Planning a wedding in France comes with one simple rule: the bubbles must flow in your wedding drinks.

Whether you serve Champagne or Crémant, your wedding beverages set the mood the moment guests arrive.

When I chat with couples about catering, the same worry often comes up: “We want Champagne, but it’s expensive.”

In France, a good everyday Champagne is not as costly as in the UK, Ireland or North America, but you still don’t have to use it for every glass. That’s where Crémant becomes your best friend for wedding reception drinks.

To most guests—especially three glasses into the drinks reception wedding—Champagne and Crémant look exactly the same in a flute. Both are sparkling, festive and perfect as reception drinks.

The main difference is geography.

By law, a sparkling wine can only be called Champagne if it comes from the Champagne region in northeast France. Crémant is also high‑quality sparkling wine, made in the same traditional method, but in other regions such as Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy or Limoux.

This gives you a lot of choice for stylish cocktails for weddings.

The big difference you will notice is price.

If you buy your own wedding bar stock in France, you might find Champagne from about €20 a bottle and Crémant from around €5. If you work with a traiteur, you can simply ask them to quote both options for your wedding beverages and compare.

From a photographer’s point of view, the sparkling pour is always a highlight of the wedding drinks story: the way afternoon light catches the bubbles, the laughter when a cork flies, or the perfect symmetry of a champagne tower.

The camera doesn't care about the pedigree. It's there to catch the happiness and the sparkle. If you have ordered a "Champagne Tower, you may go with the Crémant -it’s just as bubbly and you won’t mind too much if some ends up on the tablecloth.

If you love the prestige of Champagne but want to keep your budget sane, try a mix‑and‑match plan for your wedding cocktails.

Serve a crisp, refreshing Crémant, like Crémant de Bordeaux, during the vin d’honneur when guests are mingling and drinking freely. Then bring out the Champagne for the big moments: speeches, cake‑cutting and the key toasts.

In the end, whether you choose Champagne, Crémant or a mix of both, your wedding drinks will help your day feel authentically French.

Santé!

I’m Lana Dowling, a wedding and elopement photographer based between Cognac and Bordeaux, creating cinematic, emotional images across south‑west France. Whether you’re just starting to dream about a wedding in south‑west France or already know exactly where you want to say your vows, I’m here to share everything I’ve learned from a decade of photographing couples in chateaux, vineyards and by the Atlantic coast. So you can plan your day with confidence and feel completely at ease in front of the camera.