A fun new wedding trend is having signature cocktails for your reception. At the most practical level, it is a great way to keep your wedding budget manageable — instead of an open bar, you can simply offer wine, beer and a signature cocktail. But a special cocktail can also add a personalized touch to a wedding. Is there a drink that you and your betrothed drank on your first date or on a special vacation? Having that as a specialty cocktail at your wedding can celebrate those special memories and your history as a couple. Or choose a drink that complements the menu at your reception, or even matches your color scheme. Some couples have two special drinks — one for the bride and the other for the groom.
The drinks can be named after the couple, or inspired by their traits and interests. Alternately, they can be matched to one of the wedding colors, or created with local, seasonal flavors in mind.
If you decide to create signature cocktails based on what the bride and groom like, it’s easy to incorporate their favorite flavors, fruits, or spirits into a craft drink or two. It can be as simple as serving Bailey’s based drinks because you’re of Irish descent, or Caipirinha with a twist of orange because you met in Brazil and make your home in SoCal.
Matching a drink to your wedding color scheme is also a very straightforward approach, as there’s a spirit, liquer, fruit, or vegetable in virtually any color you could ever need for a wedding. There are a variety of flavors and ingredients that result in tasty, refreshing blue, red, pink, green, and yellow drinks to make your reception pop.
For a southern California wedding, a delicious Prickly Pear Margarita is a unique and lovely themed drink that adds fun and flavor to your reception. To make this drink, your bartender will start with 3 ounces tequila blanco, 1/2 an ounce of Cointreau, 1.5 ounces of fresh lime juice, and 2 ounces of fresh prickly pear puree. (These bright purple flowering cacti are 100% edible, and the ingredient used here is made from the fruit of this unique regional flora.) These ingredients are combined with ice in a shaker and strained into margarita glasses with a salted and sugared rim. Lime slices, Mandarin orange segments, and orchid petals make wonderful garnishes for this eye-catching purple cocktail.
When you reserve Olivia for your event, our catering staff can help you create the perfect craft cocktail the set the tone at the reception following your dream wedding. Contact us for more info!