How much Alcohol to buy??

Do you have to order the alcohol through your venue or caterer?

This was one of my biggest problems too!

The on-site catering manager gave me this equation:

Divide your guest count by 3 to get beer drinkers/wine drinkers/liquor drinkers.

Then x each by 2 drinks per hour x number of hours of reception.

So you have 110 drinkers. 110/3=36 beer/36 wine/36 liquor

4 hour reception x 2 drinks per hour

36 beer drinkers x 2 drinks an hour x 4 hours=288 beers

36 wine drinkers x 2 drinks an hour x 4 hours = 288 drinks/5 glasses per bottle =57 bottles (750 ml)

36 bourbon drinkers x 2 drinks an hour x 4 hours = 288 drinks/16 drinks per bottle = 18 bottles (750 ml)

We did that and had a lot left over so I would underestimate. Depends on the length of your reception too, how fast the bar can serve, etc.

These sites may be helpful in how much to buy... http://www.thealcoholcalculator.com/ orhttp://www.perfect-party-planning.net/drinks_calculator.html . Personally, we're having a small wedding & I wanted everyone to be able to toast with Champagne.

We are able to purchase the alcohol and bring it in

@mimitrue all that math made my head hurt lol.

It hurt my head the whole time I was planning! hahaha

1 drink per person per hour of your party. Go through your guest list and make a guess on who will drink what and round up. Also it is rude to have something special just for the wedding party. They are all your guests have champagne for everyone or none for anyone.

You can also work with whoever you purchase the alcohol from. Our alcohol vendor had a calculator ready so I just had to figure out how many adult guests were expected to arrive. Also ask if you can sell back what you don't use to your alcohol vendor. I know we can.