How much beer & wine for an open bar?

The calculations go by # of guests and # of hours of the reception. There are drinks calculators online that would be helpful for you.

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According to one I just found, we are way under the amount recommended which is 525 beers and 45 bottles of wine.

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Yes, that sounds more like it. Your bartender could also be helpful too when estimating how much you'll need.

In the bar industry, they always recommend assuming each guest will have two drinks per hour. So that would be 200 drinks, times however many hours your reception is. So for example, if your reception is 4 hours long, that would be 800 drinks.

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That's a lot of drinks!

The average is one drink per guest per hour.
It’s better to have extra than not enough. It’s a “know your crowd” type of guess.

For a wedding, count 2 drinks per person for the cocktail hour, then 1 for each hour after (dinner, dancing). If your guests are more active drinkers, add more. Your bartender can assist with calculations. Some wine stores accept returns if unopened bottles.

You could always find a place that buys back unused or unopened alcohol from you. And then buy more than you think you’ll ever need and return it also some places let you do tastings and give you a discount if you buy what you tasted that day.

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Thank you! Someone offered to stock our bar as a wedding gift, so thankfully I am not as stressed out.