The wedding of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon has sparked international interest in personalised wedding beverages, with bespoke beer cans featuring the couple's faces becoming a talking point among wedding planners and couples alike.
From Regular Customer to Prime Minister's Wedding
Pat McInerney, founder of Sydney's Willie the Boatman brewery, never expected to be supplying beer for a prime minister's wedding when he first named a pale ale after Anthony Albanese over a decade ago. "Before he was prime minister he was a very regular customer," McInerney recalled, noting Albanese's genuine appreciation for visiting the St Peters brewery.
The opportunity arose earlier this year when the Prime Minister visited the brewery, and McInerney offered to create custom cans for his upcoming wedding. Though Albanese paid for the 16 cases, they weren't the popular Albo Pale Ale, which was out of stock, but another pale ale from the brewery's range.
The Growing Trend in Personalised Wedding Drinks
Wedding industry experts confirm that customised drinks are becoming increasingly popular for modern nuptials. Darcy Green, former wedding planner and general manager of Easy Weddings, observed a significant increase in couples offering custom drinks at their receptions over recent years.
"Over the last couple of years, everyone's trying to – not necessarily out-do each other – but they're trying to create unique experiences for their guests," Green explained. She identified several approaches couples are taking:
- Custom cocktails named after the couple or their pets
- White labelling existing wines or beers
- Brewing completely new beer styles for the occasion
Green noted that while creating entirely new beers is less common due to cost, local breweries are often enthusiastic about custom projects that allow creative expression.
Industry Response to Personalised Demand
The trend has prompted businesses to develop specialised services catering to couples wanting bespoke beverages. Michael Chiem of Sydney's PS40 cocktail bar launched a mobile cocktail van specifically for weddings and events, offering a tailored experience similar to wedding dress fittings.
"The whole process, from start to finish, is similar to when you get your wedding suit or dress fitted," Chiem said. Couples visit for consultations where PS40 creates a personalised menu of five or six drinks, including at least one specifically for each partner.
Rachel Stone of Archie Rose distillery reported creating personalised spirit bottles for hundreds of weddings annually, with some couples even incorporating the distillery into marriage proposals after first dates at their Rosebery bar.
Josephine Perry, winemaker at Dormilona in Margaret River, began offering custom wine labels after a friend's wedding request proved unexpectedly popular. The service now includes custom illustrations that become both bottle labels and keepsake artwork for the couple.
Ashley Dionysius of White Label Brewing confirmed that while corporate gifts and sporting events remain their primary market, bespoke wedding beer cans represent a growing segment, despite traditional venue restrictions on outside drinks.
Dionysius noted an interesting pattern in design preferences: "If it's the groom-to-be, it tends to be a little bit funny and jovial, if it's the bride-to-be it's very much on brand with everything, from the invitations to the decor."
As Green summarised, "I'm sure now that [Albanese has] done it, everyone will follow the trend. Next year it's all about 'what's Taylor Swift going to do?' But I guess this year it's 'what's Anthony Albanese going to do?'"
