How much alcohol for a 100-guest wedding?

The formula

Caterers and bartenders size a wedding bar on three assumptions. First, about 80% of adult guests drink (higher at a Saturday-night reception, lower at a brunch or a dry-leaning family). Second, drinkers average 2 drinks in the first hour and 1 per hour after — cocktail hour is the heavy pour. Third, the drinks split roughly 40% beer, 36% wine, 24% liquor at a full bar. For 100 guests over 5 hours: 80 drinkers × 6 drinks = 480 drinks, which becomes 192 beers, 173 glasses of wine (35 bottles at 5 glasses each), and 115 cocktails (8 bottles of liquor at about 16 drinks per 750 ml).

Full bar for 100 guests, 5 hours

These match the party drink calculator at 100 guests, 5 hours, 80% drinking, with a toast.

Beer and wine only

Dropping liquor is the single biggest way to simplify and save. The same 480 drinks split 50/50 becomes 240 beers (10 cases, or two half kegs) and 48 bottles of wine (4 cases). Add a signature cocktail in a batched dispenser — a 3-gallon batch is about 45 drinks — and you get most of the "full bar" feel for one bottle of spirits. Many venues price beer-and-wine packages $10–15 per person below full bar for exactly this reason.

4 hours or 6 hours instead

A younger, party-heavy crowd (90% drinking) adds about 12% to each line; an older or family-heavy crowd (70%) subtracts 12%. A daytime or brunch wedding runs closer to 60% drinking and leans wine and mimosas — 1 bottle of sparkling per 6 guests plus a gallon of juice per 30.

Wine: red vs. white and what to pour

Split wine about 55% white and rosé, 45% red for a warm-weather wedding and closer to 50/50 in fall and winter. Crowd-pleasers that don't break the budget: a sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio, a dry rosé in summer, and a pinot noir or a soft red blend. Buy by the case (12 bottles) — most retailers discount 10–15% per case, and many allow returns of unopened bottles, so round up a case. Pour 5 oz glasses; a 750 ml bottle is 5 pours, a 1.5 L magnum 10.

Liquor and the signature cocktail

Eight bottles is enough variety for a full bar without leftovers you'll never drink: two vodka, two whiskey or bourbon, one each of gin, tequila and rum, and one for the couple's signature drink. A 750 ml bottle makes about 16 drinks at 1.5 oz. Mixers run about 5 oz per cocktail (19 quarts for 115 drinks) — over-buy soda water and tonic, under-buy cola. Garnish: 1 lime per 3 cocktails, 1 lemon per 6, and a jar of cherries and olives. If you're doing one batched signature cocktail instead of a full spirits selection, plan 1 drink per guest from the batch (100 drinks ≈ 6 bottles of the base spirit) and shift the rest to beer and wine.

Champagne

A toast pour is 3 oz, so one bottle fills 8 flutes — 13 bottles for 100 guests. Nobody finishes a toast glass, so don't pour full flutes. If sparkling wine is served during cocktail hour too, add a full 5 oz glass per guest: 20 more bottles. Prosecco or cava works fine for the toast at a third of the price of champagne.

What it costs

Buying it yourself at a warehouse club or wine shop, the full-bar list above runs roughly $1,400–2,200 for 100 guests ($14–22 per person): about $350–500 for beer, $400–700 for wine, $250–400 for liquor and mixers, $150–300 for the toast, plus ice and cups. A venue's hosted-bar package typically prices $25–50 per person for beer and wine, $40–75 for full bar — so bringing your own where the venue allows it (with a licensed bartender, usually required by insurance) saves 40–60%. Check corkage fees: some venues charge $10–25 per bottle, which can erase the savings on wine.

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Frequently asked questions

Sources

• The Knot: wedding alcohol calculator and bar planning guide
• The Old Farmer's Almanac: party planner (beverage servings)
• Total Wine: party planning and case-pricing references