of your choice? If you are, you may also have the option of providing your own liquor! This can cut down on costs dramatically while still providing your guests a little something, something to quench their thirsts.

The most obvious choice would be to purchase your wine, beer and/or liquor from the liquor store, but if you want to save even more money, you really can’t beat the prices from those fantastic wine making shops. This is what my husband and I did and it couldn’t have worked out better. In fact, we are still drinking bottles of wine from our wedding! (going on 6 months now!)

When you make your own wine, a typical batch gives you about 30 bottles. Price will vary depending on the style of wine chosen, but it’s more align to $5 – $7 a bottle vs $13+!

Crazy right?!

This is a MUST though; from my experience, you NEED to order the wine about 1/2 – a year ahead of time. I know…. their website might say it takes only 4-6 weeks to complete a batch and have it bottled, BUT. I highly, highly recommend ordering it well before your wedding date. This may mean you are ordering it literally right after you get engaged. It might seem a little rushed, but you know what? Your guests will love you for it! Trust me.

The first time I made wine, I tried it immediately after being bottled and it was VERY bitter. But, that same batch the following year was absolutely tasty!

I learnt from that disappointing experience, and so, as soon as my husband and I decided that we would be making wine for our wedding, we placed an order for 2 batches (a rose and a red).

Most cities should have a company that provides this service but if you’re near the St.Thomas area, here in Ontario, I highly recommend “The Wine Makers”. They have great service and great flavours.

When you go in to place an order you may think you can test out the different flavours. Nope. Not going to happen. I’m going to go out on a limb and say; none of these companies actually have a liquor serving license, because both companies I have worked with didn’t allow any sampling. You will however, receive some great tips on choosing the right batch from the employees.

Then when your 4-6 weeks are up, you return and have your wine bottled, corked, labeled and sealed!

It’s an all-round fun experience, especially for those DIY brides, and much more budget friendly which gets a big thumbs up in my books.

Any questions? Feel free to contact me!

Cheers!