rule of thumb for buying beer/wine

aprilhaynes

Has anyone had good luck figuring out how much beer and wine to buy for your wedding, if you are doing that on your own?

Some places say buy twice as much white as red, others say it should be about 50-50. 

We will have a white, a red, a sparkling, and several beers. (Our venue has a beer and wine only policy.) I should also add that we will try to throw a signature cocktail into this mix, which is made primarily of champagne/sparkling.

Oh and about 150 guests. Thx in advance for any help. :-)

janedoe1113a

You know your guests better than we do, so buy what you think they'll like.

I bought an equal amount of white, blush, and red wine.  We ended up with a bottle left each of blush and white and like 5 bottles of red leftover. 

My husband bought all the beer, so I'm not sure how much he bought of each kind.

jburkie1

I've been wondering the exact same thing - I found this online for a 2 hour party:

http://www.sherlocks.com/resources/party_planning_guide.php

I'd love to hear people's experiences. While I know what our guests like (I think), I don't have experience with the party planning part and need some general rules of thumb that we can then adjust based on our guest preferences.

drkswifey2b

For me it is a little harder because a majority of my FI guests will have just gotten back from Iraq (same for FI). I don't want things to get out of hand and I know it can if I get tons of alcohol. So I am just providing beer and enough champaigne for a toast. My wedding guest list is at about 200 now. Out of those 200 I figured about 125 well show up. From that 125 I figured about 75-80 will be of drinking age and want to drink. So I will but approx 200 bottles of beer. This way everyone can have about 2. As for the type of how much of each type I am not sure of that yet. Like someone else said, you know your guests.

M

cvgomez23

I found these sites that could help...

http://www.brightweddingideas.com/receptions.htm

To maximize your budget, consider buying your own alcohol. Here are the standard quantities and rules of thumb that will help you determine how much to purchase:

• One bottle of wine = 5 glasses
• One bottle of Champaign = 6 glasses
• One case of wine or Champaign = 12 bottles 
• One 1 liter bottle of hard liquor = 15-18 drinks
• One 5 gallon keg = 53 12-ounce servings
• Rule of thumb: one drink per guest per hour
• Allow one bartender for every 50 guests
• Some of the most popular types of liquor include: vodka, scotch/whiskey, bourbon, gin, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, rum, tequila
• Stock your bar with red and white wine and beer

http://www.salsbeverageworld.com/Reception_Guidelines.html

http://www.do-it-yourself-weddings.com/wedding-reception-food.html
Caterer's Secret: Try to buy wine from a shop that will allow you to return unopened bottles or cases, especially if you'll service more expensive wines.

http://www.party-recipes-and-ideas.com/bar-party-planner.html

suzieharris

First time I've posted on this board.  Our venue requires us to purchase  3 cases of wine (It is at a winery).  We are purchasing the beer and we figured 4 beers per person (not everyone will be drinking beer).  Our ceremony and reception will be  5 hours. 

creatinwerhul79

I went to bev mo and the guy there made a good point when I asked how much red vs white.  He said that people drink more white if it's hot, and more red if it's cool...which makes sense.  We're having a November wedding so we bought a little more red, but if your wedding is in the summer, go with white since it's chilled.

Ashes_3

Well we definately have more beer drinkers then wine...so I am getting 30 bottles of wine...and just mixing it up! We have 120 guest. For beer, we were going to get kegs, but instead are going to buy cases of beer so there is a variety..we're spending 200 dollars on beer! Which is about 20 cases

laurenbergher

It's simple math.  One bottle of beer serves one person.  One bottle of wine serves 4.  For big drinkers, get enough for three servings per person.  For more conservative groups, two.  Also, if you have a good amount of single men showing up, get more beer.  More women, or a lot of older couples, go for more wine.  Usually, for 150 people, you're going to want three cases of red, three of white.  Feel free to mix and match, say, get four cases of red and two of white, etc.  One bottle of bubbly fills six glasses for a champagne toast, so use that as your benchmark.  I know it sounds really difficult, but you know your guests. Think about what you see them drinking, and use these numbers as a guide.