Do you ever bring wine to a wedding reception?

[Dav1dZ]

Completely unacceptable.

[Markus_S]

Nope. Drink their plonk and smile! Not too many weddings will have Chandon de Briailles on tap like it was at my wedding.

[Nick_Ellis]

Agree with everyone else who says “don’t do it”. I have a twist on the question though. At my own upcoming wedding we will be serving a solid but not spectacular northern Rhone during the last two courses. The restaurant has a 2004 Cappellano on the menu (it doesn’t say which one, so I’m guessing Rupestris), which we cannot afford to serve to everyone, and most attendees don’t really care for Nebbiolo anyway. Would it be rude to serve the Cappellano to myself and the two other people who would enjoy it while serving the syrah to everyone else? Do I get an exemption because I’m in the wedding party?

[Russ_Williams]

@Anton D

As another plan, find out what the wines are that they will be serving, buy some, dump the wine, and refill the bottles with your desired beverages. No one will be the wiser.

You will spend the evening smirking bigger than knowing your date is going commando.

By the time you get home, or sooner, you’ll be all over each other.

Believe me, this one works.

Bit of advice: go into the rest room separately and be done with your tryst in 20 minutes or less.

Caution: if you suggest it to your date and she gets and evil glint in her eye, but has never done that with you before, you better do your best work, 'cause you’re being compared to a memory.

Okie Dokie then…I think we have the answer.

[Ross_W]

I’ll go with the “ask the host” response. I have brought wine to weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, and made sure I asked the host and brought enough for the table. No one complained and most were happy that they got to drink better wine that what was being served.

[Rick_Smith]

@Nick Ellis

Agree with everyone else who says “don’t do it”. I have a twist on the question though. At my own upcoming wedding we will be serving a solid but not spectacular northern Rhone during the last two courses. The restaurant has a 2004 Cappellano on the menu (it doesn’t say which one, so I’m guessing Rupestris), which we cannot afford to serve to everyone, and most attendees don’t really care for Nebbiolo anyway. Would it be rude to serve the Cappellano to myself and the two other people who would enjoy it while serving the syrah to everyone else? Do I get an exemption because I’m in the wedding party?

you won’t have time to care about what you are drinking. Just drink the same stuff you are serving to all.

[David_Bu3ker]

I went to a reception that was the best BYO dinner ever. The couple provided good wine for the non-geeks, but all the geeks brought great stuff.

[Chris_Blum]

In all seriousness; do Not ask the host. Do not put them in the uncomfortable position of having to say “yes” to your boorish behavior. Suck it up. Don’t be that guy.

You are saying to the host “your wine sucks”, you “are cheap/a bad host” and “I’m an elitist”. At the reception you are saying “you other guests are not part of my private club”. It’s just not cool.

[Chris_Blum]

I told my wife about this and here is what she said:

“Most wedding cake is that dry boring white stuff with the sugary white frosting. Since I’m sharing a table with some friends who love to bake, would it be okay for me to bring a special cake from a gourmet bakery that our table could share?”

[Mark_Mason]

Chris, there you go bringing reason into the discussion by asking your Wife. She makes great sense.

[Ramon_C]

It should be OK as long as you ask the bride/groom and the restaurant. My friend did it during his niece’s wedding last February and we enjoyed the wedding more with bottles of a Burgundy and a CdP. We even asked the wait staff to strut out a few nice stem wares.

[A_So]

@Matt Latuchie

oh yeah…here are the notes (notes are from WB’er Adrian So):

CellarTracker! Tim's wedding

“The groom is requesting a glass of the 2000 Krug”

[Wes_Barton]

Generally, no. If it’s a situation where you’d have to do it discretely, the answer is no.

But, with the right group of friends and the right venue it can be no problem, or encouraged. At a casual venue where you happily share (and offer) with anyone interested, it can work well.

[J_a_y_H_a_c_k]

DO NOT DO IT!!! DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.

The only times I have brought wine to a wedding reception were:

1. I brought a special bottle just for the bride and groom when the groom worked for me. I told them the it was for them and I would not taste it under any circumstances unless they thought it was corked and they wanted me to check.

2. My son’s own wedding. We had only 10 people and we certainly ALL drank very well.

[Corey_N]

Bringing your own wine sends the message that the host is not able to serve you libations that meet your exacting standards. Do you want to be that guy?

I note that there are exceptions – it’s your close relative, if you clear it ahead of time with the host and even then, it would be raised judiciously, as in “hey, I’d like to bring something special to share with you on the occasion of your daughter’s big day…”, etc. However, you mentioned nothing of sharing with the host, only with your fellow oenophiles. Make no mistake, it would not only be tacky, it would be incredibly rude.

[Howard_Cooper]

@jmdavidson

We will be going to the wedding of a son of one of our friends this weekend. At our table will be three other couples, who like ourselves, enjoy drinking good wine. Would it be rude to bring a couple of bottles to share during dinner?

Yes, it would be rude.

[Michael_S_c_a_r_p_a]

For my upcoming wedding I am not even serving any bottle more than $16.

Trying to find QPR chianti, malbec, rose, pinot grigio, etc…

[Mike_Cohen]

IMHO you can get away with it (probably) and it would be rude to do so.

[Craig_G]

@Chris Blum

In all seriousness; do Not ask the host. Do not put them in the uncomfortable position of having to say “yes” to your boorish behavior. Suck it up. Don’t be that guy.

You are saying to the host “your wine sucks”, you “are cheap/a bad host” and “I’m an elitist”. At the reception you are saying “you other guests are not part of my private club”. It’s just not cool.

Just to be clear, he should do it without asking, right?

[Peter_Kleban]

@J a y H a c k

DO NOT DO IT!!! DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.

The only times I have brought wine to a wedding reception were:

1. I brought a special bottle just for the bride and groom when the groom worked for me. I told them the it was for them and I would not taste it under any circumstances unless they thought it was corked and they wanted me to check.

2. My son’s own wedding. We had only 10 people and we certainly ALL drank very well.

What a nice picture! Don’t know when this was, but congrats to your son & DIL.

7 bottles for 10 people, that’s the spirit! What are nos 3 and 6 from the left, I can’t read the labels (just curious)?