Wedding Alcohol Calculator
Enter your guest count, how long the reception runs and your drink mix. We'll instantly tell you how many bottles of wine, beers and bottles of liquor to buy — plus the estimated bar cost and cost per guest.
Your reception
What to buy
| Item | Quantity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated total | $0 |
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How much alcohol do you need for a wedding?
The standard rule of thumb is one drink per drinking guest per hour. So a 100-guest reception running five hours, where about 80% of guests drink, needs roughly 400 drinks. From there it's about splitting those drinks across wine, beer and liquor and converting them into bottles: a 750ml bottle of wine pours about five glasses, a bottle of liquor yields around sixteen cocktails, and beer is simply one can or bottle per drink. This calculator does all of that live as you change the numbers.
Two tips keep you from running dry. First, buy about 10% extra — it's cheap insurance, and many wine and liquor stores let you return unopened bottles, so over-buying carries little risk. Second, lean your mix toward what your crowd actually drinks: a beer-heavy guest list needs fewer bottles of liquor and mixers, which can meaningfully lower the estimated bar cost shown above.