When most people picture wedding beverages, they tend to think of champagne toasts and open bars. As a wedding guest, you often find the drink in your hand to be a constant companion as the reception unfolds. With couples leaning into creative ways to personalize their celebratory day, what you drink at a wedding can sometimes become one of the details that sticks with you long past the late-night dancing, multi-course meals and fancy outfits.

Emily Knowlton-Moffett, owner of The Brussel, a Hopkinton-based custom events and catering company that specializes in weddings, said that she’s observed weddings grow more authentic and less trend-based over the course of her time working in the industry. Drinks, as it turns out, play a large role in this.

“It’s one of the things that carries over the most,” she said. “There’s nobody who has as much guest interaction as your bartenders do. So whatever you choose as your drink, that’s the thing that your guests are going to keep seeing over and over again. And when it represents that connection to the couple, I think that’s where you get one of those really memorable points that people will take back with them.”

In the several years she has been catering weddings, Knowlton has seen couples take an increasingly personal approach to the drinks they choose to serve. Some pairs customize cocktails or mocktails based on a drink they tried together while traveling or sharing a special moment. Others choose to name signature drinks after their pets, feature monogrammed cocktail stirrers or offer sugar-based garnishes that dissolve into a design.

Over time, customizable drink bars have gained popularity, with everything from make-your-own-margaritas to flavors of apple cider. The beauty of these bars, per Knowlton-Moffett, is that they offer a fun experience and allow people to pick whether they want alcohol included or just want to sip something tasty minus the booze.

At the Barn at Bull Meadow, a Concord wedding venue, wedding drinks morph to match the season. Weddings director Taylor Hume says the barn often serves winter sangrias and cranberry margaritas in colder months before shifting into other flavored margaritas in the spring, mojitos with different berries in the summer and autumn-filled apple sangrias, ciders and maple bourbon or chai spice old-fashioneds.

“Even if we get couples from out of state, they gear it towards what’s local to New Hampshire,” Hume said. “In the fall, people will pick something heavy on apple cider, heavy on maple. In the summer, some people will do drinks that are centered more around honey and ginger and things that you can find locally around here. Or a blueberry mojito if they’re from the Maine area, they’ll tie that in. People do try to find local ingredients to incorporate into their drinks and to give it that seasonal feel, and also give it a bit of a homey flavor.”

Drink colors offer another opportunity for couples to express themselves or lean into something creative for their guests. Knowlton-Moffett grows her own lavender for The Brussel and uses it to create lavender syrup that she mixes with lemonade, lime juice – and alcohol, for those who choose. She adds in butterfly pea flower to create a strong purple hue, and when it mingles with the acid in the lime juice, produces a blue-to-purple color-changing effect that draws “oohs” and “ahhs” from guests.

Other drinks that garner popularity at weddings include two timeless classics: espresso martinis and aperol spritzes. Hume added that she often sees couple do a “his” and “hers” drink, which is always a fun way to personalize the beverage experience.

“The couples have so much creative freedom when it comes to their wedding, and this is just another aspect of that,” Hume said. “They can get as creative as they’d like when it comes to choosing drinks that are going to be showcased at their wedding and the signage that they choose to put at the bar. It’s just another way to really showcase who they are and where they’ve come from.”

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com.