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The GHI's ultimate guide to buying wedding wine
Where to buy, what to get and how much you really need
Tested by Callum BlackFood and Drink Testing Manager
Whether you’re the parents of the bride, the in-laws, or the happy couple, navigating where to buy the best wedding wine and how to get a good deal can seem like a daunting task.
To help, the GHI put four of the best wedding wine retailers to the test, trialling the overall service and selecting the best value bottles from each range. We’ve also tried to answer all the major questions you may have, to ensure the day goes off without a hitch.
How much wine do you need for a wedding or party?
Firstly, you should work out how many hours you’ll be offering drinks for. A good rule of thumb is to supply one drink per hour, per adult guest. Some will drink faster, and others less, balancing each other out. However, you may want to round up or down, depending on your guests' appetite (which you’ll know best!).
Typically, red and white wine is equally popular, so we’d split your order down the middle. However, do allow for seasonality. More guests are likely to drink white wine in the middle of a heatwave, and likewise, red may prove more popular during the winter months.
On top of this, you should allow for champagne or sparkling wine if you’re planning to make a toast, and/or serving it during the wedding reception before the meal. You get six glasses of sparkling wine in a bottle (vs. four 175ml glasses of wine) so you will likely need to buy fewer bottles of bubbly than red and white wine.
It’s also important to consider those not drinking, whether you choose to offer soft drinks, non-alcoholic wine, or mocktails.
How much should I spend on a bottle of wine for a wedding?
Everyone’s budget is different, but whether you spend five pounds or fifty, it’s important you stick to the figure once decided, and make sure you factor in corkage where applicable. That said, many retailers offer sale or return — which means you’re able to get a full refund on unopened bottles — so you don’t need to worry about ordering too many and being left with a surplus.
To make your money go further, we recommend swerving well-known wine regions such as Bordeaux or Provence and replacing them with under-the-radar alternatives.
For example, you could replace champagne with crémant (sparkling wine made just outside of the Champagne region), or Spanish cava, which is made in the same traditional method. Instead of New Zealand sauvignon blanc, look to South Africa or Chile, and if you adore Italy’s rich Amarone, try appassito-style wines, where the grapes are partially dried, replicating that big, concentrated flavour.
Wedding food and wine pairings
Whether you’ve serving a traditional sit-down dinner, or more of a relaxed buffet, choosing wine that will go with each course, and be enjoyed into the evening, can be tricky.
While it goes without saying that the bride and groom should enjoy what’s chosen, we’d avoid going for anything too “out there”, or polarising, in a bid to appeal to all. Sauvignon blanc, merlot and unoaked chardonnay are all safe bets and food-friendly, whatever the season.
How we test wedding wine
Our panel of WSET-trained experts sampled 27 bottles of red, white and sparkling wines from four of the leading wedding wine retailers. They were looking for crowd-pleasing, easy drinking styles that offered the biggest savings and would go with a range of dishes.
These are the bottles our experts recommend for the big day...
Waitrose Cellar
For the online experience, Waitrose excels. Instead of visiting in person, the supermarket suggests creating your own mixed case and tasting in the comfort of your own home. Our recommendations should guide you, but if you want to talk to someone, Waitrose will be able to suggest the best value and most popular bottles. It also offers a wide range of beers, ciders and alcohol-free options.
Key specifications
Glass hire: No
Sale or return: Yes, you may return bottles in saleable condition within 28 days of dispatch
Score: 82/100
Rieslings range from sweet to dry, but a crisp, dry white like this works well for parties and weddings. You can expect notes of apple, pear and white peach, alongside a little floral touch on the nose.
It’s super refreshing and the traditional, elongated bottle would look nice on the table. It’s also equally well suited to fish as it is to chicken dishes, making it a great all-rounder.
Score: 80/100
If you’re adamant you want champagne on the big day (and we don’t blame you...) then an own-brand bottle will offer great savings.
This one scored highly in our taste test — think crunchy green apple, stone fruit and buttery brioche — and is made exclusively with pinot noir grapes.
Slurp
Slurp’s knowledgeable advisors will confidently guide you through its offering over the phone, picking out the best value bottles for your budget, and suggesting big brands that fit the bill too. Anything that takes your fancy will be sent out the next day, and the brand is able to supply minis, which makes tasting from home a doddle.
We’ve done the research for you, and think these are the best bottles to buy; however, you’ll also find detailed tasting notes and food pairing suggestions online.
