Family · christening
Wine for a christening: a family lunch, lots of children, few bottles
Forty guests including fifteen children, a new mother who is not drinking, grandparents who are driving: the christening is the meal people over-order most, because they count heads rather than glasses. The calculator is set at 60% drinkers. It gives about twenty bottles before rounding, and it will tell you if your local wine shop is enough.
The numbers for the christening lunch
Set for 40 guests, one hour of aperitif after the ceremony, a seated lunch, 60% drinkers. It is one of the lowest shares on the site, and it is realistic.
Who drinks at a christening
For 40 guests, a typical case. This table is what justifies the 60%.
| Guests | Number | Drink wine? |
|---|---|---|
| Children and teenagers | 12 to 15 | No. A christening is a children's party; the cousins bring theirs. |
| The mother, a pregnant aunt | 1 to 2 | No, or a sip at the toast. |
| Drivers with a long way home | 2 to 3 | One glass, no more. Count them as half. |
| Grandparents | 4 to 6 | Yes, but a glass or two at lunch, and no sparkling at 2 pm. |
| Adults who drink normally | 18 to 22 | Yes. These are the ones the calculator really counts. |
Result: 24 drinkers out of 40. An hour of aperitif and a lunch make 20 bottles before rounding. With the 10% margin and rounding up to the case for each colour, the calculator shows 36; with three colours instead of four, 30. To fine-tune the share exactly, the who doesn't drink page counts the children and drivers one by one and gives the soft drinks to plan.
How many bottles for a christening for 40 people?
About twenty as a raw count, 30 to 36 in full cases depending on the number of colours: six sparkling for the toast outside the church, a dozen white and a dozen red for lunch, and rosé only if it is summer. For a different number, or dinner rather than lunch, the general calculator redoes the count.
What wine for a christening lunch?
Simple, fresh wines: a dry white Bordeaux with the starter, a supple red with the main course, sparkling for the toast. It is not a meal for grands crus, it is a meal where people keep getting up from the table. The only place to go one step up is the bottle opened for the godparents.
Should you buy a bottle for the child?
It is the loveliest christening gift, and the simplest: a bottle from the year of birth, set aside for their 18th birthday. A Bordeaux for laying down, ideally in magnum, stored lying down somewhere cool. The birth wine to keep for 18 years page says which ones will last and what they cost today. If the party is before the birth, the wine for a baby shower page does the count for an afternoon that is mostly alcohol-free.
Is the calculation the same for a first communion?
Almost. A communion has fewer babies and more teenagers, so a slightly higher share of drinkers, 65%, and it falls in May, which leans towards white and rosé. The wine for a first communion page is set for that case.
Christening mistakes
- Counting 40 drinkers. There are 24. That is a difference of twelve bottles, two cases left in the garage.
- Sparkling at lunch. It has its moment as people come out of the ceremony. At the table, at 2 pm, it stays in the flutes.
- Forgetting the soft drinks. Fifteen children drink more juice than the adults drink wine. One litre per child, and water on every table.
- Buying the child's wine at the supermarket. A wine to keep for 18 years has to be chosen; it is the only purchase of the day that needs advice.
The lunch and the child's bottle on a single quote: quote request, reply within 48 working hours.