Hooting Owl Distillery a canapé service, or replicating your all-time favourite restaurant dish. It can be very magical and personal and can make a wedding menu incredibly memorable for guests. Guests will often recognise this – ‘This menu is so you guys, we love it!’ Make it your own!” What about the drinks? Nicola Robson from nickynoo (www.nickynoo.co.uk) says, “First, you need to decide whether you want to supply drinks yourself, get your venue to do it or an outside provider such as a mobile bar (if the venue permits it). You may decide you’d like to supply some of the drinks yourself such as table wine to keep costs down. However, if you’re thinking of providing your own you need to consider the logistics, it may be more cost effective but there are lots of things you need to think about such as how much to supply. A professional mobile bar company should have lots of experience so will be able to gage the correct quantities. “You’ll also need to check if your bar supplier/venue charges corkage and think about getting the drinks to the venue, keeping them at the correct temperature and who will serve them but more importantly who will clear away afterwards? If you don’t have anyone to do this, tables can quickly become full of dirty glasses spoiling your carefully chosen table centrepieces. This is where a professional company is worth considering as they’ll take away the worry of these issues. I’d always suggest providing them with a brief order of the day so they’re aware at what point in time you’d like drinks served. “Most venues and mobile bar companies will have a selection of drinks packages to suit different budgets from welcome drinks to all-inclusive bars but don’t be afraid to ask if you can make substitutes, add on something you’d really like or create a bespoke package. At nickynoo’s we often adapt our packages and offer beers/ales from local breweries, drinks tokens where guests choose their own options, subsidised bars, personalised cocktails, jugs of soft drinks for children and pimp your own gin or prosecco stations or create a completely bespoke package. “If you’re on a budget it’s worth reading the terms and conditions, as many mobile bars will charge a booking fee but will then return it if you hit a minimum spend or they may charge you extra if you don’t reach a certain spend. You also need to find out if your venue has an alcohol licence and if they’ll let your bar use it. If not, someone will need to apply for a Temporary Events Notice so, it’s worth asking whose responsibility it is and if your bar supplier will charge you for applying. “Also, consider alcohol-free options. The number of guests choosing alcohol-free alternatives has risen dramatically in the last few years. There’s a huge array of options these days. We offer an alcohol-free substitute for all the drinks in our package including prosecco, Pimms, lager, beer and wine. No matter what you decide your guests will be happy for any complimentary drinks you choose to provide.” Hooting Owl Distillery (https://hootingowl.co.uk) is a bespoke, artisan distillery located in the City of York, creating small batch, high quality spirits for exclusive venues across the UK. It takes inspiration from the history, the military, the flora and fauna, the art and the flavours from around Yorkshire to create a top-quality range of hand-crafted spirits. The distillery’s Sophie Crosthwaite says, “Personalised cocktail menus that represent the bride and groom’s story are a wonderful idea. A mixologist from the distillery is always welcomed by guests to serve up the personalised cocktails we can create. Think something bespoke that won’t be found at anyone else’s wedding. “We’d recommend a commissioned, 1 of 1 bespoke gin, vodka or rum flavoured creation created by our master distillers. They’ll capture your story and put this into a spirit with your own design on the bottle, containing a unique combination of botanicals just for you for each table at your wedding, telling the tale of your relationship!” nickynoo © The Twins Photography 49 CATERING
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