When trying to figure out how much alcohol to buy for your wedding, there are certain things you should consider
When trying to figure out how much alcohol to buy for your wedding, there are certain things you should consider:
1. Your crowd. How many people are being invited? What are their drink preferences? If you know your family and friends would drink more cocktails than wine, you should prepare to purchase more hard liquor and mixers, than wine. A wedding alcohol calculator will help you to count everything.
If up to half of your guests don’t drink, then consider more mocktails even and try a nonalcoholic drink calculator.
2. The time and date of your wedding. Guests at a Friday or Saturday night wedding would most definitely drink a lot more than guests at a Sunday or even a Tuesday daytime wedding.
In considering your budget, if you intend to stay within reasonable limits, you could decide to stick with just wine and beer for a cheaper alternative. And when deciding where to make purchases from, you could get a subscription box from one or two places you like, and try out their options. Also to keep in mind is to check if your venue has the proper liquor license for hard alcohol. If it does not, then you can cross a full bar out of your list and reset your beverage cost calculator.
Wedding Bar Setup Checklist
To set up a checklist for your wedding bar, you will first want to decide what kind of bar you’re having. While your budget is a great deciding factor, the type of wedding environment you hope to have could help you decide too. For a classy and formal affair, you might want to avoid an open bar so people don’t get rowdy and purchase from a supplier where you can get a great total wine bulk discount. If you’re having a more casual party, then an open bar offering various kinds of alcohol would work perfectly. It’s also a great idea to use a professional bartending service so you don’t have to worry about squandering your budget at a liquor store.
An Open Bar
The most expensive option for a wedding, an open bar is where a couple pays for a bartending service where their guests can enjoy unlimited drinks for the period the bar is paid for. While this is the best option for drinks at a wedding, it is quite pricey because it is important to have different types of alcohols and mixers and of course an experienced mixologist or two to serve the guests.
A Cash Bar
A cash bar is much similar to an open bar, but the difference here is that guests pay for the drinks that they consume. A lot of couples choose this option and then provide champagne and toasts during dinner. This way the alcohol bill is split between the hosts and the guests and the couple don’t carry all of the responsibility for the drinks. Even though this option is way cheaper, it is generally frowned upon, for obvious reasons.
A Limited Bar
The much more affordable option is the limited bar where the couple serves only a limited variety of drinks, which they chose. This way they don’t have to pay for an unlimited variety like with the open bar, and guests drink what is served. For example, wine and beer could be served for dinner along with a signature cocktail or two, and champagne for toasts.
Brands of Liquor for Wedding
You definitely don’t need every type of alcohol in existence or every mixer in the store to have a good time. If you know your crowd and have a fair idea of what they would go for, then stock up on that. Is your family more friends with whiskey than tequila, then make sure to have more of that in addition to beer and wine, or only wine for wine only bar. So, depending on your preferences, you will need:
· Booze: Vodka, Whiskey, Gin, Rum (optional) and Tequila (optional).
· Mixers: Soda (cola mostly), juice (mostly orange or cranberry), tonic water and club soda.
· Garnishes: Limes and lemons.
· Wine: The ratio of red to white wine for a party could be equal, at least one red and one white wine variety.
· Champagne: This is optional as it is not compulsory to have a bubbly toast. Your guests can toast with whatever they are having. When choosing this, you should calculate about 4 to 5 ounces per guest, per toast.
· Beer: Usually nice to have at least two types, one light and one dark. You will also need to decide if you will go with bottles or a keg. While bottles might be more expensive, you will need to rent a tap system for a keg. You would also have to decipher how many bottles of beer in a keg because keg leftovers don’t keep beyond a day or two.
Wedding Alcohol Quantity
Whether you are using a wedding alcohol calculator for your alcohol purchases or not, you will want to be sure the quantity you are buying. If it’s for a Friday evening wedding, you might want to consider buying alcohol in bulk, and if most of your guests don’t drink you might also consider using a soft drink calculator for the party. Either way, below we have a not too strict guide on quantity os liquor for the party.
Hard liquor
If you are at a loss on how much hard liquor to buy for a total of 100 guests, this should keep you covered. Ensure that your list contains 1 bottle of scotch, 2 bottles of rum, 2 bottles of gin and 2 of bourbon as well as 4 bottles of vodka. This should suffice for your guests. If you’re still unsure, then perhaps get one of those liquor party packages which can cover your amount of guests.
Wine
As per wine for party, think 2 to 4 glasses per guest, and one bottle of wine serves how many, at least 5 glasses. So, for 100 guests at 2 glasses each, you would need 40 bottles. If you would prefer more, then our wine addition calculator puts you at 80 bottles with 100 guests having 4 glasses each. If it’s a classy event and you are choosing to serve mainly wine, you might consider purchasing wine in bulk for a wedding.
Beer
With a mental calculation of the male to female ratio among your guests, allow 4 to 6 beers per male invited. Some will definitely have less, and others more.
Champagne
Deciding if you are offering bubbly only for toasts or for the entire night. If only for toasts, then allow 1 to 2 glasses per female present. Remember a standard bottle will serve at least 6 glasses.
Below is a list that can guide you when trying to figure out the average cost of alcohol for wedding of 100:
- 1 bottle of scotch
- 2 bottles of rum
- 2 bottles of bourbon
- 2 bottles of gin
- 4 bottles of vodka
- 7 (24 bottle) cases of beer
- 12 bottles of red wine
- 12 bottles of white wine
- 13 bottles of champagne
- 33 containers of assorted mixers
- Garnishes as required
- 100 pounds of ice
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