Accuracy of Alcohol Calculators

YourDogDontKnowSit

My wedding is a ways off (May), but I am buying alcohol slowly over the months remaining until then so it's not a big purchase all at once. My caterer sent me the alcohol calculator that she uses, but I'm wondering if it's accurate. Running out of alcohol is just about my biggest fear when it comes to my reception, my side of the family and our friends love to drink and I want to make sure there is enough for everyone to have as much as they want. In an effort to save some money and avoid over complicating things, we are having wine and beer only (no liquor). 

For 150 guests, my caterer recommends 22 bottles of white wine, 22 bottles of red wine, and 288 bottles of beer (we're having 3 different kinds - his choice (dark), my choice (wheat), and a crowd pleaser (light domestic).) We will have a cocktail hour followed by a 4 hour reception where this will be served. Does this sound like enough to you? To much of something? Did you use an alcohol calculator for your reception and, if so, did it work out accurately? 

 Thanks!

wrigleyville

I used a calculator but then tweaked the results to fit my family and friends. We have many more beer drinkers than wine drinkers, so I cut the amount of wine in half and put that toward the beer budget.

The ladies in my family love alcoholic punch, so I made sure I had plenty of mixers for that. We also had a couple bottles of vodka, rum, bourbon, and tequila along with lots of soda, iced tea, fruit punch, orange juice, and other things for common mixed drinks.

The calculators help, but you kind of have to know your crowd too.

bahamabride2015

Hey there! 

Just doing some quick math on your numbers comes out to 508 drinks (5 glasses of wine per bottle) and that works out to just 3.38 drinks per person for the whole night.  I believe the general rule is 2 drinks the first hour of the reception and one per hour after that.  Given those numbers, I would estimate that you need a total of 900 drinks to cover your guests for the night.  Granted, some people will drink less but some party animals may drink more and if running out is your biggest fear I would always over buy.  Try to buy from somewhere that has a buy-back policy as many will refund you for the unopened cases/bottles (usually in full).

In terms of numbers, for the beer I would go 50% crowd pleaser, 25% your choice and 25% his as you don't want to run out of the crowd pleaser early.  It really depends on your crowd if you think you'll need more beer over wine.  I tend to think women drink wine and men drink beer but I know there are tons of exceptions to that rule so you will have to gauge your crowd.

Also, don't forget non alcoholic options.  Soda and water is always a good call and punch is usually wildly popular.

Good luck! 

 

Cookie Pusher

Our caterer gave us a list of how much of what alcohol we should order for our guests. We knew them well (big drinkers) and added 50% to everything. If we hadn't, we'd have run out of alcohol for sure. As it was, there were a few things we ran out of despite upping the order by so much.

A calculator can give you a baseline to start from, but you know your crowd - definitely adjust to fit them. It's always better to have more than to not have enough.

jenijoyk

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but beware buying beer so early! Especially wheat and light domestic beers. You should buy those within just a few months of your wedding date, at the most. Doubly so for anything in clear or green bottle - those can get skunky fast if they aren't completely protected from light.

(Also beware the promise of buy-backs.... it's not legal to buy back or refund alcohol purchases in most states. If the guy at the counter tells you otherwise, just know that when you come back and the manager is there he will probably tell you no, no matter what the kid at the counter told you first. The only exception is if the alcohol is spoiled somehow. Which you wouldn't know if you haven't opened it.)