Beer & Wine Receptions - How much?

That is a good question that I didn't even consider! My goodness, where is my brain. 142 adults invited.

If you do the math, it is usually actually cheaper to buy bottled or canned beer than to buy kegs. Plus, kegs will go bad after that night and any left over bottles or cans can be taken home with you so they don't go to waste!

Our planner helped us calculate how much alcohol we needed based on our guest count. So if you have a planner, ask her/him. If not, here is a great tool you can also use https://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator

I will suggest bottles or cans for your beer. If you have any left over in your kegs, it will go to waste. If you have beer left in bottles/cans you can keep it or sometimes return it. We had our bartenders pour our beer into glasses so we didn't have beer bottles in our photos, so that is also an option!

The general rule of thumb is one drink per guest per hour so for 142 adults for 6 hours you would need 852 servings of beer and wine. You adjust accordingly because you know your crowd. I broke down my guest list into the non drinkers (Kids and sober adults), the moderate drinkers ( one drink per hour) and the partiers (2 drinks an hour). Then did the math accordingly. We are using canned beer and buying 1.5 liter bottles of wine to save money plus they have double the servings (about 8).

Also if you are allowed to buy your own beer and wine costco and sam's club have awesome prices!

You're welcome!