There are so many ways to incorporate personal touches into your wedding day. Adding your favorite song lyrics to your reading, including your new monogram on your dinner napkins, and serving up a signature cocktail are simple ways to elevate your special day and make it a little more unique to you and your partner. Naming your wedding's signature drink (or drinks!) something special is another easy way to add a personalized element to the day. But with so many options out there, how do you come up with the perfect signature drink names?
If you put too much pressure on yourselves, coming up with personalized signature wedding drink names can be stressful, but it's important to remember that this is a fun way to liven up your cocktail hour. Crafting drink names doesn't have to be overwhelming. Whether you're mixing a fresh gin recipe, a wine cocktail, or even putting a fun twist on craft beers, these expert tips for naming your customized cocktail will make it a breeze.
Photo by Valorie Darling
Tips for Naming Your Wedding's Signature Cocktail
Not sure where to begin? Here are a few ways to find the right name for your signature wedding cocktail.
Ask Your Bartender
Who better to help you name your mixed drink than the bartender who will serve it up to your guests? Ask your bartender what the cocktail's key ingredients are, how it's prepared, and how it's served to spark inspiration. One of those elements could spark a creative idea. Another option? Ask them if there are any signature cocktail names they've been particularly impressed by in the past.
Schedule a Tasting
You wouldn't choose a wedding menu or cake without having a tasting first, so why wouldn't you work with your bartender to do the same for your signature drink? Get even more help from your bartender by planning a cocktail-tasting months before the wedding.
Use a Clever Pun or Classic Wedding Words
Whether it's a play on your new last name, a clever rhyme, or a wedding-related pun, making your signature drink's name something lighthearted is a great way to make your sip memorable.
When in doubt, toss in a wedding word to give your go-to drink that just-married factor. Rather than picking any old cocktail, start your search for the right beverage by brainstorming cocktails with ingredients you love and then using those flavors for your name, says Jaclyn Fisher, owner of Jaclyn Fisher Events in Philadelphia. "Vodka Rosemary Lemonade could be Vodka Rose-Marry Me Lemonade," she says, "Or Spiked Apple Cider could be renamed Apple of My Eye."
Make cocktail hour simple by serving drinks that already have wedding-worthy names, like the Blushing Bride, which is made with champagne, fruit nectar, and grenadine.
Photo by Rebecca Yale Photography
Get Inspired by a Destination
You don't have to throw a destination wedding to take your guests to a new location. Use your signature drink as a way to celebrate a city you love, the place you met, or a time period that intrigues you. You could also name it after your honeymoon destination or a locale you visited early on in your relationship.
Of course, if you are traveling long distances, you can use the destination as inspiration, too. This could mean naming the drink after the actual city (e.g. a Sparkling Charleston Cosmopolitan), drawing inspiration from the surrounding culture (e.g. a Southern Belle-Ini), or putting a twist on the name of an already-popular drink in the area.
Keep It Simple
You want to surprise and delight your guests with your cocktail's name, but you don't want to make it such a tongue-twister that they'll have no clue what they're getting. A great drink name is playful and unique but also indicative of what guests are about to enjoy.
In addition to placing a sign with the drink's ingredients at the bar, consider including the main ingredient or alcohol in the cocktail's name for clarity.
Incorporate the Season
Just as the season informs the details of your wedding, it can help you with cocktail names too. "For weddings in the summer months, stick with something cool and refreshing like a Moscow Mule, named the Marry Me Mule," says Fisher.
Photo by Stephanie Vegliante
Make It Personal
Your wedding is the one day that should be all about you and your partner. Use your own names (and nicknames) or incorporate your new, shared last name. Likewise, you can incorporate words associated with your favorite hobbies and sports, the name of your pet, or anything else you like to make the signature drink names really reflect who the two of you are.
Tie in Your Wedding Theme
Let your wedding theme dictate the name of your drinks. For a fresh, farm-to-table signature drink name, try a Greenhouse Tonic or a Cucumber Collins with fresh ingredients to match, naturally. For a garden party-themed wedding, think floral-inspired cocktails adorned with lavender sprigs.
Use Your Color Palette
Colors are particularly easy, and there are so many fun options to choose from. Keep it simple with a Something Blue, Pretty in Pink, Purple Passion, Mellow Yellow, or a Sweet Peach Punch.
Photo by Amrit Photography
Signature Cocktail Name Examples
You don't have to invent a name! Use one of these—or let the list inspire something even better.
- Bloody Marry Me
- Apple-y Ever After Martini
- Something Old-Fashioned
- Mint-to-Be Mojito
- Tall and Handsome
- Main-Squeeze Margarita
- Love Potion
- Altar-ed State
- Blushing Bride
- Grinning Groom
- Be Mine Wine
- I-Do Brew
- The Perfect Pear
- Vodka Rose-Marry Me Lemonade
- Apple of My Eye
- Sparkling Charleston Cosmopolitan
- Southern Belle-Ini
- Marry Me Mule
- Greenhouse Tonic
- Cucumber Collins
- Something Blue
- Pretty in Pink
- Purple Passion
- Mellow Yellow
- Sweet Peach Punch
- Two Less Fish in the Sea
- Matrimony Martini
- Mister Margarita
- Love Bite
- About Thyme
- Mai Gai
- Bloody Marry
- Forever & Ale-Ways
- Amber Moon & Back
- Drunk in Love
- Something Blue Lagoon
- Say I Do Sangria
- Honey I Do Martini
- Sippin on Lynn & Juice
- Shiso Vain
- A Shrub Is a Guy Who Thinks He's Fly
