How much wine on tables?

[Catforaheadrest]

Helping last minute jobs for a soonish wedding and the plan is to buy wine for the tables, rather than get it through catering co.

8 tables of 8.

I’d just booked a delivery for 8 reds and 8 whites and 8 bottles of sparkling for the toast, but someone has said that it needs to be DOUBLE this. Is that right??
Thank you in advance!

I should have added that it’s in a marquee in a family members garden. There will be a mobile bar (which guests have to pay for) open during the meal (which is quite light - it’s basically a cold buffet) but we didn’t want people to go short of wine during food.

Our venue recommended half a bottle of wine per guest, so a table of 8 we had two bottles of red and two bottles of white.

2 bottles of wine between 8 people won’t go very far, just over 1 175ml glass each. I think if you can afford to be more generous with the wine, it would be appreciated but it is fine if you can’t as there is another option with the pay bar.

That's barely a glass of wine each. You need to plan for a minimum of half a bottle of wine per person for the meal and then a glass of sparkling each for the toasts. It depends on your budget of course but if you really want everyone to have enough for the meal you need more. Wedding meals go on a long time and people will want a drink. If they don't realise that's all there is for free then it might not be shared out if the bottles really are just left on the tables and not served, I went to a wedding where there were only 2 bottles between 8 people and the first few people poured themselves huge glasses and the rest of the table had to get up during the meal to go to the bar and buy more. If there's not much then having it served rather then letting people help themselves will make it go further.

I got married donkeys years ago but I think we budgeted for 1/2 bottle per head. Not everyone drank wine and so some tables swapped, some only wanted red, some only wanted white, so they ended up doing little exchanges with each other. Some tables ended up with 5 bottles, some with none, some with one.

Agree anything less than half a bottle per person is a bit tight

You need more. That amount is miserly. Double it allows half a bottle per person. Some will drink more and some will drink less so it usually evens out.

8 bottles of fizz is not enough either. That only enough for 48 glasses (6 per bottle) and you have 64 guests.

Yes, make it clear that the wine on the table is the only complimentary stuff or have it served so that you can make sure everyone gets their fair share.

It should be at least 1/2 a bottle per person but a good host would try and provide more if the budget allows.

Nothing worse than a tight wedding

1/2 a bottle each is standard.

Imo anything less than half a bottle allowed per person is too little. I got married a month ago and we had 96 guests, and bought 60 bottles of wine, slightly more white than red. There were a couple of bottles of red left.
Far less for the sparkling, only about 12 bottles of that. That was just for toasts, and no one really drinks that in our circle anyway.

Are people pouring themselves at the table or will staff be pouring? If the latter, ask them to do 125mL or 150mL pours to start off. That should help regulate it a bit. That said, I’d still order more wine. If the wedding is closer to winter, order more red than white. Then again, mentally take stock of what your friends prefer and go with that.

Thank you for all the replies! I’m glad there’s been such a consensus, I’ll get the order for 1/2 bottle each in :)

We’re thinking a bottle per person just in case and also we’re soaks, so... one bottle per table, they’ll end up running dry quite quickly.