12 Seasonal Wedding Cocktails to Wow Guests All Year Round
About The Author: Reeka Events is a luxury catering company specialising in bespoke weddings in the Cotswolds. With over 15 years of industry experience, Reeka is an expert in ensuring your wedding day runs as planned and tastes incredible.
When planning your wedding, it is all too easy to focus on the dress, venue or flowers; after all, they are the foundations of any wedding day. But make sure you don’t overlook other important details such as the drinks!
Many venues offer standard bar menus, but creating your own personalised menu is special and growing in popularity each year. We are sharing a list of wedding cocktails for every season, so no matter when your big day is, there's a drink to make your celebration unique to the elements.
Why not invite your bridal party over and try some of these at home before asking your caterer to add them to the menu? Ingredients and steps are all listed below. Enjoy!
Spring Wedding Cocktails
Spring is a gorgeous time for a wedding. The sun awakens from its hibernation, wildflowers bloom, and waves of fresh air fill our lungs. This sense of new beginnings and the essence of nature is captured in our selection of cocktails, beginning with a beautiful Italian classic.
Bellini
The Bellini is a perfect drink to sip on straight after the ceremony. This classy, sparkling, and fresh cocktail with elegant peach aromas is an easy step up from serving regular glasses of prosecco without complicating the palate too early in the day.
Ingredients
Champagne flute
10ml peach liqueur
10ml peach puree
Topped up with prosecco
Gently stir
Peach and mint to garnish
Steps
Mix the liqueur and puree in a champagne flute.
Top with prosecco and gently stir.
(Optional) Add peach and mint to garnish
Bramble
Spring is the perfect time for berry picking; therefore, this well-balanced gin & blackberry liqueur classic perfectly matches a Spring wedding. This cocktail tastes exactly how it looks, with the lemon and blackberry garnishes allowing you to smell the sweet aromas with every sip.
Ingredients
Rocks glass
40ml gin
20ml fresh lemon juice
10ml sugar syrup
20ml blackberry liqueur
1 lemon wedge and 2 blackberries to garnish
Crushed Ice
Steps
Shake gin, lemon and syrup with ice,
Add crushed ice to the glass and add mixture through a strainer
Pour your blackberry liqueur gently on top to create a float
Add lemon and blackberries to garnish
Mint Julep
This bourbon-forward cocktail is a minty, cooling classic. It is traditionally served in a frosty cold julep tin, with the metal keeping the drink cooler for longer on those warm days. Be sure to bash the mint leaves to express the natural oils, filling the air with minty freshness.
Ingredients
Julep tin
60ml Bourbon
10ml Sugar syrup
8-12 mint leaves
Mint sprig garnish
Crushed ice
Steps
Muddle the mint leaves in syrup
Add the bourbon and crushed ice then stir until the tin is frosted on the outside
Add mint sprig for garnish
Summer Wedding Cocktails
The sun is beating down, your wedding dress is flowing in the warm summer breeze, and the groomsmen have already removed their suit jackets in the heat – it’s time for a summer cocktail!
Aperol Spritz
Being an aperitif, Aperol Spritz is a perfect cocktail for your reception. With its crisp taste and fruity aromas, there’s a reason that this cocktail is a staple at any summer wedding. The Aperol Spritz was designed by Aperol themselves, so you know it’s a great choice.
Ingredients
Wine glass
Prosecco 60ml
Aperol 40ml
Soda water 20ml
Orange slice
Ice
Steps
In a wine glass with ice, mix the Prosecco, Aperol, and soda water.
Garnish with an orange slice
White Lady
This delicate and refreshing cocktail is a beautiful, light cocktail. The gin and triple sec create a stunning botanical-orange mix, with the lemon juice and sugar syrup adding a refreshing sweet and citrusy punch. Switch out the sugar syrup for grenadine for a fruitier taste if you prefer.
Ingredients
Martini glass
40ml gin
20ml triple sec
30ml lemon juice
10ml sugar syrup
Lemon zest
Ice
Steps
Shake the gin, triple sec, lemon juice, and sugar syrup in a shaker with ice.
Strain into a chilled martini glass with a lemon zest garnish.
Paloma
While stories of the origins of the Paloma are unknown, it has risen to the occasion and become Mexico’s aperitif of choice. The Paloma, or ‘dove’ in Spanish, is sweet, sour, and salty in just one sip. Move aside Margarita, this tequila-based cooler is always a hit on a summer wedding day.
