By Mercy Geno Apachi
Did you even know that you had to sit down for a minute and muse on the kind of drinks that you had to get for your wedding? I know, me neither.
Many think it is just for buying whatever they can afford as long as beverages, both soft and hard drinks are present for the audience.
“Usually, when planning a wedding, three items will be automatically considered in the drinks section: soda, water and beer. These items have dominated the drinks category during wedding parties since time immemorial and it gets hard to omit any,even with a tight budget,” says Anna Namubiru, the operations manager of Tasty Planet Catering services.
However, society has changed and there are certain factors that a couple should consider before including certain items on their drinks list.
- Religion
Yes, you may be indifferent to whatever drinks are available but your guest list may have born again, muslims, seventh day adventists aswell alcoholic uncles from the village who see this as an opportunity to wine fine.
Depending on the greater percentage, you may eventually decide on a non-alcoholic list
“ A few exceptions may be considered for example in the case of Pentecostals who may choose to include wine with a low alcohol percentage,” Anna advises.
However, according to Andrew Mwesige of Genesis Mixology and Uganda’s winning master of Mixology 2013, some of the must not miss at a wedding are cocktails, mock tails( mixed un-alcoholic drinks), soft drinks, wines and spirits.
“The beauty of having a mixture is that alcoholic people are flexible and can take anything and the non-alcoholic ones can do mock tails and other soft drinks,” he explains.
- Social status
There are those in society who have to make it big have because of who they are in society- celebrities, socialites, politicians say for example the Rhamaphosa son marrying the daughter to former Uganda Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.
So a long list of different types of alcohol will dominate the drinks section more than any other type of drink.
“Predominantly, expensive whisky, champagne and other sorts of wine and beer will be the highlight of the party,” notes Anna.
Therefore, Andrew advises that in case of such, drinks that are meant for punching the hard ones should not be missed because among the guests will be those that cannot take plain hard liquor.
The Punchers include, gin and tonic, Vodka orange, whiskey colas and many more.
“Between white and red wine, I would advise that there is more red wine especially the sweet one as opposed to dry because not many people consume the latter,” Andrew advises.
He further adds that weather is a very important factor to consider when choosing wines. A sunny day would go better with white wine that is served chilled hence having a higher consumption.
- Guest list
In cases where there are more elderly guests at the party, beer and water will be the order of the day, beer being consumed more by those from the villages like the uncles, while those from the city will opt for water as they are conscious about their health.
“The recommended beer is definitely our locally Ugandan made ones that come which people will connect more with.If you like you can add international imported brands like Heineken and Budweiser,” says Andrew.
- Budget
The old adage goes, “Cut the coat according to your size,” simply to mean do things according to how you can manage them. Avoid getting into fights with service providers over expenses you may not be able to fulfill.
If the budget is tight the couple may consider serving only soda and water in order to cut costs. A few crates of beer may be included for some special guests who would feel incomplete without it.
- New trend
There is a developing trend where couples choose to serve fresh juice only. A number of companies have taken advantage of this trend and they have put in place coolers and juice processors for hire should one need the service.
However, fresh juice is a bit costly compared to soda so the couple should keep this in mind before opting for the service.
In conclusion, water and soda go hand in hand at the wedding party. Beer and juice are optional depending on one’s financial ability and all the other types of alcohol are considered last as they come in as extras if the above mentioned items are sufficiently provided.
“I think couples should also go to professional mixologists to advice on the types of drinks to have on their weddings depending on their budgets,” adds Andrew.
Note: Popping champagne is becoming less as most scenarios have ended up in shameful disastrous experiences. This 2019 Andrew emphasisez the need for you to get trained bottle poppers to avoid accidents.
