Wedding Alcohol Calculator

How to calculate wedding alcohol yourself

The simplest wedding formula is: guests × hours × drinks-per-hour. For a standard 5-hour reception at one drink per hour, that is 5 drinks per guest — with most couples rounding to 6 because people drink more during the cocktail hour and toasts. Multiply your guest count by that number to get total drinks, then split the total by your beer-wine-liquor ratio.

Converting drinks into purchases is where the math gets concrete. A case of beer is 24 bottles — one bottle equals one drink. A 750ml bottle of wine pours 5 five-ounce glasses, so divide your wine drinks by 5. A 750ml bottle of liquor serves about 17 one-and-a-half-ounce shots, so divide your liquor drinks by 17 and round up. Apply those three conversions to a 50/30/20 split of 600 drinks for 100 guests and you get 16 cases of beer, 36 bottles of wine, and 7 bottles of liquor.

The ratio is the most personal decision in the whole budget. A family-heavy daytime wedding might lean 50% wine and 30% beer with barely any liquor; a young Friday-night crowd usually reverses that. When in doubt, buy beer and liquor generously — stores accept returns on sealed cases — and keep wine a little tighter. And if you are budgeting a wedding, remember that the same "small amounts add up" logic applies everywhere: the cost calculator turns a pack-a-day habit into a five-figure annual number you could spend on better things.

Matching the ratio to your guest list

The 50/30/20 split (beer, wine, liquor) is a starting point for a generic crowd, and few weddings are generic. The three biggest levers are age, time of day, and who is drinking:

Percentages are share-of-drinks; the total drink count stays fixed regardless of the split.

The ratio changes the shopping list dramatically. At 600 drinks, moving 10% of the total from beer to wine shifts the order by roughly 12 bottles of wine and two and a half fewer cases of beer. And it is normal for 10–20% of guests to drink little or nothing — rather than shrinking the order, plan non-alcoholic options so the alcohol you buy goes to the people who actually drink it.

What the bar costs: a worked budget

With a drink count and a ratio, pricing the bar is simple multiplication. Using common retail numbers — $20 a case of domestic beer, $12 a bottle of wine, $25 a bottle of mid-shelf liquor, plus mixers — a 100-guest wedding at 6 drinks each runs roughly $1,100–$1,400 for the alcohol itself:

Estimated at a 50/30/20 split and 6 drinks per guest. Prices vary by region, tier, and store; scale to your own counts.

If a full open bar is out of budget, the standard cost-saver is a beer-and-wine bar, which drops the liquor line and often 25–35% of the total, or a signature cocktail plus beer and wine. A 150-guest wedding at the same 50/30/20 split climbs to roughly 36 cases of beer, 54 bottles of wine, and 11 bottles of liquor — the full numbers are in the table at the top of this page.

Ordering, returns, and the logistics that bite

The alcohol order is the most returnable part of a wedding. Most stores buy back sealed cases of beer and unopened bottles of liquor — which is why the 10–15% buffer is essentially free. Wine is the exception; many shops are no-return on wine, so buy it more conservatively or confirm the store's buy-back policy before you commit.

Ice is the line item people forget. Budget roughly one pound of ice per guest for a full evening, plus a reserve to re-ice the beer tubs. Rent or borrow coolers, schedule a pickup, and confirm who is actually pouring — bartenders pour about 15–20% more generously than measured hosts, another argument for the buffer. Keep beer cases sealed until the bar opens: warm-then-cold cycling ruins both flavor and foam.

The same math that sizes a wedding bar works for shorter events. The party drink calculator covers casual parties, and the keg calculator sizes the beer portion by the barrel when the guest list justifies it.