One of the most important elements couples and wedding planners have to consider when planning an event is ‘drinks‘. From what guests will drink when they arrive at the event, what drink options will be available on the table, alcoholic or non-alcoholic options to how they’re served/presented, service points, and timings. There’s so much to consider when it comes to wedding drinks especially when it’s an African wedding. That’s because we love hosting and drinking comes hand-in-hand with eating, which we also love to do!
Because we’re good like that at LoveWeddingsNG, we’re sharing 10 drink ideas we think you should consider embedding when planning your Nigerian & African wedding. From palm wine, champagne bars and towers, and more, these ideas will elevate your wedding or event from the classic table drink options of bottled water and soft drinks and wow your guests keeping them fully fuelled throughout the day. Grab a drink & enjoy!
Creative cocktails
Cocktails are how we say “welcome to the party” alongside a good portion of small chops. They are usually served from a bar set up or at the table, in addition to standard table drinks such as bottles of water, a range of soft and alcoholic drinks. Now, here’s the twist! Your cocktails don’t have to be boring and Nigerian & African drink & cocktail vendors have proven this time and time again with the varied menus and service options. From serving cocktails in decorative mugs, cups, mini pouches, test tubes, and more, we think you should try these creative ways of serving drinks and cocktails at your wedding or event. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Personalised cocktail stirrers
Since we started off with cocktails, let’s keep the energy. Another idea you should consider to elevate your drink options at your Nigerian & African wedding is personalised cocktail stirrers. You can brand them with your wedding logo or hashtag like #IssaChillTeng, which would give your wedding an overall branded look and feel. But you can also take it further by printing each guest’s name on their own stirrer. Either way, this means they can take them home after the wedding as a souvenir.
Champagne bar
It’s one thing to serve alcoholic drinks at your wedding and event but imagine having an actual bar with hands steadily holding out glasses of your favourite bottle of champagne. We spotted this at Chioma & Wale’s #HotChile wedding in 2016.
A mobile human drinks bar
We spotted this strolling drinks table by CEP Weddings at The Luxury Wedding Show in 2016 and we’ve seen this idea at a number of weddings and events since then.
Personalised Coca-Cola bottles & cans
This trend really took off in 2014 and isn’t as popular as it used to be but definitely one to consider especially if the couple love Coca-Cola. You can choose to personalize cans and bottles with the wedding hashtag like #HotChile2016 or print each guest’s name on their Coke can like Toju & Yori. These double nicely as drinks but also as keepsakes for guests who want to take something home to remember the event.
Palm wine
This is usually a popular drink option at traditional weddings and we love everything about this. Having palm wine at your wedding served in the traditional calabashes by servers sometimes on bicycles or with the calabash dishes on their heads is definitely a great idea you should try.
Champagne towers
Another exciting way to serve champagne at your wedding. The classic champagne tower literally consists of champagne glasses that form a tower in a pyramid shape.
The couple’s cocktail mix
Even though this trend is now popular at a number of weddings and events, we believe we saw this first done by a UK-based mobile bar company, Ravissant Cocktails. To execute this successfully, your drinks and cocktail vendor needs to do a lot of pre-work and ensure the right tools are pre-measured and all easily reachable. Usually done during the after-party, the couple would usually pour all the individual bottles and cans of drinks into a giant cup in front of their guests and mix it all together (with Olamide’s Science Student usually playing in the background). Once it’s all mixed, the bride and groom serve their guests from their giant cup and everyone continues to party.
That’s a lot of drink ideas to take in so let’s take a short break. If you’re also wondering about ideas to elevate your food and catering options, you should check out the post below where we shared 15 food & drink ideas you should try at your Nigerian & African wedding.
Feel free to share your favourite drink idea in the comments or share any you think we’ve missed. We’ll leave you with some more yummy drinks to quench your thirst.
Find more wedding ideas for your Nigerian & African wedding here
