The Guide to Summer Wedding Cocktails and Signature Drinks
A highly anticipated pleasure of attending a wedding reception is the open bar! Alcohol is a significant cost component of a wedding reception, so couples should strive to make their investment count, offering guests an array of delicious adult beverages! A hot trend in America is the resurgence of craft cocktails and the creation of wedding “signature drinks” designed around the interests of the bride and groom.
In this article, we explore the topic of wedding cocktails and signature drinks. We offer tips for creating the perfect wedding signature cocktail. We also offer a list of suggested wedding cocktails, wines and beers for Summer 2020. Several of the suggested cocktail recipes are from our favorite New Jersey wedding bartenders, wedding planners and catering managers.
Tips for Selecting a Signature Drink
Wedding couples can select a single signature drink reflecting their mutual interests. Alternatively, there can be multiple signature drinks reflecting a “he” drink, a “she” drink, and an “us” drink. In general, ladies are drawn to sweeter cocktails and wine, while gentlemen favor beer and hard liquor. The signature drink can be a cocktail, beer or wine. According to Marielle Wolf, Director of Sales & Catering at the Lambertville Station Restaurant and Inn, “Groom drinks are usually more retro these days - cocktails like an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan, and sometimes a Whiskey Sour. The ladies drinks are more in the Cosmopolitan, Champagne Cocktail or a Vodka Cranberry with the intermixed sweet summer drinks like Sex on the Beach.” The possibilities are endless.
Modify a Classic Cocktail with a Creative Twist. It’s generally a good idea to stick with accessible cocktails that have popular appeal. That said, you can “remix” the track, or spice it up. For example, a standard Jack n’ Coke could be re-imagined using Mexican cane sugar soda and a fancy cherry garnish. A staple cocktail like the Moscow Mule could be re-imagined as a Strawberry Mule using strawberry-infused vodka and a fresh fruit garnish. Cocktail mixologist Nick Fisher created a custom version of the classic Paloma cocktail called “The Spicy Paloma” as a tribute to his wife’s Indian heritage.
Select a Signature Drink that Relates to the Wedding Couple. There are so many points of reference for selecting a signature cocktail. Where did you meet? Where do you like to vacation? What’s your favorite band? Favorite movie? Favorite sports team? Hobbies? Favorite color? Work vocation? What is your ethnic background? Does your wedding have a theme? What type of venue is your wedding being held at (winery, brewery, beach, barn, garden)? Where are you taking your honeymoon?
A few real life examples of signature drink names from our past wedding couples:
The Purple Rain - selected by a Prince lover.
The NYPD Blue - selected by a groom who is in law enforcement
The Dragon Egg - selected by a bride for her Harry Potter themed wedding
Apple of My Eye - a rum-based apple cider selected by a travel-loving romantic wedding couple
Purple Dragon Martini - selected by a bride having a fairytale wedding in a castle
Say I Do Sangria - a play on a popular wedding phrase.
The Cosmo-Paul-itan - a play on the groom’s first name.
Use Local / Regional Spirits When Possible. Farm to table is a hot culinary trend, and it’s nice when you can offer fresh, local ingredients to stock your wedding bar. Regarding local breweries, New Jersey offers a deep selection of quality microbreweries We showcase our favorites later in this blog. For spirits, Sourland Mountain Spirits out of Hopewell NJ offers high quality gin, vodka and rum.
Rye Old Fashioned Craft Cocktail
Employ Fresh Ingredients. Using fresh squeezed juices, quality mixers, aromatic bitters, and fresh cut ice quickly elevates cocktails from ordinary to extraordinary. Avoid high fructose corn syrup mixers where possible. Take a closer look at those artisanal sodas being sold at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Craft cocktails should be well-balanced. Also, the aromatics of a drink should not be underestimated. The perfect garnish such as a smoked orange peel, grated fresh nutmeg or pineapple leaf can step up your cocktail game to the next level!
Select Cocktails That Feature Relatively Few Ingredients. Craft cocktails can be elaborate, particularly tiki cocktails. The classic Zombie tiki cocktail created by Donn Beach in 1934 for example, contains 9 ingredients. The prep time on these cocktails is sure to slow down the line at the bar to a snail’s pace. Elaborate libations like Rum Punch and Sangria can be prepared in advance and served from canisters or pitchers. Just be careful that they don’t become over-diluted as the ice melts.
