Drink Calculator... HELP!!!

marissakay0128

I am planning my sisters wedding and they have to bring in their own drinks.. Adult only reception.. RSVP's of 300 and they are having bud light (keg), wine (red & white) franzia boxes 5 liters, Sky vodka, captain, southern comfort, and mixers. Of the million drink calculator out there, none of them come out the same at all. Of course no bartenders or reception coordinators will help give me numbers because they want us to go through them.. How should I go about figuring this out? I would say 45% beer, 35% liquor, and 20% wine crowd. 

ernursej

Find a place that will let you return unopened and that will at least help a bit. I would personally go with 60% wine (of that 70% red/30% white), 30% beer and 10% liquor but that is my crowd.

artbyallie

I believe the rule of thumb is supposed to be 2 drinks for the first hour per person, then one per hour per person for the length of the reception. More if it's a heavy-drinking crowd. So for 300 people, she needs to plan for 600+300x, where x is the number of additional hours the reception lasts. If it's, say, a 5-hour reception, that would be 1800 servings of alcohol. Divide that per your percentages into 12oz of beer, 5oz of wine, 1.5oz of liquor. Get more mixers and non-alcoholic drinks than you think you need, especially if it's something like Coke, where people may drink it with or without a mixer.

artbyallie

Oh, and she will have bartenders to serve, right? Serious liability issues if it's a self-serve bar, I bet.

MesmrEwe

artbyallie said:

Oh, and she will have bartenders to serve, right? Serious liability issues if it's a self-serve bar, I bet.

THIS!!!!  Also, make sure to purchase an event liability policy through your insurance carrier - not that you're likely to use it, but it's a good idea especially if you're hosting alcohol (even if not providing it yourselves!)..   Also, someone willing to be your bouncer and pull keys if necessary!  There's "always one".. 

I agree with the PP that Non-alcoholic drinks should be considered as well in your amounts because you're going to want to encourage your Designated Drivers and just curb the drinking in general.  Only you know your crowd best so you may want to consider "are they beer drinkers, craft beer drinkers, wine drinkers, champagne types, soda sippers, etc." and go with what they prefer to drink most..

thisismynickname2

artbyallie said:

I believe the rule of thumb is supposed to be 2 drinks for the first hour per person, then one per hour per person for the length of the reception. More if it's a heavy-drinking crowd. So for 300 people, she needs to plan for 600+300x, where x is the number of additional hours the reception lasts. If it's, say, a 5-hour reception, that would be 1800 servings of alcohol. Divide that per your percentages into 12oz of beer, 5oz of wine, 1.5oz of liquor. Get more mixers and non-alcoholic drinks than you think you need, especially if it's something like Coke, where people may drink it with or without a mixer.

STUCK IN BOX

And who says you don't use algebra after high school?