While determining if alcohol will be a part of your event, there is one important occasion that is often overlooked: champagne toasts. Even clients who want no other alcohol served during the duration of their event may want a champagne toast to celebrate meeting their sales goals, welcome a new CEO or simply to congratulate their employees on a job well done throughout the year. Champagne toasts are very common, and even expected, if there is any sort of celebratory air to an event. Being easy to organize and affordable to plan, a simple champagne toast may seem like something that requires no additional thought, but meeting planners can sometimes overlook an important aspect of planning a successful toast that all attendees can enjoy.
This often overlooked component is the touchy situation that can arise when there are non-drinkers in the room. For starters, no one should be left out or made to feel uncomfortable during a toast. Therefore, it is imperative that a non-alcoholic alternative, such as sparkling cider, is readily available and is served alongside the champagne – avoiding putting an attendee in a situation where they must ask if there is a non-alcoholic option. Whether they are in recovery, adhere to religious convictions or cultural mores that forbid drinking, or simply choose to not indulge, the passing out of beverages prior to the toast should be a seamless process where no one will even notice which selection each attendee chooses.
