Wedding champagne...

"Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words." - Plautus

Champagne is a popular choice at wedding celebrations... but as with all wines, champagne varies in price, appearance and taste. So if you're buying champagne for your wedding, it's important to know exactly what you're looking for.

The most popular time to enjoy champagne at your wedding is during the speeches when a glass of champagne is given to each guest to enjoy the toasts. You might also want to offer champagne as a welcome drink, or even to accompany the pudding and wedding cake. If you’re feeling extra extravagant you could serve champagne throughout the wedding breakfast - well-chosen champagne can pair well with fish, poultry and meat.

Which champagne should you choose? Unless you're a real champagne connoisseur and planning on serving champagne throughout the celebrations, chances are you'll want to choose one label that will work well as a welcome drink and for toasts. To suit all your guests, it's wise to stick to a brut (dry), well-balanced wine that isn’t too heavy or full bodied. Rosé champagne is certainly worth a consideration - the delicate pink tone being perfect for a romantic wedding. If you can, have a tasting - perhaps buying one bottle to enjoy at home before you make your final decision.

How much are your guests likely to drink? This is a tricky question - it all depends on how strict you're going to be and how much your guests are in the mood for a party! If you're offering champagne as a welcome drink, you should provide at least one glass per person, two if you're feeling more generous. If you're serving canapés and expecting guests to mingle for quite a while before sitting down to the wedding breakfast, two glasses is wise. One glass is perfect for toasts. A bottle of champagne contains around six glasses so, as a guide, allow around half a bottle per person.

Do you bring your own or does your venue supply the champagne? Many hotels and venues will have champagne on their wedding list so ask whether you can bring in your own champagne and pay corkage. If the price and the champagne are exactly what you're looking for, it's a perfect situation. If you feel it is too expensive, or there's particular champagne that you would like to serve, you could ask whether the venue would buy it in for your wedding and how much they would charge to do so.

How much should you spend per bottle? How much do you want to spend per bottle? As with everything else, it's important to work out your budget when it comes to champagne. It's obviously going to be more expensive than the wine. As a rough guide, if you're buying a good-quality non-vintage champagne, you should expect to pay between £15 and £25 per bottle. Venues will often charge a good mark up on this. Vintage champagne is wonderful but prices will rise considerably. It's perhaps best saved for one special bottle for the two of you to share!