# wine for a wedding where to get a good deal ?



## coleen (19 May 2009)

A family member is having a wedding in August and want to buy wine for a crowd of 300. Can anyone recommend where would be a good place in Ireland to get a deal. Also how much to buy and how much red and how much white? What price point should they aim for that would be considered good for a wedding. all advice welcome


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## meatmonger (19 May 2009)

*Re: wine for a wedding where do get good deal ?*

specials in uk supermarkets best option.
summer, white will prob sell better 

sav blanc for the white,
oz red 

pay no more than £5.50 per bottle. half bottle per person seeing as many wont drink


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## Love2travel (19 May 2009)

*Re: wine for a wedding where do get good deal ?*

Hi you are best to go to France or find someone that is going & knows their stuff. You could pick up a nice sancerre or poully fume for approx €6 per bottle & some decent red from bordeaux for about €5.  Alterntively go to the North or the UK.  Ireland in general is a rip off althought keep an eye out for offers in M&S.  The sometimes have 25% off and you get another 10% on orders of 6 bottles.  I would buy half red and half white and go for 1/2 a bottle per person with a few extras.  This is what was recommeded to me when I was getting married and it worked out ok.


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## Lex Foutish (19 May 2009)

*Re: wine for a wedding where do get good deal ?*

The Tierra Del Sol Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva and Sauvignon Blanc Reserva from Aldi are excellent wines and are €9.99 per bottle. (They're well ahead of the ordinary Tierra Del Sol which is about €6.99 per bottle). 

You'll get about 4 ordinary glasses from a bottle. You'll need to figure out how many wine drinkers (not children, etc.) you'll have and calculate accordingly. Don't forget to allow for at least one top up.

Not sure where you are but there's also a company here in Cork called Bubble Brothers who might also be able to solve your problem. Link below.

Whoever you deal with, make sure you can return what's not used.

http://www.bubblebrothers.com/


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## meatmonger (19 May 2009)

*Re: wine for a wedding where do get good deal ?*



Love2travel said:


> Hi you are best to go to France or find someone that is going & knows their stuff. You could pick up a nice sancerre or poully fume for approx €6 per bottle & some decent red from bordeaux for about €5.


 

tesco up north have offer on at the minute.

FORGET


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## mf1 (19 May 2009)

*Re: wine for a wedding where do get good deal ?*

Just in terms of quantites - red/white. 

My experience is 1/3 red to 2/3 white. 

Maybe my friends are just easy whitesers!

mf


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## leex (19 May 2009)

*Re: wine for a wedding where do get good deal ?*

Got good deals in Asda Enniskillen last time I was there. Wine ( a Lindemans) costing 8.79euro in Dunnes was 3 for 10ukp there - less than 4euro a bottle at an exchange rate around 88p. On my last trip a few weeks ago I got a chilean red merlot on same deal - was 8.79 ish in Tesco down here when I was in there one day.

Check their online site before you go. What I did was register for internet shopping with a Belfast postcode. This allowed me to login and see their specials.


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## Deisce (20 May 2009)

*Re: wine for a wedding where do get good deal ?*

Hi,
     I used wrenwine@irishnation.com for my wedding in 2007. They gave me list of french wines and suggested matchs for our courses. Very good value and it takes the guesswork out,.

I have no interest in this business.

Austin


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## Vanilla (20 May 2009)

Irish Ferries do a 'booze cruise' for alcohol tourists- you get something like 8 hours in France to load up the car and then straight back on again. It's pretty cheap. I think you can go over now on a return trip for something like 199 offpeak ( warning though- not sure this includes a cabin and wouldnt include a trailer ).

You would get really good quality wine in France for the same price as a cheap plonk here in the Republic- really you could buy a fresh muscadet for 2/3 per bottle, if you're looking for the sancerres/bordeaux prepare to pay 5/6 per bottle but at these prices it would be really quite nice. If you do some research and try to time it with a 'foire aux vins' ( wine fair) in one of the supermarkets you can get great deals. For reds the skys the limit. Champagne that would retail 40/50 per bottle here can be got for 25/30. 

It's a bit of hassle though, I wouldn't be keen on doing the booze cruise myself, prefer to take a week and have a break at same time. Depends how important the quality of the wine is to them, if it is really important then I would recommend going to France.


