Event Bar Planning The Art of Calculating Alcohol Quantities

Calculating how much alcohol to buy for your event relies on a delicate balance. You obviously don't want to run out of anything, but also don't want to be stuck with a lot left over. One simple rule is to overestimate. You’d rather end up with extra bottles at the end of the night than run out of prickly pear margaritas before the reception is over. 

If you use the simple equation of supplying one drink per guest of legal drinking age per service hour you can then use a ratio of beer to wine to liquor (A 25%:25%: 50% ratio is par for the course) to provide an accurate baseline for what to stock your wedding bar with. If you are a more visual person, check out this easy to use calculator, which lets you fine tune percentages and even adjusts for your guests being a lighter or heavier drinking crowd. Always something to factor in.

https://hubtap.com/wedding-drink-calculator/

This is a great start and will give you a general calculation of how many of each alcoholic drink to supply and how many bottles or kegs you need to stock. This table is a helpful guide as well if you're more into rudimentary Algebra:

• Bottle of wine (750 ml) = 4 6oz glasses

• Bottle of champagne (750 ml) = 6 4oz flutes

• Bottle of liquor (750 ml) = 16 1.5oz cocktails

• Handle of liquor (1.75L) = 40 1.5oz coctails

• 1/2 Barrel Keg (15.5 gallons) = 165 12oz pours

• 1/4 Barrel Pony Keg (7.75 gallons) = 83 12oz pours

• Sixtel Keg (5 gallons) = 55 12oz pours

Small adjustments are always necessary to think about as well. Is it indoor or outdoor? What is the weather going to be like? Seasonal cocktails, red to white wine ratio and having a little extra Single Malt Scotch and Chardonnay around for those picky guests is always something to consider. You know your guests better than anyone!