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Mackenzie
Beginner September 2022

How many drinks for the reception?

Mackenzie, on February 8, 2022 at 4:01 PM Posted in Wedding Reception 3 8

I apologize in advance as I know some people have asked this before but so many of them didn't really give me the answer I need. I have roughly 75 guests. About half of them will drink alcohol at some point throughout the reception. Half of those drinking will probably only have 1 drink. (I know they don't drink much) Out of those 30 some people, half of them will drink wine. The other half beer. And I know all these google searches say 2pp/1st hr and 1pp/ every hour after. But I want to here from real people who had roughly 75 guests, with a total 7 hour reception, which includes cocktail hour and dinner. How much alcohol and non-alcohol drinks did you actually go through? I know I can always drink it myself or pass off to other people but I don't want to have an ungodly amount left. I don't want to have to hand a whole case of beer or soda to someone. Because I rarely even drink soda or alcohol myself. I will literally open a bottle of wine, have 2 glasses and never touch it again. It "goes bad" before I drink more lol. Our non-alcoholic drinks are just soda and water. But I was planning on at least 4-5 different flavors of soda. I was going to add lemonade or fruit punch as well but again I didn't want to be stuck with a bunch of stuff left. So can anyone tell me how much they actually went through?


TIA!! Smiley smile

8 Comments

Latest activity by Kristen, on February 10, 2022 at 2:10 PM
  • M
    Expert September 2021
    Marianne ·
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    I can't speak for non-alcoholic beverages as our caterer provided those, but we provided our own alcohol and used this calculator to determine how much to buy: https://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator/

    We also bought from Total Wine and they accept returns of (unopened) bottles of wine and cases of beer (the cases can be opened as long as it's a full case) if you have any near you!

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  • Sarah
    Master September 2019
    Sarah ·
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    Do you have a bartender? Ours was an open bar through our venue so I don’t know what we went through, but I have friends that have bartended events before and one of the things they usually do is estimate how much product a client will need.
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  • Bird
    Super June 2021
    Bird ·
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    You can return unopened bottles of liquor, wine, and cases of beer! (Just double check before you buy)


    I got my liquor at bottle king for 75 guests! We had a lot left over but better to be safe than sorry. We got all of our money back on the stuff we returned. Good luck!
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  • Michelle
    Master April 2021
    Michelle ·
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    We had around 100 guests & the ranged from beer, wine, mixed drinkers & non alcoholic drinkers. I used this link https://www.bevmo.com/drink-calculator
    We went through our entire list & figured out who would drink what. We went to Sam’s Club & ended up buying 4 cases of beer, 3 big bottles of hard liquor & 1 bottle of wine. Only had a 12 pack of beer, half a bottle of vodka & half a bottle of Jack left.
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  • Mackenzie
    Beginner September 2022
    Mackenzie ·
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    View Quoted Comment

    We don't have a bartender but I have a few friends who have bartended in the past. I never thought to ask them. Thank you

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  • Michelle
    Champion December 2022
    Michelle ·
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    There is no way to calculate that. Depending on the venue, most require a licensed bartender to work the whole time for liability reasons anytime alcohol is served. Go on thumbtack.com and look for bartenders who will charge you a flat per person fee for the duration which is much cheaper, and they will give you a rough estimate of how much to purchase based on your guests’ preferences. You can either serve beer/wine only but make sure you have lots of nonalcoholic beverages for those who don’t drink beer/wine or serve beer/wine/liquor with nonalcoholic beverages. Some liquor warehouses allow you to return unopened leftovers.
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  • Samantha
    Super May 2022
    Samantha ·
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    Really is a know-your-crowd thing too. My drinkers can go through quite a bit at one event lol. As others have said, buy from a place that accepts returns, then over-purchase to be on the safe side!

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  • Kristen
    Expert October 2021
    Kristen ·
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    In a case like yours, I really think an open bar is the best way to go. My sister and brother-in-law don't drink, and they still had an open bar at their wedding because it made sense. Our wedding was also an open bar, and neither my husband nor I are big drinkers.

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