Beer & Wine Choices (Read my last comment)

You know, Barefoot wine is cheap but it's actually pretty good quality.

For wine your going to need more than 1 selection. At least a sweet and a dry but if it where me I would offer a Moscato, a Chardonnay, a sweet red, and a dry red. Whenever we buy wine in bulk we buy Franzia Box wine they have a good selection the only thing they don't have is a sweet red.

If you can squeeze it in the budget, I would recommend two types of wine--a red and a white. As for brands, Barefoot and Yellowtail are fairly inexpensive. [Edit: I agree with above--Franzia is inexpensive and is good for large parties.] We chose a Shiraz (semi-sweet red, I think) and Chardonnay (semi-dry white). I can't remember which but we also put in two more types of wine. I would check with your caterer to see which wines pair best with your menu!

I know you said you think you know, but since you're in Ohio, I do recommend Yuengling for a beer option--it's no so light as to offend beer snobs (like me! ) and not too dark either.

I am also a fan of Barefoot.

Do you mean one type of beer and one type of wine? I would suggest at least 2 kinds of each. I'm not very picky when it comes to alcohol, but some of your guests may really dislike one thing over the other. You know your guests best, though!

You could do a light beer and a dark beer like coors light / budweiser lager, and then a white and a red. Yellowtail is a good cheap brand of wine, too. I don't know where you live / what the liquor laws are, but generally you can buy in bulk cheaper at Costco or places like that by the case.

We actually just bought our beer and wine this weekend. We got everything at Sams Club. They had a decent selection. We were able to get a lot of different red and whites. Only spent $265 for beer and wine.

I'd recommend doing at least one red and one white wine at a minimum, but I think it's best to have 2 of each, and out of those 4 wines, include one that is on the sweeter side for those who may typically like mixed drinks or don't normally drink beer/wine. Probably easier to do a sweet white or blush such as a sweeter Riesling (some are dry, so make sure you check) or a White Zinfandel. I'd then add Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay as the other white for those who prefer a drier white. For reds, I'd stick with Cabernet Sauvignon for at least one of them since it's pretty popular. If you do a second red, I'd recommend Merlot since it's a bit more fruity than Cabernet, which tends to be very dry.

I'd go to a nice wine shop, tell them your budget and guest count, and let them provide suggestions. Most of the advice I see here is sided towards sweet, mass produced stuff that most of my friends wouldn't touch. You can get a better idea of what's locally available and offers a good enough variety from a good shop. For beer, your probably good with one of the cheap light beers (Miller lite, etc) and a lager like yuengling, Sam Adams, etc. Bud light and budweiser is not "variety," it's essentially the same junk.

^ I agree with Angela. A light and dark beer and then a red and a white wine. If you have a bartender go for those boxed nicer wines (like bota box). You get the equivalent of 4 bottles for $20 or less. Do you know if your guests would prefer sweeter wines or drier wines? What are you serving for food? Without knowing the answer to either of those questions, I would suggest a pinot grigio for the white and a cabernet sauvingon or a semi-sweet red blend for the red wine.

@Chrissy, your friends would refuse to drink Barefoot or Yellowtail even if it was free? Yikes. I love wine and don't usually buy those but I wouldn't refuse to drink them if they were free at a wedding. Not so sure about Franzia.

Lol @Hannah, I would never pass up free alcohol either! As long as it's not Natural Ice or warm white wine, I'm generally good.

They wouldn't refuse them if offered, but we'd never drink that stuff normally.

I think we are going to do one type of beer ( yuengling) and two types of wine

Agree that Yellowtail is cheap but decent. Maybe pinot grigio or sauv blanc and pinot noir? I'm not a big red drinker so I'm not sure, but I feel like those would be pretty refreshing for a June wedding. You should definitely try to offer at least one red and one white.

For beer I'd go w/ Sam Adams Boston lager or summer ale. Not too pricey, pretty good and appeals to a wide variety.

Do you have a Costco? Seriously get a Cab and a Chardonnay from there and be happy. They do large bottles and regular sized ones. And their Kirkland labels are high end liquors.

However I would do 2 whites and 2 reds and 2 beers if you can budget it.

Do you have Kroger? They sell Baybridge wine usually for $3 per bottle with a Kroger Plus card and it's really good. I've been to some very upscale parties that served it and no one knew it wasn't expensive wine.

I definitely recommend at least a white and a red.

We had one full keg of beer (local ale that my husband and I love), and then 4 types of wine (blackberry wine, pinot grigio, cab sav, chardonney). We got married at a winery so a good amount of wine was had.

I would have a red and white wine and then one or two options for beer (light and dark).

If you're bringing your own, Trader Joe's has an $11 box wine and 3 buck chuck wine. Both are great.

I think we will probably go with Barefoot based on what friends have recommended and what everyone here is saying. A friend recommended Barefoot Riesling for white. Any recommendations for red from barefoot?

I'm not sure where you live, but I go to Total Wines. If you go there, you can speak to a wine expert. You can tell them what you need and they will make great suggestions based on your budget. We had our engagement party recently and we had two reds, two whites, and a blush. One of the reds we had was Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz. It was a big hit with our family friends and quite inexpensive. I think it was a little over 7 dollars a bottle. So ask around, you can find some good stuff at a decent price.

I was recently at a wedding where they had Night Harvest wine that was $3 a bottle..it was actually great! Considering they paid $250 a plate....I was shocked that was what they paid for the wine! It was so good. Trader Joes Three Buck Chuck is great too.