Ingredients
Salt-rimmed highball glass
60ml tequila
60ml grapefruit juice
10ml sugar syrup
10ml fresh lime juice
Topped with soda water
Grapefruit slice
Ice
Steps
Fill the glass with ice
Mix tequila, grapefruit juice, sugar syrup, and lime juice in the salt-rimmed glass.
Top with soda water and stir
Garnish with a grapefruit slice.
Autumn Wedding Cocktails
With the most popular wedding date of 2024 being the 23rd of September, autumn is many couples' favourite time of the year to tie the knot. It’s not too cool for an ice-cold drink and not so hot that we’re knocking them back through dehydration! Autumn is a time for savouring, and these cocktails truly embrace the fall during your big celebration.
Caramel Apple Martini
While the classic crisp Apple Martini is a stunner on its own, adding the warming sensations of caramel makes this cocktail all the more autumnal. This is a flavour combination your guests will undoubtedly already be familiar with at this time of year.
Ingredients
Caramel-rimmed martini glass
40ml vodka
20ml apple liqueur
30ml fresh lemon juice
10ml caramel syrup
Lemon zest
Ice
Steps
Add ice, vodka, apple liqueur, lemon juice, and caramel syrup into a shaker
Shake then pour into a chilled caramel-rimmed martini glass.
Garnish with lemon zest.
El Diablo
This fiery cocktail has been around for nearly 80 years and will always be a hit at your autumn wedding. The sweetly acidic crème de cassis adds the perfect tartness to the spicy sensation of the ginger beer. It is the perfect cocktail to serve during your reception.
Ingredients
Highball glass
30ml Tequila
10ml Crème de Cassis
10ml fresh lime juice
Ginger beer
Lime wedge
Ice
Steps
Add the tequila, creme de cassis and lime juice into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
Strain into a glass over fresh ice and top with the ginger beer.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
Godfather
This cocktail is simple and made to be sipped. Whether or not you’re a scotch lover, this cocktail will impress your guests with the spiced vanilla notes from the scotch merging perfectly with the nutty sweetness of the amaretto.
Ingredients
Rocks glass
30ml Blended scotch whisky
30ml Amaretto
No garnish
Ice
Steps
Add a handful of ice to a glass and stir blended scotch whisky with Amaretto
Winter Wedding Cocktails
The fireplace is lit, fairy lights twinkle from every corner, and the worry of sweat ruining your make-up is non-existent. If you’re planning a winter wedding, these fiery cocktails will certainly warm you and your guests up!
Brandy Alexander
Starting with The Grasshopper's sister cocktail, this cocktail is perfect when served with or after dessert. Its indulgent, rich flavours and the creaminess of the texture will make every guest in the room swoon.
Ingredients
Martini glass
Brandy 40ml
Dark cacao liqueur 20ml
Milk or cream 40ml
Grated nutmeg on top
Ice
Steps
Add brandy, dark cacao liqueur and milk/cream into a shaker with ice.
Shake until well-chilled.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or a coupe glass.
Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.
Spiced Negroni
A winter take on this classic cocktail will make your wedding menu truly unique. This is one cocktail your guests will talk about long after your special day. Either buy already-infused gin or make your own using classic winter spices such as star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, and charred orange slices. It’s basically Christmas in a glass!
Ingredients
Rocks glass
20ml spice-infused gin
20ml Campari
20ml sweet vermouth
Charred orange slice
Ice
Steps
Pour spiced gin, Campari and vermouth into a glass of ice.
Garnish with star anise, cinnamon stick and orange twist or wedge
Classic Champagne Cocktail
Ending with one of the most simple and elegant cocktails, this decadent, celebratory drink is perfect for the reception and speeches, with the gentle bitterness of the angostura soaking through the sweetness of the sugar cube.
Ingredients
Champagne flute
Angostura-soaked sugar cube
20ml cognac
Topped up with champagne
No garnish
Steps
Place an Angostura-soaked sugar cube in a champagne flute.
Add cognac and top with champagne.
That rounds up our list of multi-season cocktails. Regardless of when you’re getting married, you now have a special cocktail to match the time of year! Which of these drinks has your mouth watering and eager to try? Don’t forget to check for any wedding guests' dietary or allergy requirements before finalising your food and drink menu.
Ready to bring your wedding caterer vision to life? Here at Reeka Events, we’re experts at creating wedding feasts and cocktails that are truly unforgettable.
Request a free bespoke quote with us today and discover why we are the best luxury caterer in the Cotswolds.