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## casiopea (20 May 2009)

coleen said:


> A family member is having a wedding in August and want to buy wine for a crowd of 300. Can anyone recommend where would be a good place in Ireland to get a deal. Also how much to buy and how much red and how much white? What price point should they aim for that would be considered good for a wedding. all advice welcome



Im sure they have already done this but make sure the venue will allow them to provide their own wines and dont charge an unreasonable corkage fee.


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## Abbica (20 May 2009)

We knew someone that owned a restaurant, they ordered it for us through their wine suppliers at warehouse prices, so we got wine €14 in offlicense for €6 a bottle. Even if you dine in a restaurant quite frequently, you could ask them for a favour.


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## Nutso (20 May 2009)

We bought our own wine for our wedding up North a few years ago.  We paid about £5 a bottle for it and even with the €6 corkage the hotel was charging we got a far better wine than we would have for the price of the cheapest hotel offering.

Our numbers were about the same as yours and we asked the hotel banquet manager how many bottles he would recommend, he told us 110 bottles and about 60/40 red/white (although it was an Xmas wedding so may be more white if a Summer wedding).  He was almost spot on, we went through 104 bottles on the day.


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## MonkeyFeet (20 May 2009)

We bought ours in Tescos. They had a big wine sale with the wine being reduced by 33%. The wine we bought ended up costing about €6.20 to €6.50 a bottle.

Sauv Blanc was the white, can't remember which red

We had 120 people attend and bought 8 cases (96 bottles) of wine, 3 red and 5 white. We had 9 bottles remaining after the wedding

We went for Tescos to save the effort of driving up North or going to France. Tescos have this deal on every few months, just keep your eyes open


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## Caveat (20 May 2009)

At the off licence in Culloville, South Armagh for example you can get a few varieties of red & white _Yellowtail _for €7 - €8. They have a 5% off for any 3 bottles and 10% for any 6 as well - so I'm sure they will do a decent deal for wedding volumes. (No connection to them)

BTW _Yellowtail _is IMO one of the best wines around for the money.

For crowdpleasing options, Sauvignon Blanc & Merlot I'd say.


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## Vanilla (20 May 2009)

We were over in France a couple of months ago and bought a bottle of sauvignon blanc for 2 Euro for cooking. Took a sip, it was gorgeous. Sigh.


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## mcaul (20 May 2009)

Abbica said:


> We knew someone that owned a restaurant, they ordered it for us through their wine suppliers at warehouse prices, so we got wine €14 in offlicense for €6 a bottle. Even if you dine in a restaurant quite frequently, you could ask them for a favour.


 
Having sold wine in the past, I can assure you that no wine store in the country has this sort of margin.



€14 retail  would equal to approx €8 cost plus VAT (€9.72), maybe a little less if buying huge volumes.

When buying wine, always remember that there's €3 (incl vat) duty on every bottle of wine whether its a €4.99 bottle or a €100 bottle.  

For a good wedding I'd recommend looking for something at approx. €15 retail for Red & about €12 for white, which you should be able to get around €12 for red & about €10 for white.

For white, definitely a sauvingnon blanc (new Zealand is great)  and for red I'd look for a Vacqueyras - a region next to Chateauneuf Du Pape with wines of similar quality & character but without the premium prices.

The red wine is usually the one remembered as the regular wine driners normally choose red.


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## ariidae (21 May 2009)

Hi,

My friend went to Asda in Enniskillen and filled her car up with wine for her wedding. At the time they were doing that Jacob's creek three pack on special. I can see online at the minute that they are currently doing a three for £10 deal on:

-Andrew Peace Cabernet sauvignon & Australian chardonnay 
-Arniston Bay Reef red wine
-Blossom Hill Grenache & Signature Blend -California Red & Pinot grigio delle venezie & Rose
-Dumisani Chenin blanc & Shiraz red 
-First Cape Rose & Shiraz Rose
-Lindemans Cabernet Sauvignon
-Jacob's Creek Semillon Chardonnay & Grenache shiraz & Shiraz cabernet - red
& a good few others.. 

Enjoy your day


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## jodi (21 May 2009)

I'd recommend justgrapes for some great French wines. No association, just a happy customer. PM me and I'll send you the details


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## joanmul (22 May 2009)

We were advised to allow 2 bottles per person. I'd go 2-1 red to white ratio.


