Reception Beverage Numbers - Stocking the Bar Too!

onlyjamielynn

So we had a meeting this weekend with my FIL’s and decided on doing a catered/tented wedding at their home.  They have plenty of property.  Room for parking.  Etc.  And I’m just trying to get my head around the logistics and numbers of this.  I am going to estimate about 100 guests.  No more but possibly less once RSVP’s are received.  Our meal is going to be a catered BBQ feast.  We plan on having open bar.  So I need some help on beverage counts.

For non alcoholic drinks I plan on having water, ice tea, lemonade, soda (regular, diet, clear).  I’m thinking of having the iced tea & lemonade dispensed out of beverage dispensers.  Possibly the water too. 

For alcoholic I plan on having draft beer (a regular, a lite and possibly a third option).  I will have red and white wine (possibly opting to do a white sangria in place of the white wine).  I will also have harder alcohol (rum, vodka, gin, bourbon, Jager, Amaretto) and mixers (sour mix, soda, grenadine, tonic, seltzer, club).

So now I need to know how much of each!  And the pros & cons of a few things.  The beer will be keg at its own keg bar.  That way bartenders don’t have to tie up their time pouring draft beer.  I am debating water bottles vs water in a beverage dispenser.  Also, since I’m having soda as a non alcoholic drink and as a mixer (which I will get 2 liters for), should I have people go to the bar to get sodas?  Or should I get bottled sodas to put on display with the water, lemonade & iced tea?

kaos16

onlyjamielynn said:

So we had a meeting this weekend with my FIL’s and decided on doing a catered/tented wedding at their home.  They have plenty of property.  Room for parking.  Etc.  And I’m just trying to get my head around the logistics and numbers of this.  I am going to estimate about 100 guests.  No more but possibly less once RSVP’s are received.  Our meal is going to be a catered BBQ feast.  We plan on having open bar.  So I need some help on beverage counts.

For non alcoholic drinks I plan on having water, ice tea, lemonade, soda (regular, diet, clear).  I’m thinking of having the iced tea & lemonade dispensed out of beverage dispensers.  Possibly the water too. 

For alcoholic I plan on having draft beer (a regular, a lite and possibly a third option).  I will have red and white wine (possibly opting to do a white sangria in place of the white wine).  I will also have harder alcohol (rum, vodka, gin, bourbon, Jager, Amaretto) and mixers (sour mix, soda, grenadine, tonic, seltzer, club).

So now I need to know how much of each!  And the pros & cons of a few things.  The beer will be keg at its own keg bar.  That way bartenders don’t have to tie up their time pouring draft beer.  I am debating water bottles vs water in a beverage dispenser.  Also, since I’m having soda as a non alcoholic drink and as a mixer (which I will get 2 liters for), should I have people go to the bar to get sodas?  Or should I get bottled sodas to put on display with the water, lemonade & iced tea?

I'm not good with amounts, but in terms of pros and cons i'll chime in.  I would go with water bottles.  They see easier to me.  If you are doing a bbq reception it seem a little less formal to me.  You could do galzanized tubs around the area with ice and water bottles in them for peopleto grab.  That alleviates some of your bar line since people won't be going to the bar for waters

I would do everything else from the bar.  It seems more cost effective to just do 2 liter bottles of sodas to be served alone or as mixers.  People may also want to mix the lemonade or iced tea with booze.  You could do a little sign on the tables, at the bar, etc. listing what the options are at the bar so that they know to go there for them.

 

KatWAG

Plan on guests drinking 2 drinks per hour. I would divide the beeer/ wine/ hard alcohol equally.

onlyjamielynn

 My alcohol drinkers are more beer/hard liquor.  Because of the location of our wedding I know that 1/3 of our guest list will definitely not have that much alcohol to drink.  And I'm not really worried about the extra because the unopened items with be bought back by our friends bar who is selling us the alcohol.  What I am more worried about is the soda, water, lemonade and tea.  I want to make sure I have enough but I also don't want to worry about lugging 10 cases of bottled water home!

kaos16

onlyjamielynn said:

 My alcohol drinkers are more beer/hard liquor.  Because of the location of our wedding I know that 1/3 of our guest list will definitely not have that much alcohol to drink.  And I'm not really worried about the extra because the unopened items with be bought back by our friends bar who is selling us the alcohol.  What I am more worried about is the soda, water, lemonade and tea.  I want to make sure I have enough but I also don't want to worry about lugging 10 cases of bottled water home!

BUT if you have to lug 10 cases of water home you will be in a much better position for surviving the zombie apocolypse!

emmyg65

I used this guide to calculate alcohol for our backyard wedding. We did beverage dispensers filled with flavored water, and cans of soda. I hate two-liter bottles because they always go flat quickly. We also did bottled beer so we could have more variety and enjoy any leftovers. It was a DIY bar, so everything was out in tubs and people just grabbed what they wanted. If you're planning a casual atmosphere, do that so people don't have to wait in line if they don't want alcohol.

onlyjamielynn

kaos16 said:

onlyjamielynn said:

 My alcohol drinkers are more beer/hard liquor.  Because of the location of our wedding I know that 1/3 of our guest list will definitely not have that much alcohol to drink.  And I'm not really worried about the extra because the unopened items with be bought back by our friends bar who is selling us the alcohol.  What I am more worried about is the soda, water, lemonade and tea.  I want to make sure I have enough but I also don't want to worry about lugging 10 cases of bottled water home!

BUT if you have to lug 10 cases of water home you will be in a much better position for surviving the zombie apocolypse!

This is if the zombie apocalypse doesn't happen before the big day!  ))

QueerFemme

Bevmo has a good drink calculator you can use:

http://www.bevmo.com/PartiesAndWeddings