How many bottles
The working figure is a little over one bottle per adult guest across a full day and evening. For eighty guests that means roughly 90 to 100 bottles in total.
That assumes a meal with an aperitif beforehand. Add an afternoon reception — in France this is the vin d'honneur, a drinks reception between the ceremony and the dinner, often with a wider guest list than the meal itself — and add 15 to 20 % on top.
A workable split: 30 % white for the aperitif and starters, 50 % red for the main course and cheese, 20 % sparkling or rosé depending on the season. Shift towards white and rosé for a summer wedding outdoors; the ratio is a starting point, not a rule.
For the toast, count one flute per person. A 75 cl bottle gives six generous flutes, so eighty guests need 12 to 14 bottles. This is the number most often underestimated, because people picture a glass each and forget the pour is smaller.
Buy slightly over rather than under. Unopened bottles keep; a shortage at nine in the evening does not resolve itself.
What it costs, honestly
You do not need 30-euro bottles to serve well at a wedding. Between 7 and 12 euros you reach appellations that are perfectly good in a glass held during a conversation, which is what wedding wine actually is.
A hundred bottles at an average of 9 euros comes to 900 euros. That is typically 3 to 5 % of a wedding's total budget, which puts it in perspective against catering or photography.
Moving the average to 12 euros lifts quality noticeably and adds around 300 euros to the total. That is usually the best-value increment available anywhere in the budget.
Two practical levers. Most merchants discount from six or twelve bottles, so buying by the case matters. And in France many will supply on dépôt-vente terms, meaning unopened bottles can be returned; ask before ordering, because it changes how much you buy.
What to serve when
Aperitif and reception: something sparkling, or a crisp dry white. This is the stage where people are standing, talking and not eating much, so the wine should be light and cold. Crémant is the sensible choice — made by the same method as Champagne, from other French regions, at a third of the price.
Starters: a white with some texture but not much oak. Loire whites do this well and rarely offend anyone.
Main course: a red of medium weight. Resist the impulse to serve the most impressive bottle you can afford. A powerful, tannic wine drunk warm in a crowded room at ten in the evening is hard work, and half the table will leave it.
Cheese, if there is a cheese course: the red from the main course continues. Serving a different wine here is a refinement almost nobody notices.
Toast: sparkling, poured immediately before the speech rather than during the previous course, or it will be flat and warm by the time anyone raises a glass.
The mistakes that turn up every time
Wine served too warm, by a distance. A reception room in summer sits well above 20 °C, and red left standing on a table reaches that temperature within the hour. Storing reds somewhere cool and bringing them out in batches fixes it at no cost.
Too few glasses. Guests put a glass down, lose it and take another. Counting one glass per person guarantees a shortage by mid-evening; caterers usually reckon on two or more per person.
Sparkling opened too early. A case opened at the start of the speeches so it is « ready » is flat by the time it is poured.
And choosing wine for the couple rather than the room. The bottle that means something to the two of you belongs at your own table, or kept for an anniversary. What eighty people need is something reliably drinkable.
Wine as a wedding gift
Giving wine to a couple is a good idea executed badly more often than not, because most gift bottles get drunk within a month by whoever is nearest.
If the intention is a bottle to keep, say so, and pick something with the structure to survive: a Pomerol, a northern Rhône, a Sauternes. Write the year and the reason on the label. A bottle intended for a tenth anniversary needs to be identifiable in ten years, and it will not be otherwise.
Worth remembering that keeping wine for a decade requires somewhere stable and dark, which many people do not have. A gift that assumes a cellar can quietly become a bottle ruined on top of a kitchen cupboard. If you are unsure, something excellent to open this year is a better present than something theoretical for later.
Common questions
Can you serve only rosé at a summer wedding?
You can, and for an outdoor summer wedding it works better than people expect. Keep a red available for the main course and for guests who will not drink rosé with a meal. A dry Provence rosé is versatile enough to cover the aperitif and the starters on its own.
Does the toast have to be Champagne?
No. Crémant is made by the same method in other French regions and costs roughly a third as much. At a toast, where the wine is poured in small measures and drunk immediately, the difference is far smaller than the price gap. Put the saving into the wine served with the meal.
What temperature should the wines be?
Sparkling and white at 8 to 10 °C, rosé the same, red at 15 to 17 °C rather than at room temperature. In a warm reception room, red left on the table climbs several degrees within the hour, so bring it out in batches rather than all at once.
How do you handle the logistics on the day?
Decide in advance who is responsible for opening and pouring, and when. Chill the whites and sparkling the night before, not on the morning. Keep reds somewhere cool and dark, away from the kitchen. Agree with the caterer who supplies the glasses and count on more than one per guest.
Is it better to buy from a merchant or online?
A merchant will usually discount by the case, may supply on return terms and can advise on quantity, which is worth a great deal at this scale. Online is often cheaper per bottle and easier for large orders, but plan delivery well ahead and check what happens if you order too much.