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## Ann1 (23 May 2009)

joanmul said:


> We were advised to allow 2 bottles per person. I'd go 2-1 red to white ratio.


2 bottles per person thats a lot of wine. We were thinking half bottle per person and a few reserves just in case. 
What do posters think of a €15 corkage charge by the hotel. I was very surprised that it is so expensive.


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## Lex Foutish (23 May 2009)

Ann1 said:


> 2 bottles per person thats a lot of wine. We were thinking half bottle per person and a few reserves just in case.
> What do posters think of a €15 corkage charge by the hotel. I was very surprised that it is so expensive.


 
Hi Ann. €15 corkage is absolutely outrageous, in my opinion. Typical of the "We're really gonna screw you for every bob we can on the day of your wedding" attitude that so many Irish hotels have! 

Did you try suggesting that ye'd move the reception to another hotel?


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## Ann1 (23 May 2009)

No we have not approached them as yet but between corkage charge and supplement fee for giving our guests a menu choice we are looking at €3960. Most of the guest are from out of town so they will be staying at the hotel. We just might suggest a reduction in the extra charges on the basis of 180 guests staying at their hotel.


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## ariidae (25 May 2009)

€15 is quite expensive - it must be a very nice (aka expensive) hotel 

The same friend .. the asda purchaser (above).. went into her hotel three month's before the wedding and said "times are hard" and they got corkage and the evening snack for free. You should definitely go in and have a chat with them.


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## dogfish (25 May 2009)

Sister is getting corkage for 5 euro per bottle. Same price for champagne. Also a friend of my wife is getting corkage for free. One of the hotels is in Clare and the other Mayo.


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## Ann1 (26 May 2009)

ariidae said:


> €15 is quite expensive - it must be a very nice (aka expensive) hotel
> 
> Yes it is a very nice hotel and I suppose expensive also. We have chosen it for convenience for out out of town guests. They will be able to walk from the church to the hotel. Nevertheless we will certainly be looking at these costs after reading other posters comments.
> The bride (our daughter) and the groom have now opted to walk along with their guests from the church to the hotel . A refreshing simplicity I feel in these over the top times.


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## mooney76 (18 Jun 2009)

try masterwinewarehouse


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## Jay1981 (11 Oct 2009)

Hey can anyone recommend any of the wines in the asda 3 for £10 sale for a wedding. I'm undecided.


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## Jay1981 (12 Oct 2009)

Anyone try these wine. Are they any good?

Angel's Bay Shiraz Cabernet
First Cape Limited Release Merlot
First Cape Sauvignon blanc - semillon

Jay


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## Jay1981 (12 Oct 2009)

What wines would be good for a wedding. Wines under 10 eoro?


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## Yeager (12 Oct 2009)

Tesco were doing 3 for 15 recently on most the common big name brands. Not sure when/is ending but certainly worth a look. Also on top of the you get a 6% discount in buying in bulk.


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## John Rambo (12 Oct 2009)

Negotiate them down to €10 for the corkage. €10 is reasonable...€15 is not. It's all well and good people suggesting ferry trips to France or cheap plonk from the supermarket but presumably you're looking for a balance between quality and value. You also have to consider quantity. If you purchase from a supermarket (or in France) you'll have to buy a good bit more than you'll actually need (or have the additional worry/embarrassment of running out of wine on your wedding day). I suggest you go to a specialist wine shop/off licence who will do sale or return. That way you can choose from a wider range of wines with a wider price range safe in the knowledge that you can order far more than you will actually need thus avoiding the embarrassment of running out of wine. Generally a half a bottle per person is a good yardstick. On the white/red split you need to look at the time of year, the male/female split and the food you'll be serving. For example, winter, guys and beef all add up to far more red being consumed. Similarly, summer, girls and fish should increase the amount of white wine consumed. We used Mitchells...they did sale or return, gave us a 20% discount, delivered and let us taste as much wine as we wanted. Even paying €10 corkage we saved money (relative to the hotel's prices) and our wines were hailed universally as the best all our guests had ever tasted at a wedding. It was admittedly expensive relative to what you can get...somewhere like O'Briens would be cheaper but we were more concerned about quality (without losing all reason).