Beware of Drinks that are Too Sweet and Boozy. According to wedding planner and etiquette expert Mary Harris of Mary Harris Events in Princeton, “I advise staying away from really sweet syrupy cocktails that allow guests to consume too much alcohol way too quickly. Or martinis that are all alcohol. You don't want to start off the night with everyone drunk in the first hour!” For weddings, Mary favors champagne cocktails and white sangrias. You can view Mary’s favorite wedding cocktails on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/maryharris/wine-and-spirits/
Pay Tribute to Your Furry Friends. In addition to being in love with each other, many newlyweds are enamored with their pets. Why not create a signature cocktail based around your pet? Gina & RJ honored their Golden Doodle with “Rooney’s Mule” - a riff on the Moscow Mule.
Signature drink at The Trenton Country Club
Don’t Forget about Glassware and Garnishes. Step up the presentation of your cocktails with custom glassware like mason jars, martini glasses and elegant champagne flutes. Dress up the presentation of the drinks with eye-catching food and non-food garnishes. Consider creating custom drink stations like a vodka luge & caviar station. One New Jersey wedding venue who does a fabulous job on food & drink presentation is the “one and only” Westmount Country Club in Woodlake Park. They offer a classy cocktail menu, dapperly dressed bartenders and fancy martini glasses. We’ve heard great things about their “Bellini Martini.” Cocktails done right are an experience!
Match Your Drinks to the Season. To avoid dehydration, focus on lighter beverages for summer weddings. For wines, we suggest whites, rosés and champagne. For beer, lower alcohol pale ales and summer shandies are good bets. For spirits, we suggest a focus on rum cocktails.
The Bellini Martini
The martini bar at “The One and Only” Westmount Country Club
Other Tips for Wedding Drinks
Order Colorful Placards, Chalkboards or Mirrors Showcasing your Signature Drinks. It’s all about the presentation! These custom boards can be ordered on websites such as Zazzle, Etsy and beau-coup.com. You can even order custom glassware for wedding favors.
Look to Pinterest for Inspiration. Prepare to be dazzled with a visual storyboard of drink ideas when running searches on Pinterest such as “wedding cocktails” “summer wedding cocktails” and “wedding signature drinks.” Pin your favorites to your own unique Pinterest board. These Pinterest boards will reinforce your appreciation for presentation (garnishes, signage, etc.)
Watch Cocktail Instructional Videos on YouTube. You could literally spend hours watching cocktail instructional videos on YouTube. Trust us, we have! A few of our favorite channels are Cocktail Chemistry, How to Drink, The Educated Barfly, The Tipsy Bartender and Steve the Bartender. A big takeaway from these videos is that craft cocktails are fun!
Rent a Keg from Your Local Brewery. According to beer connoisseur Nicholas Kaminski, many local microbrews are happy to rent you kegs of their latest concoctions, and many even deliver and staff them for a nominal fee. Later in this article, we list our favorite NJ microbrews.
Nicholas Kaminski, 2019
Offer Mocktails. Kids, non-drinkers and designated drivers will love sharing in the fun of cocktails. Popular mocktail crowd pleasers include virgin Pina Coladas, Bay Breezes and Shirley Temples.
Hire Adequate Bartending Staff. On occasion, we’ve observed understaffed bars at weddings with long lines and frustrated guests. Be sure to discuss the prospective staffing of the bar with your caterer in advance. Craft cocktails take longer to prepare and serve, but are well worth it in our opinion!
Be Wary of Shots. Many wedding venues ban shots with the potential for guests to get too drunk too fast. Our observation as wedding DJs through the years is that alcohol is a social lubricant that helps to get dance floors rocking. However, too much alcohol - often at the hands of shots - can lead to mayhem.
Cool Drink Picks for Summer 2020
Cocktails
Listed below are several of our favorite summer cocktails. In lieu of explaining the detailed drink recipes, we’ve simply listed the primary ingredients. Search out these drinks on YouTube, Google or Pinterest to learn the specific recipes and variations. Feel free to place your own personal spin on the recipe or re-name the cocktail!
Dark and Stormy. Dark rum, ginger beer, lime juice, lime wedge garnish.
Aperol Spritz. Prosecco, Aperol Italian liqueur, soda water, orange wheel garnish.
Cucumber Martini. Vodka, fresh cucumber, basil leaves, lime juice, simple syrup.
