How much alcohol for a wedding
Running short on drinks is the one wedding mistake guests remember, and over-buying ties up real money. The calculator below is pre-set for a wedding; set your guest count, the share who drink, and the hours, and it returns bottles and cans plus a shopping list.
Your plan
Enough drinks for a 5-hour party of 30
Total items
7
food and drink to buy
Est. cost
$282.70
$9.42 per guest, rough estimate
Planning drinks for 33 guests over 5 hours, 75 percent drinking alcohol, wine heavy drink mix.
- 38 cans
Beer
1 drink per guest per hour
- 13 bottles
Wine
1 drink per guest per hour
- 2 bottles
Cocktails and spirits
1 drink per guest per hour
- 55 cans
Soft drinks and juice
1 drink per guest per hour
- 45 bottles
Water
1 drink per guest per hour
- 50 lb
Ice
about 1.5 lb of ice per guest
- 66 pieces
Disposable cups
2 cups per guest
Estimate from average US grocery prices, a planning aid, not a quote. Non-USD is converted at rough parity. Set the price level in advanced options for your area, or see how we estimate cost.
Shopping list
Drinks
- Beer38 cans (4 packs)$
- Wine13 bottles (13 packs)$
- Cocktails and spirits2 bottles (2 packs)$
- Soft drinks and juice55 cans (5 packs)$
- Water45 bottles (2 packs)$
- Ice50 lb (5 packs)$
Disposables
- Disposable cups66 pieces (2 packs)$
Tap any price to set what it costs at your store. Prices are average US estimates.
One drink per guest per hour
The planning rule the trade uses is one drink per drinking guest per hour. For 100 drinking guests over five hours that is about 500 drinks. Many hosts add a little for the first hour, when people arrive thirsty, which the buffer covers.
Split those drinks across types: roughly half beer, a third wine, and the rest spirits is a safe default for a mixed crowd. A 750 ml wine bottle pours about five glasses and a bottle of spirits makes about sixteen cocktails, which is how the calculator converts drinks into bottles to buy.
Account for non-drinkers and water
Set the share of guests who drink alcohol so you are not buying for the whole room. The remaining guests still need soft drinks, and everyone needs water, which the calculator adds automatically.
If you have a signature cocktail, plan its spirit separately and treat it as part of the spirits share rather than on top of it, so you do not double-count.
Buy on return where you can
Many retailers let you return unopened bottles, so buying a little long on wine and spirits is low risk; beer and anything chilled is harder to return, so size those closer to the estimate.
Do not forget ice, roughly one to one and a half pounds per guest across the event, and mixers if you are serving cocktails. Copy the list and hand the bar portion to whoever is running drinks.
Common questions
- How much wine for a wedding of 100?
- If about a third of alcoholic drinks are wine and you serve 100 drinking guests for five hours, that is roughly 150 glasses, or about 30 bottles. The calculator gives the exact split for your numbers.
- Should I offer an open bar or limited bar?
- A beer-and-wine bar covers most weddings at lower cost and is simpler to staff. Set the calculator to beer and wine only and it drops spirits from the plan and the cost.
- How much ice do I need?
- Plan about one to one and a half pounds of ice per guest for chilling and serving across the event, more in hot weather. Buy it the morning of.