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Tying the knot without the bad banquet beers.
The enjoyment of craft beer for most has transcended just sitting back and enjoying a beer from time to time. For many, the diversity and artisanal aspects of fine beers–whether local or from around the world–has become part of a lifestyle. You may have a nice sessionable local brew at home after a long day of work. Maybe you enjoy a nice spicy and earthy saison with dinner. Or perhaps, you celebrate a victory by breaking out a finely aged bottle from the cellar. No matter what the event, there’s always a craft beer that pairs appropriately with the occasion.
So, it’s only natural that after the question’s been popped (and hopefully, she said “yes”), that when you’re planning the big day, you include your favorite craft beers as part of the celebration, rather than the common macros and watered down liquor found in the wedding hall.
So how does one go about incorporating their beer lifestyle into their special day? Sure, it’s easy enough to have a few kegs of craft at your selected reception venue. Or, even if they aren’t willing to tap your selection, at the very least, they should be abe to keep a few six packs cold for the bride and groom behind the bar. But, if you and your soulmate have a true affinity for fine crafts and imports, chances are, this just simply isn’t enough. The good news is that in a region where craft beer has become a rich part of the culture, there are many ways that a newly engaged couple can plan to include beer as part of their wedding celebration.
The Engagement Party & Rehearsal Dinner
The engagement party and rehearsal dinner are great opportunities to incorporate beer to kick off the long road ahead to planning and having the wedding. And perhaps, it’s a great opportunity to compromise on just how far you go in having beer invade your wedding, if you find yourself in a relationship where only one person is the fanatic.
Since these festivities are generally limited to immediate family and the selected bridal party, there are a number of great restaurants which provide seating for large parties and offer an excellent selection of beer. Now generally, these locations wouldn’t be large enough to facilitate an entire wedding reception, but they would be great for these occasions. A few in the area, which offer great food and an incredible beer list, include any of the Iron Hill Breweries, which have private party rooms; Yards Brewing Co., which offers its tasting room for private parties and can be catered, too; or the Iron Abbey in Horsham, PA, if you’re looking for a more diverse selection of craft and import beers. If the budget is tight, a great option is to have your event at one of the area’s many BYOBs. You’ll save a substantial amount by bringing cases of your own selection.
Save the Dates & Invitations
If you’re going for an all-out beer theme, you might as well tease your guests of the overindulgence of craft beers they can anticipate. Beer Coasters – Custom beer coasters are a great way to promote the festivities. If you have a friend who’s savvy with design programs, chances are, they can come up with something pretty cool for you. Printing the coasters isn’t terribly expensive either, although they need to be ordered in bulk. Just doing a Google search for “custom beer coasters” gives you many printers that can produce the coasters for you for just a few hundred dollars. And, what do you do with all of the extras since you’ll have 1000 or more? Use them at the wedding to add flare to the tables or bundle them up as one of the wedding favors your guests can take home with them.
A Bottle of Beer – Start by saving enough beer bottles for your invitations. Scrubbing and washing bottles isn’t fun, but it will save you some money. The other option is to buy empty and clean bottles from your local homebrew shop. Then, create your custom bottle label. Generally, a beer label is about 3.5”x 3” in size. Again, if you have a friend who is design-savvy, they could do this for you. But you can also use programs like Microsoft Word and setup your document for creating labels and design something simple by using nice fonts. Print your labels on nice paper and use rubber cement to apply them to bottles. Cap them with blank caps and a capper found from a homebrew store. Or, if you plan on featuring a specific brewer, drop by the brewery or write them an e-mail. Most would be happy to send you some of their caps and even their neck labels to help you out. To ship, make sure you use plenty of bubble wrap since these are fragile. And, the best box to ship them in are 3” x 12” Kraft mailing tubes found on uline.com.
Bottle Caps – For a simpler invitation, get pre-designed templates that are simplistic and not overly ornamented. Make sure they are either fitting your wedding colors or are neutral. To add a simple piece of flare, use a hot glue gun to adhere a bottle cap of one of the featured brands to an area of whitespace on the invitation.
Wedding Officiant
If you’re looking for someone to perform your ceremony who is a craft beer lover much like you and your future spouse, look no further– Reverend Kirk T. Berlenbach of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Roxborough is your guy. Reverend Kirk not only enjoys craft beer but brings together members of his congregation to participate in a homebrew club at his church. He is also the organizer of the annual “Beer Barons to Homebrewers” event which is a homebrew contest and historical tour of the grave sites of many early 20th century beer barons buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd. Although Episcopalian, Reverend Kirk offers a great deal of flexibility in the ceremonies he offers. He can do ceremonies formally or informally. He can present a very religious ceremony or more casual and non-denominational ceremony. But most of all, he helps and supports his couples through the wedding process and provides a great deal of ease to an occasion that without a doubt, can be stressful to prepare for.
The Venue
Whether you’re having a traditional church wedding and only looking for the perfect craft beer reception venue, or looking for a space that can accommodate both the ceremony and reception, there are great locations throughout the region which offer plenty of space for weddings, large or small.
