How much alcohol to buy?

There are tons of drink calculators out there....use one to work from.

A good rule of thumb for party hosting is 2 drinks pp for the first hour, and 1 for every additional hour. I knew a chunk of my crowd would drink more than that- so I added 2 extra drinks pp just to be safe. (Then at the last minute added some more extra because I panicked we would run out--we didn't, but my initial counts were almost spot on)

ETA: consider adding a signature drink or two for those that prefer liquor over beer/wine if you can and if your venue allows it. It did not really change the overall cost of alcohol for us to do this.

We are having an open bar, too. Our guest list is about 150, of which 30-35 will be children/underage. When we went to get an estimate on liquor and kegs, we were told to go with two quarter barrel kegs only and 2-3 bottles of hard liquor each (we are serving about 5 different types - whisky, rum, etc.). I was pleasantly surprised because we budgeted quite a bit for alcohol alone and turns out we didn't need nearly as much.

You dont need to worry about this until next year. I invited 130 guests, and only have about 90-100 attending. I'm SO glad I waited to purchase because we wouldve had way too much, and we were not expecting that many declines.

That said, definitely talk to your bartender/caterer. They will be able to guide you on what to purchase, ours gave us a specific list. They have done plenty of weddings and know how much we will need.

@Erin.. that doesn't sound like nearly enough. I would definitely get a second opinion.

There are only 82 drinks in a quarter keg, so you have 164 servings between the two. If you have 120 adult guests, thats barely enough for each guest to have 1 beer. (and definitely not 2)

How big are the bottles of liquor?

Our caterer told us to estimate spending $**** for 120 people initially. We haven't purchased yet though.

@FutureMrs.G - we have a limited number of people that are beer drinkers which is why he suggested the quarter barrels; the remainder are divided equally between light drinkers and heavy drinkers. We are purchasing whiskey, rum, vodka, tequila, and moscato as well as a keg of root beer and other sodas. Our reception is only 4 hours (night wedding) so it really is enough for our guests. We initially budgeted $**** for alcohol, thinking we would need bottles upon bottles, and turns out it'll cost us about what you have as an estimate, which is much lower than I anticipated so I'm happy!