Wedding Alcohol Calculator: How Much to Buy
Weddings run long and skew toward wine and a champagne toast, so plan a wine-heavy mix over about five hours. This calculator sizes beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks, and ice for your guest count, estimates the cost, and gives a copyable shopping list so the bar is stocked without over-buying.
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.
Common questions
- How much alcohol for a wedding?
- Plan about one drink per guest per hour over the reception, weighted toward wine. For a five-hour reception that is roughly five drinks per drinking guest. Set your headcount and the tool splits it into bottles and cases.
- How many bottles of wine for a wedding?
- A 750 ml bottle pours about five glasses, so a wine-heavy reception leans on cases. For 100 guests over five hours, plan on the order of 60 to 80 bottles split between red and white, which the calculator works out from your headcount alongside the beer and spirits.