Introducing Hosts at Heart, an expert guide on how to bring people together with CHANDON– with advice on everything from menus to music and so much more.


In this edition, multimedia journalist and climate activist Sophia Li shares how to host a sustainable, beautiful, and celebratory wedding with CHANDON. For Sophia, each piece of her wedding itinerary was an opportunity to match a moment of hosting with different CHANDON favorites, including CHANDON Reserve Blanc de Blancs during the intimate bride and groom “first look,” CHANDON Garden Spritz at cocktail hour, and CHANDON Brut poured throughout the epic farm-to-table dinner, celebratory toasts, and late night festivities.

 

Read more about how Sophia hosted with CHANDON in Vogue.

DESIGN YOUR EVENT AROUND YOUR VALUES



When we started wedding planning, we quickly decided that every decision needed to be rooted in our values-alignment of sustainability and connection: that included all of our vendors, activities, and extended to our refreshments.


We loved that CHANDON Reserve Blanc de Blancs is a Climate Smart wine, where wineries meet a minimum of 100 sustainability and environmental stewardship practices from increasing energy efficiency, conserving water, drawdown greenhouse gas emissions, while evaluating human resources and community practices to ensure social equity.


I personally also love that CHANDON has an all-women winemaking team behind the scenes.

GIVE YOUR GUESTS PERMISSION TO GET OUTSIDE THEIR COMFORT ZONES







Give guests the permission to get outside of their comfort zones. When you offer guests moments to get slightly out of their comfort zones, I find them to be more present because there is another level of excitement of experiencing something for the first time.


We got our New Yorkers out of their comfort zones by asking them to sleep in tents for the weekend without electricity or wifi but they loved being forced to disconnect and reconnect to what was in front of them!

MATCH EACH WEDDING MOMENT WITH YOUR FAVORITE TOAST






There were so many celebratory pockets where CHANDON made it that much more special.


From having Garden Spritzes available as a cooling refreshment after the tea ceremony and wedding ceremony to having our first look be commemorated with a toast.


During the dancing portion, guests got creative and even played “spin the bottle dancing” with a CHANDON bottle and whoever the bottle landed on, they danced their hearts out in the middle of a roaring crowd.

CRAFT A MENU TO REMEMBER


We loved that CHANDON Brut paired with our farm-to-table wedding menu, it paired especially well with the Smoked Montana Trout and Fire Roasted Veggies.


Would love to recreate a smoked fish and roasted vegetable pairing when hosting next.

MAKE CHANDON A TRADITION BEYOND YOUR SPECIAL DAY

 

 

I love a Garden Spritz moment in the summer upstate, just add some fresh rosemary from the farmer’s market or from our garden and it’s a crowd pleaser every time.

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