Stoudt’s Brewing Co., Adamstown – Stoudt’s has been doing beer weddings probably longer than the rest. Their facilities are well suited for large weddings. They have an extensive catering menu and plenty of great opportunities for photo ops around the brewery or in Stoudtburg Village, the neighboring shops and dining complex designed and inspired by old Europe, with German-like architecture, brick roads, gardens, and fountains.
Victory Brewing Co., Downingtown – Victory offers both casual and more formal dining in their private party space that is very reasonable in cost. They can best accommodate medium-sized weddings ranging in size from 70 to about 100 people. Their staff is incredibly attentive and always makes sure glasses are filled with
their wide variety of beers on tap. In addition to photos from around the restaurant and exterior, there are several farms and parks in the area perfect for photos. An especially endearing location is the Mill at Anselma along the Pickering Creek and is only 10 minutes from the brewery.
Triumph Brewing Co., New Hope and Philadelphia – Whether looking in the suburbs or in downtown Philadelphia, both of these Pennsylvania Triumphs feature upstairs banquet facilities that are modern and overlook the brewery’s fermentation tanks. The facilities can accommodate upwards of 200 people with several buffet dining options. The New Hope location offers many different photo opportunities throughout farms and parks in the area or along the rustic Delaware River. The downtown Triumph provides diverse locations from Love Park, to the hustle and bustle in the streets of Philly, or the quaint styling of Old City, to the more picturesque and park-like atmosphere of Penn’s Landing along the Delaware River.
Manayunk Brewing Co., Manayunk – Much like Triumph, Manayunk Brewing Co. offers an upstairs banquet facility that is modern, clean, and private, overlooking Main Street Manayunk. The loft-styled space can accommodate up to 150 people and offers packages for cocktail receptions, seated service, or buffets. For photos, the brewery sits along the Schuylkill River and the beautiful landscapes of Fairmount Park are only a few miles away.
The Cake
Why not have a chocolate cake made with a nice, luscious, dark stout? Or a spice cake made with a hoppy IPA? Challenge the baker you’re working with to incorporate beer into their cake recipe. When they’re decorating it, have them use hops and grain-like patterns the same way they would other flowers by piping or painting on fondant. Or, if you want a more earthy and rustic looking cake, incorporate real, whole leaf hops as a decorative element. The only thing missing would be a craft beer cake topper, which can be quite hard to find. Neat, crafty ideas may include finding blank, miniature beer bottles and painting them like a bride and groom. Or, seek a bride and groom figurine toasting with a pint glass in hand.
Flowers and Favors
Beer bottles of diverse shapes and sizes including growlers, bombers, or even typical 12oz. bottles with their labels, make awesome centerpieces and decorative elements for flowers. If you’re going for a more rustic vibe, leave the flowers aside and fill the bottles with stalks of dried wheat. For candles on the table, fill the bases of clear candle holders with various roasted malts below a tea light candle. If you have a friend who is a homebrewer (or you yourself are a homebrewer) have a special beer made for your guests to take home and enjoy. Bottle it and label it as a tribute to your ceremony and offer it at the door as your guests leave. If having your own beer made isn’t an option, perhaps a custom pint glass? A single color graphic on a glass to commemorate the occasion can be as cheap as $1 per glass, depending on quantity and where you go. Seek a local screen printer or search the web to get the best deal. If the budget is tight or you want to do something simple and easy, create little bags of chocolate covered pretzels.
Beer
Obviously, no beer-themed wedding would be complete without the beer. Unfortunately, it’s likely that many of your friends and family members do not share the same love and passion for beer that you do. There are likely many macro-drinkers, many winos, and probably a handful of people that prefer their fruity mixed drinks. Although the wedding is your special day, you do have an obligation to make sure there’s something for everybody. If you’re going to keep wine and liquor as an option, that should cover most of the challenge. If you’re getting married at a brewpub or brewery, you’re going to be limited to whatever they make and can offer.
If you are getting married at a facility that will give you options on the beers you serve, make sure you have a beer for everyone, not just something extreme that you and your other craft beer compatriots will appreciate. A staple is Victory Lager. This is a great substitute for your macro American light-lager drinkers. Then, keep the rest of the beers on the sessionable side. Remember, the festivities are long and there will be plenty of drinking. Too high of an ABV, especially for the inexperienced, can have disastrous consequences.
And finally, replace your champagne toast with a nice, easy-going beer that everyone can appreciate. Toast your new marriage with a mild Belgian-style saison or a slightly sweet and delicate blonde. Picking your toasting beer is actually the best part of planning because it gives you an excuse to hit your favorite bottle shop and pick a bunch of nice, higher end bottles to taste to find the perfect match for you and your new bride or groom. Forget freezer burnt cake, once you’ve decided on your celebratory beer, make sure to pick up an extra bottle to age for your one year anniversary.
These are just some of the ideas to fill your special day with craft beer bliss. There are plenty more venues in the area and creative ideas you can incorporate into the festivities. The most important thing is to have fun and share in this special occasion with your friends and loved ones. To all those recently engaged or married, congratulations and good luck!
