So, you're planning to serve alcohol at your wedding, and now you're probably asking yourself, “Just how much booze for a wedding do we actually need?” It's a common question! While everyone’s got their own drinking style, and things like the time of year can affect preferences (think more wine over beer in those chilly months), we at Epic Thyme have the experience to guide you through it all. We've planned countless weddings and know the ins and outs of how much alcohol to buy for a wedding, ensuring your bar is perfectly stocked. Dive into our complete guide on planning alcohol for a wedding, and let's make sure your celebration is as spirited as it is memorable!
How Much Booze for a Wedding: The Golden Rule
When it comes to planning how many drinks per person for a wedding, the golden rule is one drink per guest per hour + two drinks per person for cocktail hour.
Using this rule, if you have 100 guests at your wedding, and you’re planning a five-hour celebration, you’re looking at 600 drinks total for the night. Keep in mind that this doesn’t include champagne for toasts, which is usually added in addition to your other alcoholic beverage options.
Typically, a guest might enjoy 2 cocktails during the cocktail hour, sip on 2 glasses of wine with dinner, and polish off the night with 1 or 2 more cocktails while dancing and celebrating. This gives you a rough idea, but let's think about some other factors too:
What kinds of drinks do you want to offer?
How many different drink options should there be? (Hint: sometimes less is more.)
How much of each drink should you have on hand?
Ultimately, what you serve is up to you. You know your guests best, including their favorite drinks and how much they like to enjoy. If you’re looking for some ideas, keep reading for our favorite ways to tailor the perfect drink menu for your crowd.
Planning Alcohol for a Wedding: Three Tasty Combinations
A key consideration when determining how much alcohol to buy for a wedding isn’t just the total amount. It’s how much of each kind. Here are some combinations that work well for weddings!
1. Bar with Beer and Wine
Many couples opt out of hard liquor or spirits at their wedding and instead offer beer and wine to their guests. In this case, you’ll want to offer a 50/50 split.
50% Beer and 50% Wine
You can offer two to four types of beer and up to four wine options to provide variety. Depending on the weather, you may choose to have more white wines available during the warmer months and more red wines available during a fall or winter wedding.
2. Full Bar with Beer, Wine, and Liquor
If you want a full bar at your wedding that serves beer and wine, as well as liquor and spirits, the split looks a little different.
20% Beer, 15% Wine, 65% Spirits/Liquor
Unless you know your guests are big wine and beer drinkers, it’s safe to assume that when there is liquor on hand, the consumption of beer and wine goes down significantly.
If you know your guests are heavy beer and wine drinkers, you can opt for a more evenly split bar: 35% Beer, 35% Wine, 30% Spirits/Liquor.
3. Bar with Beer, Wine, and Signature Drinks for Cocktail Hour Only
If you only plan to offer alcoholic beverages to your guests during the cocktail hour, you would follow the split mentioned above, as liquor will likely be the most popular option.
20% Beer, 15% Wine, 65% Spirits/Liquor
However, if you plan to have only sweet signature drinks for cocktail hour, you may choose to do a more even split: 35% Beer, 25% Wine, 40% Spirits/Liquor. This provides variety for those who would rather sip on a beer over a sugary and sweet cocktail drink.
How Much Does Alcohol Cost for Wedding Guests To Enjoy
If you’re serving alcohol at your wedding, it’s important to get enough of it for everyone to enjoy. But you also need to be mindful of your budget. So, let’s talk numbers. There’s a bit of math involved, but we’re going to help you with that.
Beer: For large quantities of beer, you will want to purchase kegs. This makes serving the beer super simple. One keg of beer holds around 120 glasses of 16 oz servings of beer.
Wine: A standard wine bottle (750ml) holds about four glasses of wine. Sparkling wine holds five full glasses. And champagne bottles hold six glasses per bottle.
Liquor: You’re able to make about 20 drinks per liter of liquor.
Taking these numbers into consideration, the amount of alcohol needed works out like this:
If you have a 100-person guest list that lasts over 5 hours, you will budget for them to consume 600 drinks in total. Here’s what that looks like broken down into some of the splits mentioned above:
Beer and Wine: 50/50
300 beer = 2 ½-3 kegs of beer
300 wine = 75 bottles of wine
Beer, Wine, and Liquor: 20/15/65
120 beer = 1-1 ½ keg(s) of beer
90 wine = 23 bottles of wine
390 liquor = 20 bottles of liquor
We know there are a lot of numbers here. If you are ready to plan your wedding bar and budget the right amount of alcohol for your specific guest list, contact Epic Thyme today. We will do the math so you don’t have to. Cheers to that!
How to Prepare a Perfect "Full Bar" for Your Guests
When you decide to have a "full bar" at your wedding, there's no need to offer every type of liquor under the sun. Typically, a full bar setup includes about 10 different drinks. By selecting a good mix of liquors and options, you'll ensure everyone finds something they enjoy without overwhelming choices. Plus, this approach helps you save money on your alcohol budget. With those 10 drinks, along with beer and wine, you'll create the vibe of a full bar without actually needing to stock every possible option.
Why You Need a Bartender (and How To Budget for One)
When planning alcohol for a wedding, you’ll also want to plan to have a bartender there. At Epic Thyme, we do not offer self-served bars at weddings. From experience, we have found this is the best way to manage the drinks being served at your wedding. That way, you don’t have to worry about who is drinking what and if everyone is enjoying their beverages. There’s an experienced, friendly bartender taking care of all the details for you. He or she will ensure the wedding bar doesn’t get out of hand.
The cost of bartending services can vary quite a bit depending on where you are. In California, you might pay anywhere from $25 to $150 per hour, plus a tip of 15-20% of the service fee. To keep your guests happy and the drinks flowing smoothly, it's a good idea to have one bartender for every 50 guests.
We're experts in coordinating wedding bars and have some truly exceptional bartenders ready to make your wedding a hit. Curious to learn more? Discover what we can offer for your special day in Lake Tahoe!
Let Us Help You Figure Out How Much Booze for a Wedding
Are you ready to jump into wedding planning and finalize just how much alcohol to buy for a wedding of your dreams? We are here to help! We would love to chat with you about your guest count to help determine exactly how many drinks you need to keep your guests enjoying the celebration all night long. Coordinating your wedding bar is included in our wedding planning services. Contact us today to get started. Cheers!
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