How much alcohol for your party?
Enter guests and hours. Get bottles of wine, cases of beer, 750 ml bottles of liquor, mixers and ice, rounded up to what you actually buy.
How the math works
Drinks: 2 per guest in the first hour, then 1 per guest per hour. 100 guests for 5 hours is 100 × 6 = 600 drinks.
Split: the default is 50% liquor, 25% beer, 25% wine, the full-bar split The Knot publishes. Beer-and-wine crowd, afternoon event or mostly wine drinkers? Change it. Some guides use 50% wine, and nobody's split is right for every crowd.
Containers (US standard drinks, NIAAA): a 750 ml bottle of wine pours 5 glasses of 5 oz. A 750 ml bottle of liquor pours 16 shots of 1.5 oz (16.9, rounded down). Beer is 1 can or bottle per drink, in cases of 24. Wine cases hold 12.
Mixers: about 4 oz per mixed drink, so 8 drinks per 1-liter bottle. Ice: 1 lb per guest for drinks. If you're also chilling bottles in tubs, add more.
Every number rounds up. Running out is worse than taking home a case.
Serve only guests of legal drinking age, offer non-alcoholic options, and help guests get home safely.
Questions people ask
How much alcohol do I need for 100 guests?
For a 5-hour reception with a full bar: about 600 drinks, which is 7 cases of beer, 30 bottles of wine and 19 bottles (750 ml) of liquor, plus about 38 liters of mixers and 100 lb of ice.
How many drinks does each guest have per hour?
The usual planning rule is 2 drinks in the first hour and 1 drink per hour after that. Guests drink most during cocktail hour.
How many glasses of wine are in a bottle?
Five 5-ounce glasses in a standard 750 ml bottle. For a champagne toast, people pour smaller glasses and get 6 to 8.
Should I count guests who don't drink?
No. Enter only the adults who will drink. If you aren't sure, count all adults and treat the extra as your safety margin.
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