Figuring out how much alcohol to buy or how much to budget for an open bar is one of the most common — and most anxiety-inducing — wedding planning tasks. Order too little and you run dry before the toast; order too much and thousands of dollars of leftover bottles sit in your garage. This wedding alcohol calculator uses the industry-standard guest-hour rule to estimate the total number of drinks you need, splits them into cocktails, wine, and beer, and converts them into bottles, then multiplies by your per-drink cost to give you a realistic open-bar budget.
Move the sliders and the result card updates instantly. You will see how many 750 ml wine bottles, spirit bottles, and beers to plan for, plus the total bar cost and the cost per guest.
How to Use
- Enter the Number of Guests — the adult count coming to your reception. Children and designated drivers do not typically drink, so leave them out.
- Set the Reception Length in hours. Most open bars run 4–5 hours: cocktail hour plus dinner and dancing.
- Adjust Drinks per Guest per Hour. The wedding-industry rule of thumb is about 2 drinks in the first hour (when everyone is arriving and grabbing a welcome drink) and 1 drink per hour after that. A blended default of 2 drinks per guest per hour works for most receptions; lower it to 1.5 if your crowd is light drinkers, raise it to 2.5 if they are not.
- Set the Cocktails / Wine / Beer percentages to match the bar package you are planning. The defaults (50% cocktails, 30% wine, 20% beer) add up to 100%. If you are doing beer-and-wine-only, set cocktails to 0 and split the rest however you like.
- Type your Cost per Drink. Venues usually price open bars by the drink (often $7–$15), by the hour ($25–$60 per guest), or by the bottle. Use the per-drink equivalent your caterer quoted you.
The result card breaks the order into spirit bottles, wine bottles, and beer bottles, then totals the expected bar spend.
The Wedding Drink Formula
The math is deliberately simple. Caterers and planners estimate drinks as:
Total Drinks = Guests × Drinks per Hour × Reception Hours
For a 100-guest wedding with a 4-hour reception at the default 2 drinks per guest per hour: 100 × 2 × 4 = 800 drinks. At $5 per drink, the open bar comes out to $4,000, or $40 per guest.
From that total, the calculator splits the drinks by your chosen mix:
- Cocktails are made from 750 ml spirit bottles. One standard bottle yields about 16 mixed drinks (1.5-oz pours), so 400 cocktail drinks means 25 spirit bottles.
- Wine comes in 750 ml bottles that pour roughly five 5-oz glasses, so 240 wine drinks means 48 bottles.
- Beer counts one bottle or can as one drink, so 160 beers means 160 bottles or cans.
If your bar package is priced by the hour rather than by the drink, estimate it as total drinks divided by reception hours, then multiply by your per-drink cost — the total still comes out the same.
50/30/20 vs Beer-and-Wine-Only
The default 50% cocktails / 30% wine / 20% beer mix assumes a full open bar with a bartender. Many couples cut cost by skipping spirits entirely:
- Beer-and-wine bar: set cocktails to 0%, wine to 60%, beer to 40%. The total drink count stays the same, but you remove the spirit bottle line and skip the bartender fee.
- Wine-heavy crowd: set wine to 50%, cocktails to 30%, beer to 20%.
- Beer-heavy crowd: set beer to 40%, cocktails to 30%, wine to 30%.
Because the percentages always sum to 100%, the total drink count never changes — only the bottle breakdown and the spirit vs. wine split move around.
Examples
Example 1 — The default 100-guest wedding. With 100 guests, a 4-hour reception, 2 drinks per hour, a 50/30/20 mix, and a $5 per-drink cost, you need 800 drinks total: 400 cocktails (25 spirit bottles), 240 glasses of wine (48 bottles), and 160 beers. The estimated open-bar cost is $4,000, or $40 per guest.
Example 2 — A beer-and-wine backyard wedding. 80 guests, 5 hours, 1.5 drinks per hour, 0% cocktails, 60% wine, 40% beer, at $4 per drink. Total drinks = 80 × 1.5 × 5 = 600 drinks: 360 wine glasses (72 bottles) and 240 beers. The bar cost is $2,400, or $30 per guest — noticeably cheaper than a full open bar because no spirits and no bartender are required.
Example 3 — A large 200-guest ballroom wedding. 200 guests, 5 hours, 2 drinks per hour, 50/30/20 mix, at $12 per drink (a city-venue open-bar rate). Total drinks = 200 × 2 × 5 = 2,000 drinks. The bar cost is $24,000, or $120 per guest. That is before corkage, tip, and service charge — which is why early budgeting matters.
FAQ
How much alcohol do I need for 100 wedding guests?
Plan for about 800 drinks for a 4-hour reception at the standard 2-drinks-per-guest-per-hour rate. That typically breaks down to 25 spirit bottles, 48 wine bottles, and 160 beers with a 50/30/20 cocktail-wine-beer mix.
How much does an open bar cost for 100 guests?
At $5 per drink and 800 drinks, expect roughly $4,000, or $40 per guest. City-venue open bars often run $12–$15 per drink, which pushes the same 100-guest reception to $9,600–$12,000. Ask your caterer for a per-hour or per-guest quote and compare it to this estimate.
How many bottles of wine do I need for a wedding?
A 750 ml wine bottle pours about five 5-oz glasses. If 30% of your 800 planned drinks are wine, that is 240 glasses or 48 bottles. Add one extra case (12 bottles) to cover toast wine and spillage.
How much beer should I buy for a wedding?
Count one bottle or can per beer drink. If 20% of 800 planned drinks are beer, buy 160 beers. A typical case is 24 bottles, so that is about 7 cases. Mix a 50/50 lager-and-IPA split, or ask your venue what they can return unopened.
Should I have an open bar or a beer-and-wine bar?
An open bar with cocktails usually costs $70–$150 per guest; a beer-and-wine bar typically runs $25–$45 per guest. The trade-off is flexibility and guest experience, not drink count. Use this calculator to compare both: set cocktails to 0% for the beer-and-wine option and watch the spirit bottle line disappear.
Do I need to tip the bartender on top of the bar cost?
Yes. Most venues add a 18–22% service charge on top of the bar tab, and many couples also tip staff separately. Multiply the calculator's total cost by 1.20 to budget for a standard gratuity layer.
Disclaimer
This wedding alcohol calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute catering, venue, or legal advice. Drink estimates are based on the guest-hour rule of thumb and the inputs you enter; actual consumption varies widely by crowd, season, weather, and venue. Always confirm bottle counts, pour sizes, service charges, and liquor-licensing rules directly with your caterer or venue, and plan to comply with local alcohol-service and open-container laws.