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## Yeager (12 Oct 2009)

Don't even settle for 10 euro push for 5 and settle on the difference i.e. 7.50 - both parites will think they have achieved a deal and you certainly will have. We did this recently asked for a reduction from 10 to 5 and it was given immediately witout a second thought - we felt bad after that we didn't push for harder. Wedding hotels are beginning to see a bit of sense with these outrageous costs.

At the end of the day all they can say is a polite No. At least you'll know after that you pushed for the best deal.


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## John Rambo (12 Oct 2009)

Yeager said:


> Don't even settle for 10 euro push for 5 and settle on the difference i.e. 7.50 - both parites will think they have achieved a deal and you certainly will have. We did this recently asked for a reduction from 10 to 5 and it was given immediately witout a second thought - we felt bad after that we didn't push for harder. Wedding hotels are beginning to see a bit of sense with these outrageous costs.
> 
> At the end of the day all they can say is a polite No. At least you'll know after that you pushed for the best deal.


 
I'm not sure what negotiating school you went to but if the price is €15 and you're offering €5 then logically you'll settle at €10.  How will both parties feel they've achieved a deal at €7.50? There comes a point where the hotel can just say "fine...no corkage - buy our wine".


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## Yeager (12 Oct 2009)

Starts at 15 the hotel offer 10 you say you want for 5 hotel starts blabing on then you offer to split the difference.....7.50. Then your certainly better off that where you started at 15. Simple.


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## dogfish (12 Oct 2009)

Went to north for wine for my sisters wedding and for a friend of my wifes.  Got the 3 for 10 pounds  in asda.  Ratio of 1 bottle for 2 people,  half red and half white.  No complaints.  Got a few extra which were not needed.  1 euro to 93 pence today so great value.  Just check with store before hand to see if they have enough of the one you want.  We had to go to two.  Also got sparkling wine for the toast.   Sister paid 5 euro corkage and wifes friend got it for free.


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## Jay1981 (13 Oct 2009)

What wine did you get? Dogfish


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## Jay1981 (17 Oct 2009)

I'm just back from the north. Asda have some great deals on wine and beer. Got a great deal on Wolf Blass 120 bottles. Well worth the 10 hour round trip!!!


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## Complainer (18 Oct 2009)

Yeager said:


> Don't even settle for 10 euro push for 5 and settle on the difference i.e. 7.50 - both parites will think they have achieved a deal and you certainly will have. We did this recently asked for a reduction from 10 to 5 and it was given immediately witout a second thought - we felt bad after that we didn't push for harder. Wedding hotels are beginning to see a bit of sense with these outrageous costs.
> 
> At the end of the day all they can say is a polite No. At least you'll know after that you pushed for the best deal.





John Rambo said:


> I'm not sure what negotiating school you went to but if the price is €15 and you're offering €5 then logically you'll settle at €10.  How will both parties feel they've achieved a deal at €7.50? There comes a point where the hotel can just say "fine...no corkage - buy our wine".





Yeager said:


> Starts at 15 the hotel offer 10 you say you want for 5 hotel starts blabing on then you offer to split the difference.....7.50. Then your certainly better off that where you started at 15. Simple.



This shows the importance of getting all this sorted before you confirm your booking with the hotel and pay a deposit. Once you have made your booking, there is no incentive for the hotel to negotiate with you.


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## Jay1981 (18 Nov 2009)

The wine shop in Enniskillen is very good for deals.


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## klbattye (7 Jan 2010)

what is the name of the good wine shop in enniskillen. i am getting married and have approx 300 people coming. wondering about wine???? surely if the wine is screw cap u dont have to pay corkage?????????????????


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## glasto (7 Jan 2010)

You have to pay corkage regardless of whether the bottle has a cork.


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## Leo (7 Jan 2010)

klbattye said:


> what is the name of the good wine shop in enniskillen. i am getting married and have approx 300 people coming. wondering about wine???? surely if the wine is screw cap u dont have to pay corkage?????????????????


 
Corkage isn't just for the act of pulling the cork, it includes serving, glassware, etc.


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## Jay1981 (5 Feb 2010)

It's called the wine shop. Ask for Brian, he has great deals,


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