Here are a few tips…many wine shops give you a discount if you buy by the case, sometimes as much as 20%.

Instead of champagne, look for a kava or prosecco, they are the Spanish and Italian versions of champagne and are made exactly the same way champagne is and are usually cheaper. They just can’t legally be called champagne because they weren’t made in the champagne region of France.

The cheapest American brand of sparkling wine I know of is Andre…They have a “champagne” (both pink and white) and cold duck which is a little sweeter and it goes for about 4.00 a bottle.

I’ve gotten Cook’s before from Costco and honestly I thought it was horrible but I’ve performed at hundreds of weddings and the number of people who actually drink all the champagne is relatively low…a LOT of people actually don’t like the stuff and will just take a symbolic sip during a toast and leave the rest. Costco also usually sells Cook’s in 1.5 liter magnums as opposed to 750ml bottles so you may do better pricewise because of the larger bottle.

For champagne flutes you have a few options…

If you don’t mind plastic, you can get them from any party supply or very cheaply on eBay.

If you want glass, you can rent them from a caterer or party supply. I found one online that rents glass flutes for 47 cents each but they’re in Alabama. Look in your yellow pages. You may also be able to rent some other things for your wedding that you didn’t think you could.

They may charge you less in the end if you can return the glasses rinsed. Just have a (VERY) good friend or two dip them in hot water a few times and put them back in the rack they come in after the weeding. The supplier has to wash them anyway but sticky glasses are a pain!

IKEA also has a set of six glass flutes for 4.99 which averages out to less than a dollar a glass. I got the red wine glasses from this same collection just this weekend for an upscale barbecue I’m having because I didn’t want to use my good glasses. At these prices if someone breaks a few, I won’t care.

Costco is probably your best bet if you have one near you. Otherwise, look for your local stores to have one of them on special (they should be available at less than $4 when on sale).

You generally only get 5 glasses of wine from a regular bottle, but champagne you can figure more like 7-8 glasses per bottle since the flutes are smaller and the waiters can pour them a little shy of full.

For flutes, try a closeout store like Big Lots. You may have to hit more than one location to get enough, but you could probably get the flutes for a buck a piece. You can also rent glassware from party stores.

champagne that tastes good, but costs cheap: go for Andre Cold Duck. Has a sweeter taste that more people find more palatable than champagne, especially cheap champagne. typical price point, between $4-5 a bottle.

Unless you have a liquor license you wont be able to buy wholesale, but you might be able to get the wine store to give you a 15-20% quantity discount (at least 10%)