Invites/Guests: The great thing about wine tours is that you can invite a few close friends - or grab a group of 20 to take part in the festivities and have a blast either way! I would also suggest putting on the invitation for each guest to please bring a bottle of wine or a dish to pass for the limo ride – especially for those who have a 45 min to an hour ride to actual wine country. It helps to get everyone in the right spirit – and nice to have some snacks for the ride and in between!
Typical Costs: Generally you can expect to pay between $1-$3 at each winery, and although transportation costs differ depending on how many people and the day of the week, I would plan on about $30-$50 a person.
Game: On a recent wine tour, we came up with a fun game that really got the guests mingling and got the party started in a fun way (not to mention provided a fun favor for each guest!)! Here is how it works:
Preparation:
- Find out one piece of information about each guest that people may or may not know. For example: they are a twin, they went to Michigan State for college, they just bought a house, etc.
- Buy small key rings that you are able to draw/write on (We used circular paper ones which can be found at your local craft store). Going forward, we will be calling these our wine markers. J
- On each wine marker, draw or write the fun fact from #1 that depicts each guest. For example: Draw two stick figures if they are a twin, draw a Michigan State logo if they went to Michigan State, or draw a house if they just bought a house.
- When finished, hook each wine marker onto a wine glass (Check out your local Dollar Tree for a very affordable rate on wine glasses. J) to be given to the guest as a favor.
- Package each glass up in a cute bag or with cute ribbons to distribute on the day of the tour!
- Hand out, at random, each wine glass/gift bag to your guests upon their arrival.
- When everyone is settled on the limo have each guest open their favor, look at their wine marker, and try to guess which guest their wine market pertains to. For example, if their wine glass has the marker with the house on it, they have to figure out what it means (someone just bought a house) and which guest has just bought a house.
- After everyone has gone around with their guesses, have each guest trade glasses in order to get their appropriate wine glass that depicts their own fun fact.
- Have each guest start enjoying some wine in their special glass after some great laughs and learning fun facts about each other!
Misc. Fun: DIY Corkscrew earrings - Easy as 1, 2, 3! Here is a fun, easy idea to add to the guest's favor if you have extras corkscrews lying around!
- Grab your extra corkscrews and paint bunches of grapes on them.
- Buy hook earrings from your local craft store. Fasten onto the corkscrew.
- Viola! Cute earrings for you and your guests to wear on the tour! Believe me, they get a lot of talk when you are out and about and all wearing matching corkscrew earrings!
Transportation: There are many local transportation providers that include wine tour packages on their website; however even if they do not have it listed on their website, they will most likely be willing to coordinate with you depending on what you are looking for. I urge you to call around and see who can give you the best deal. Typically, if you plan on a Sunday day trip you can snag a better deal than Friday and Saturday evenings. Check out WeddingWire.com or BuffaloWedding.com for a list of some local transportation providers.
To Note: I also wanted to note that it is usually a good idea, once everything is set, to call ahead to each winery that you plan to visit. Let them know that you will be having a group come on such-and-such day at such-and-such time. This will give them time to prepare for your arrival. Many also like when your limo driver calls about 10 minutes prior to arrival as well.
Check out some more details of Niagara Wine Trail HERE.
