Drinking at the weddings

The food is a big part of the medieval experience, but another detail is the drinks. As usually my posts are written with a Danish/ North European perspective.

For our wedding the guests will drink the medieval drink: Luthendrank when they arrive. It's a decoction of cinnamon and herbs, a recipe actually written down in medieval times and preserved - *source (danish). It can be served both hot and cold and made on either red og white wine. There's a recipe on the source website, historiskmad.dk, and if you want it just write me and I'll translate for you. :-)

Ale was a very common beverage and probably drunk with most meals. Often it was brewed on barley. The difference between ale and beer, is that beer contains hops. If you want to read more the book Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England by Judith Bennett.
The aristocracy drank ale but also imported wine from the Rhine area in Germany and from the south like Italy. Both read and white wine was known.

Juice/lemonade made from either berries from the forrest or elderflowers: instead of Coca-cola and the likes for the kids. Alcoholic versions like apple cider is also known.

I myself have a soft spot for mead. I even have a little cow horn to drink it from

As water could be contaminated, people would rather drink thin ale instead but you can easily serve your guests some water as well. :-)

In an earlier post I wrote about the amount of wine bought for a royal wedding: 25.000 gallons. But back then the weddings could last for days and have a massive guestlist.

I hope that this will give you some idea of what to buy for your own medieval wedding.