How to throw the perfect Champagne Reception
13 top tips to make your event unforgettable
These days just about every invitation you receive says on it " Champagne Reception", but there’s far more to a successful event that simply serving a glass of something bubbly to guests as they arrive. Besides, everyone does that, so what will make YOUR event special?
Organising a great party is an art, so to help you make your event not just stylish, but really memorable, here are my top 13 tips that I learned during a decade working in France for
Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon, where they organise some of the most fabulous soirées imaginable
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Before the event1 ) Invitations
If you really want to build up some anticipation, then the earlier you send out your invitations the better. Wouldn’t you be impressed and intrigued if someone asked you to reserve a date 6 months in advance?
To further intrigue your prospective guests you can keep the exact nature of the event secret on the first ‘ save the date’ invitation. You can reveal more about the event as the date approaches.
If you’re going to send out invitations that early though, you definitely will need to send out reminders, at least once, as the date of the event draws closer.
- However, in most cases sending invitations out about 6- 8 weeks prior to the event works well.
If you leave it much later guests will think they are on the ‘reserve list ‘
- Don’t send invitations by e-mail; always use printed invitations and send them by post. It’s much more personal and you can be creative with the design.
It’s O.K. to do the follow-up over the ‘phone.
- 2 weeks prior to the event – chase up those who have not yet replied.
- The day before/of the event - do a final check on those who are coming. A last- minute ‘phone call is never a bad idea.
Despite all your efforts expect a drop-out rate of about 5% on the day.
2 ) Be ready for the first guest
Always ensure that the hosts are on hand to welcome the first guests.
Resist the temptation to just finish off that last piece of work. If you’re one of the hosts then your priority for that day MUST be your guests and it is quite simply rude not to be ready to welcome your guests when they arrive.
This is less crucial when you know your guests very well, but if you’re meeting the guests for the first time, or if you don’t yet know the guests too well, it will create a poor impression for the outset if the host is not ready.
You may think this is stating the obvious, but you’d be surprised at how frequently it happens.
3 ) Decide what drinks you’re going to serve. Champagne or Sparkling Wine?
These days almost every invitation you see says on it "Champagne Reception", but in reality that’s not always what you get.
- Don’t invite guests to a champagne reception and then serve them sparkling wine.
- If the budget doesn’t allow champagne, then sparkling wine is fine, but if you serve sparkling wine it goes without saying that you shouldn’t put "champagne reception" on the invitation.
- Realise that most people don’t notice what it is that you’re serving..... unless you make a point of telling them ( see below )
4)
Don’t waste your moneyThe fact of the matter is that the majority of people find champagne fun and enticing, even if, or perhaps particularly if, they are not regular champagne drinkers. They are usually eager to know a little more about it.
This presents the host with a superb opportunity to delight the guests and give a little extra style to the event by selecting a champagne that is a little special in some way.
If you decide to serve a special champagne your guests will certainly appreciate it, but only if you make sure that they know about it ( and if you don’t think the champagne you have chosen is special in some way, then ask yourself why you have chosen it in the first place).
A good way to let people know what champagne they are being served is to pour the champagne in front of your guests as they arrive. This means that they see the bottle and know what you’ve selected for them.
Besides, it’s fun to see the foam ( the mousse ) dancing up the glass as it is poured.
If the glass is already poured and waiting on a tray this is not possible. Unfortunately this is what you get at most receptions. Whilst that’s understandable from a practical point of view, it means that your guests won’t know what it is that you are serving.
One way to get round this conundrum is to have a waiter holding the bottle and standing next to the waiter who is holding the tray of full glasses.
It’s a good idea to have lots of water available throughout the event, but jugs of iced water are quite adequate.
During the eventThe task of organising a successful party doesn’t stop when the guests arrive; in fact that’s when the real work begins.
5 ) Have a framework to the event
It’s common to mark the start of the evening with a short speech. You can use this speech to tell your guests what is planned for the event. This is especially important if you’re saving a surprise for later ( see point 10 ) .It’s a good idea to mark the end of the evening with a few words too. This tells guests that the evening is over and they are free to leave if they wish and it avoids them feeling awkward if they have to go. It also gives a reassuring format to the whole event.
6) Introduce people
Most people gravitate to the people they know and stay with them most of the evening. That’s fun if you’re one of the crowd, but not much fun if you’re not. Your job as host/hostess is to make sure people meet others they don’t already know.7) Don’t leave anyone out
Be on the lookout for people who don’t seem to find it easy to mingle. Approach them, introduce yourself and introduce them to other guests or to the person who invited them.8 ) Don’t monopolise guests.
There comes a time in every conversation when you feel it’s time to move on. To do this politely, just offer to introduce the person you’re with to someone else or to another group. Don’t just move away and leave them alone.
If you see anyone who looks as if they’re being monopolised by another guest from whom they can’t get away. Step in and invite them both to come and meet some other guests.
9 ) Making connections
.In a large gathering assign a host to look after specific guests or groups of guests. That way you can ensure that certain people meet and get to know specific other people.
Try giving different colour name badges to different groups of guests and giving a corresponding colour badge to the host who will be looking after each group. This simple trick makes it easier for the host to identify the guests he/she is responsible for.
10 ) Keep the excitement going
Always keep a little surprise in store for later in the evening to keep the energy and interest levels high. This can be a prize, a special guest arriving, or indeed a special champagne being served.11) Catering - quality
Do what you can to match the food to the champagne/wine.
Rather than just giving the caterer a budget and letting them get on with it, find a little time to give some attention to the choice of food and how well it goes with the champagne.
You don’t need to be an expert to get some good results - any decent caterer with be able to give you some advice about this - but if you want the champagne/food matching to be perfect ( and if not, why not? ) then send me an e-mail at
jiles@madaboutbubbly.comWhat I said in tip 4 about champagne applies equally to the food. If you go to the trouble of choosing some special dishes for your guests, make sure you tell them what exactly you’re serving. You can get the waiters to tell the guests as the food is handed round, or you can put little cards on each tray of canapés. You’ll come up with other ideas too if you give it some thought.
12) Catering - quantity
Adjust the quantity of food as the event progresses.
When people arrive they’ll be a little hungry, so prepare a little more of whatever food you plan to serve at this stage.
Later on, when you may well be serving different food ( a dessert perhaps ) you can reduce the quantity of food a little – people will be less hungry and others will have left early.
The same applies to the champagne. If you’re serving several different champagnes at different stages of the evening, allow for more of the first than the second and more of the second than the third and so on
After the event
13) Gifts
It’s a nice touch to present a small gift to each person as they leave – a goody bag is a popular choice- but the host/hostesses job is not all over when the last guest leaves the party.Why not consider sending a gift to those guests who were unable to attend?
If they were important enough to invite in the first place, it’s wise to maintain a good relationship by showing that you missed them and they’ll appreciate the thought.
Even a small postcard saying they were missed will have a teriffic impact.
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I hope that you find these few tips helpful. Most are simple and easy to implement and if you do, you will be well on the way to making your event the one that’s talked about for weeks to come.
Jiles Halling
Website: www.madaboutbubbly.com
Phone: 0845 123 1284Email: jiles@madaboutbubbly.com
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