Key specifications
Glass hire: No
Sale or return: Yes, up to 25% of your order
Score: 96/100
This fruity Chilean merlot is great for pairing with BBQ food if casual dining is on the cards, but it will work equally well with more formal beef dishes too. It offers a beautiful balance of blackcurrant and cherry, with a little spice thanks to oak ageing.
Score: 95/100
Sauvignon blanc devotees will adore this great value bottle from New Zealand’s Marlborough region. It displays all the trademark characteristics that make this wine so popular, including a lick of lemon zest and lime, moving towards a more tropical profile on the finish. Serve it with salads, seafood, the veggie main meal and into the evening.
Score: 75/100
With its pretty, cut-glass bottle and appealing, fresh flavour, Freixenet is the perfect sparkler to do the rounds during your wedding reception. Notes of green apple, lemon and blossom are wrapped up in light, frothy bubbles, making this a total winner.
Laithwaites
Buy 12 or more bottles and you start seeing a great saving at Laithwaites. Like others, it offers in-store wine tastings, but with stores largely based in the South East, it will also set up an online tasting if that’s more convenient.
Not sure how much wine to buy? Laithwaites will take back up to 20 per cent of the total order if you don’t get through it all on the day, but its wedding wine calculator is easy to use, so should give you a good steer.
Key specifications
Glass hire: Free with any purchase, collection from store only, subject to availability
Sale or return: Yes, up to 20% of your order
Score: 85/100
Proving that wedding wine can still be exceptional on a budget, this impressive red was named “Best Malbec of Argentina” with its debut bottle and comes in at under £12 when bought in bulk.
With layers of black fruit, oak, vanilla, a whiff of smoke and a crack of black pepper, we can certainly see why. If beef is on the menu, this is the wine to pair with it.
DEAL: £11.99 per bottle when you buy 12 or more
Score: 92/100
This Marlborough Sauvignon is one of Laithwaites’ best-sellers (so you can be confident it will go down well with wedding guests). It’s fresh and fruity, with guava, passionfruit and pineapple on the nose, before building to a crescendo of bright, zingy citrus.
Perfect for a summer wedding, it’s versatile enough to pair with everything from goat’s cheese canapés to grilled seafood.
DEAL: £11.99 per bottle when you buy 12 or more
Score: 86/100
With a crowd-pleasing palate of ripe stone fruit, green apples, and toasted brioche, this is a failsafe fizz (and kinder on the budget than champagne). Light, lingering bubbles make for easy drinking, taking you effortlessly from cocktail hour to toasts – and if you’re doing the speeches after dinner, it will go just as well with fruity desserts, too.
DEAL: £13.99 per bottle when you buy 12 or more
Majestic
With a vast range to choose from, free glass hire, free delivery and in-store tastings, Majestic is a solid choice for buying wine in bulk. Its drinks calculator provides guidance on how many bottles you’ll need for the big day, and if you head in-store, its friendly team will open any bottle you wish to taste.
However, if you need help narrowing it down, these are the best value bottles we’d recommend from Majestic.
Key specifications
Glass hire: Yes, £1 deposit per glass, refundable once returned
Sale or return: Yes
Score: 79/100
This easy drinking red comes from a top Spanish producer, but it’s made from declassified wine (which means it can’t state the appellation on the label). In short, this means Majestic can sell it at this price, and you nab a huge bargain. Win, win.
With ripe, jammy blackcurrant and spice, it's the perfect wedding wine — particularly if lamb is on the menu — and should probably be twice the price, but we won’t tell if you won’t.
DEAL: £7.99 per bottle when you buy six or more
Score: 76/100
This zippy albariño would be excellent with smoked salmon, shellfish starters, or, as the label suggests, octopus. It’s bursting with thirst-quenching citrus and has a lovely mineral finish — and it’s exceptional value too, as it comes from Rioja (instead of Galicia or the Basque region of Spain, as is traditional).
DEAL: £8.99 per bottle when you buy six or more
Score: 73/100
South Africa’s answer to champagne, Graham Beck’s “methode cap classique” is made in the same way as France’s beloved sparkler, so you’re picking up a real bargain here.
Made with chardonnay and pinot noir, it delivers lemon, lime and brioche on the finish — and when buying as part of Majestic’s mixed six deal, you’ll save an impressive five pounds a bottle.
DEAL: £11.99 per bottle when you buy six or more
Callum is our Food and Drink Testing Manager and has been part of the world of professional catering for 10 years, from cheffing to food manufacturing. While working in manufacturing he specialised in bespoke product and menu development for several start-ups and well-known brands such as Wrap It Up! and HOP Vietnamese. He holds the WSET Level 2 in wine, a Level 3 in spirits and has a particular interest in agave spirits.
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