Barbados Rum Punch. Aged Barbados rum such as Mount Gay, lime juice, simple syrup, Angostura bitters.
Sangria. Red or white wine, fresh fruit, orange juice, cane sugar or brown sugar, brandy or rum (note: there are many variations on sangria. The key is to use fresh, quality ingredients!)
Pimm’s Cup. Pimm’s No. 1, navel orange, lemon, mint leaves, ginger ale, cucumber, apple (courtesy of wedding planner Mary Harris)
Gin Mojito. Bombay Sapphire Gin, muddled cucumber, St. Germain liqueur, mint leaves.
The Paloma. Tequila, lime juice, grapefruit juice, grapefruit soda, lime wedge garnish.
Hibiscus Margarita. Tequila, Triple Sec, lemon juice, lime juice, hibiscus simple syrup, pickled jalapenos, spiced salt. (courtesy of bartender Art Moeller from Beachwood at the Dunes)
The Quarantiki. Rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice, cinnamon simple syrup, passionfruit syrup, angostura bitters, lime wheel wedge with cloves to replicate the corona-virus graphic. When the masks and COVID-19 disappear, omit this cocktail from your menu. To learn to mix a Quarantiki, click here.
Old-Fashioned. Rye whiskey (bourbon can also be used), brown sugar cube, aromatic bitters, orange twist.
Wine
All of our selected bottles of wine cost between $10-$20 (retail), are appropriate for summer and offer solid quality. While white wines and rosés are preferable for summer, having some reds on hand to complement steak and lamb is a smart idea. A pet peeve of ours at weddings (or anywhere) are young, cheap, tannic wines that are bound to leave imbibers with a pounding hangover!
Suggested wine selections for Summer 2020
Sauvignon Blanc - Oyster Bay (2019) (New Zealand)
Chardonnay - Böen (2016) (California blend, various counties)
Sparkling - LaMarca Prosecco (Italy) So fresh, so clean!
Rosé - Skuttlebutt (2019) (Australia)
Merlot - Decoy (2017) (Sonoma County)
Cabernet Sauvignon - Rodney Strong Vineyards (2017) (Sonoma County)
Beer
With the explosion of the craft beer / microbrew segment, there are a wealth of quality options in New Jersey. For a summer wedding, you’d be smart to stick with lighter beers such as pale ales or summer shandies. Some of our favorite Jersey brews include:
Cypress Brewing (Edison) - we love their Bru’d with Amarillo American Pale Ale
Ship Bottom (Beach Haven) - cleverly named beers like “Barnacle Bottom Stout”
Cape May Brewing - savor variations like Cutback American Pale Ale and The Grove (Citrus Shandy)
Czig Meister Brewing (Hackettstown) - How could you not be intrigued by beverage names like Huntsman, Falconer, Prospector, Blacksmith and The Shipwright?
Carton Brewing (Atlantic Highlands) - try neat offerings like Boat Session Ale and 077XX India Pale Ale (IPA)
Kane Brewing (Ocean) - Kane is well-known for its IPA’s. Also try its Sneakbox Pale Ale.
River Horse Brewing (Ewing) - With its cute hippopotamus mascot, River Horse has a variety of tasty beers such as Da’Nile Deep Amber Ale and Clear Skies IPA.
Three 3’s Brewing (Hammonton) - check out their delicious Blueberry Saison Farmhouse Ale.
Wedding reception in Ocean City.
Outside of New Jersey, other favorites brews include:
Porch Rocker (Sam Adams, Boston)
Kona Big Wave Golden Ale (Hawaii)
Philadelphia Pale Ale (Yards Brewing Co., Philadelphia)
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, California)
Cali Creamin’ (Mother Earth Brew Co., California / Idaho)
Asahi Beer (Japan)
In Conclusion
We hope that you found our tips beneficial! Done right, cocktails are an experience. Guests will feel like they enjoyed an evening at an upscale bar, not at a banquet hall.
We plan to update this article for the Fall and Winter wedding seasons. Look forward to heavier beers and more whiskey-based cocktails. Please remember to drink responsibly.
Connect with us on Instagram at @musicmixologist and @ambientdjs
To listen to our 106 themed wedding cocktail hour music playlists - all with accompanying signature drinks - visit https://www.musicmixologist.wedding/the-playlists
In the market for a wedding DJ? Visit Ambient DJs at www.ambientdj.com
