Open Bar Quantities

I would get a good selection of classics and favorites.

-Champagne or Sparkling Wine for Toasts - You wont need a ton of this if you just save if for toasts. Enough to fill everyone's glass once is fine.

-Beer (Bud, Miller, and some darker brews as well. I'd do a regular, dark, and light) Probably just account for a beer per person because some of your guests wont drink beer and that allows your guests who are drinking it to have more than one. Plus, if beer runs out, you've still got liquor.

-Whiskey

-Vodka (I'd get more of this than anything)

-Rum - Get a light and dark rum

If you really want to have a large selection I'd also do Gin and tequila, but it's not totally required.

Don't forget mixers! Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, Coke, Sprite, etc.

You could also have pre-made cocktails in dispensers as well. Pinterest has great ideas for that.

As for quantities, I'd say 2 handles of vodka, 2 handles of Rum, maybe 1 handle of whiskey?

Everything in thirds.

Assume 1/3 of your guest will drink beer

1/3 champagne and wine

1/3 liquor.

After you break that down, assume each guest will drink 2-3 drinks an hour.

With wine, just do a popular white wine, and a popular red wine.

With beer, a popular dark beer, popular lite beer and maybe a mexican beer, depending on the crowd. We drink a lot of DosXX in Texas lol.

Liquor, you'll need a whiskey, vodka, tequila, rum and maybe scotch.

Then mixers.

I bought a wedding planning book when I got engaged (The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner). I just checked to see if the info was in it. It says # per 100 guests:

18 bottles champagne

10 bottles Red Wine

18 bottles White wine

2-3 cases of beer

Whiskey 1-2 liters

Bourbon 1-2 liters

Gin 2 liters

Scotch 3 liters

Rum 2 liters

Vodka 6 liters

Tequila 1 liter

Dry vermouth 2 bottles

Sweet vermouth 2 bottles

Tonic 1 case

club soda 1 case

Cranberry juice 2 gallons

Orange juice 1 gallon

Grapefruit juice 1 gallon

Champagne toast- 18 bottles/100 guests assumes 6 glasses/bottle, 1 glass/person

Wine for dinner - 50 bottles/100 guests assumes 4-6 glasses/bottle, 2 glasses/person

That's just what the book says. I think you would need more beer than just 2-3 cases but I guess it depends on your crowd!

Really think about your crowd. My group of friends only drinks vodka and jack for hard liquor. The tequila, rum and gin are barely touched at weddings in our group.

At a wedding recently the bride and groom bought 3x the amount of alcohol recommended and they still ran out of vodka and jack within an hour. A groomsman had to run to the store. The bartender said they made 2 gin drinks and one tequila drink all night long.

Also think about your signature drinks if you are having them. One of our signature drinks had Makers Mark and we ran out of that (at a hotel).

I Googled it to see if I could find some calculations / guidelines for you. Check out these sites:

http://apracticalwedding.com/2013/01/calculate-alcohol-for-wedding/

http://www.thealcoholcalculator.com/

http://www.realsimple.com/weddings/wedding-wine-liquor-calculator-00000000008314/

Hope these help! It looks like you can account for guest preferences if you know your group prefers beer, wine, etc.

This site has a TON of good advice, but here is how they calculate open bar quantities.

http://apracticalwedding.com/2013/01/calculate-alcohol-for-wedding/

Allyson - we most have posted almost simultaneously. HAH!

If you know you have a drinking crowd, overestimate what you buy. Talk to your caterer and/or liquor store for quantity guides. Talk to the liquor store that you will buy from since some of them will buy back unopened bottles.