How in the world do you estimate how much beer and wine for in-suite?!

seniorprincesslnhs · March 2014

Hi Ladies,

With my to do list getting smaller and smaller, I am now working on my game plan/budget for the in suite rehearsal shin dig we are doing before the wedding. We will have probably 40-50 people rotating in and out (popping by to say hi before heading to gamble or a show), but the first hour there will for sure be at least 25-30 people there as we are doing our family and wedding party get to know each other only for the first hour. I have it scheduled only for 3 hours, again with the first hour being just family and wedding party), but I have no idea how to budget/determine how much beer/wine/pop I will need for the event....I have some pricing from Costco that I went and looked at today and we are going to use that when we arrive, but I have no idea how much of each I should consider per person to not run out, but also not be OVERFLOWING with booze...any helpful tips?

Jiimanie · March 2014

I wish I could help but I am simply here to say 'I have no idea!' I'm struggling with this myself! Hoping someone has a magic formula for us

seniorprincesslnhs · March 2014

I have read so many different formulas and such online, but nothing that helps you determine baed on if some people are lushes versus water only and the time of day and if people are too hung over from the bachelor/ette parties the night before, the sight of booze makes them weep....so many factors!

missmo14 · March 2014

Im struggling with this for the DDB and thats only 2 hours! I usually draw up lists of my drinkers vs non drinkers and estimate approx 2 drinks per guest per hour. I then round it up cos running out of booze is stuff nightmares are made of.

ssteele04 · March 2014

I have no idea!! struggling with this also! I forgot about Costco, where is the nearest one to the Hotels? I wonder if it's cheaper than Lee's?

J9lawrence · March 2014

http://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator

Give this a try! I used it to calculate how much liquor to buy for a friend's 40th birthday party.

Rosebubbly · March 2014

I just got a quote from Liquid Courage. They estimate and bring the alcohol and provide a bartender. I have seen a good review or two for them on here. You might want to get a quote from them.

[Deleted User] · March 2014

I've been using this:

http://apracticalwedding.com/2013/01/calculate-alcohol-for-wedding/

It seems like a LOT of booze so I'll be rounding down. We are getting food and booze for our open house and afterparty from the Costco - it's about a 20 minute drive from the Strip, right by the Red Rock Resort. If you have a car it's really easy to get to though, pretty much a straight shot down one road!

seniorprincesslnhs · March 2014

Thanks for the tips, ideas, or just general support from other gals going through the same thing! I will be happy to share my story when I am back in a month about what I went with and what happened so other ladies can maybe build off of it!

Valeriecruz82 · March 2014

wow after using that calculator it says I will need 240 beers! LOL that is way more then what I would of bought had I not used that calculator lol Thanks for posting!

vegasgroom · March 2014

I've thrown enough parties to know that you can never have enough vodka. It's consumed easily 3 to 1 or higher compared to other liquors. Fortunately it's cheap, I'd just get a couple 1.5's for that size party. On the beer, I hate buying beer for parties because beer drinkers always seem to be picky about the beer they drink while liquor drinkers can usually make do with most mixers. I'd get a few cases of the big boy brands and maybe some random sixers of things like Sam Adams, etc.

ssteele04 · March 2014

Ours said 94 beers!

I agree with Vegasgroom, you can never have enough Vodka, we are doing a mix of Wine, maybe some Champagne, Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, Vodka and our Mixers, maybe a few different Beers. My favorite is Blue Moon and Angry Orchard but not many of our friends drink those!

missmo14 · March 2014

Your guests are going to be well liquored up for their flights on Sunday night @ssteele :-)

ssteele04 · March 2014

i knowwww!!! well my mom can't drink b/c of all the medication she has to take and my sister won't drink but the others...well good luck hahaha!!

seniorprincesslnhs · March 2014

Yeah, I am buying myself a big bottle of Jack Daniels (I hate wine and rarely drink beer, but Jack and me, we are great friends!) so I figured I could share, but maybe I will get a bottle of Vodka as well since it seems from above that everyone likes it

And @vegasgroom, I hear ya- we are from Chicago and all of FI's family (the boys) are such beer snobs, plus my brother who drinks the weirdest beers will be a pain, so I am staying away from Bud light and such and going with Ales (like Sam Adams, etc) If people are gonna piss and moan about free alcohol, they can suck it, in my opinion!

kazzy · March 2014

Haha, I came here to post the same link as @katelynswartz! It's a good one.

We got select booze for specialty cocktails, plus a few other standard hard choices, a few mixers, and wine and beer.

We bought too much wine and too much beer, because people wouldn't stop with the custom cocktails (Hemingway daiquiris and lemon drop martinis.) THEY WERE PLASTERED, especially after the open bar at Border Grill and to-go margaritas earlier. It was awesome.

The morning after I had to scrape cucumber (a garnish for the Hendricks gin and tonics) off the ceiling of the Media Suite we were in, haha. I left a HUGE tip for the cleaning staff!

On the way out of the hotel, I was giving beer to people and they wouldn't take it. "What's the catch?" FINALLY these dudes took almost 2 cases of beer. We kept the wine and drank it the rest of our trip. Check when you buy, but I know that Total Wine will do returns on unopened bottles, but I have heard Lee's sometimes gives people trouble. I've never tried to return booze to Costco.

I also want to say: don't rely on the ice machine for your ice. Bring it in. It's cheap and so much easier than running down to the floor's ice machine.

wrigleyville · March 2014

katelynswartz said:

I've been using this:

http://apracticalwedding.com/2013/01/calculate-alcohol-for-wedding/

It seems like a LOT of booze so I'll be rounding down. We are getting food and booze for our open house and afterparty from the Costco - it's about a 20 minute drive from the Strip, right by the Red Rock Resort. If you have a car it's really easy to get to though, pretty much a straight shot down one road!

That link worked perfectly for us. We had a few bottles of wine and some beer leftover, so we told our guests to help themselves and bring it back to their hotel rooms.

jaime85120 · March 2014

I've found that if u have a featured drink or a really nice bottle of whiskey tequila or whatever most guests will gravitate toward thoose. Hard core beer people may also choose the specialty if you're beer selection is basic. My advice pick a sweet cocktail and a sour on and stock up on thoose ingredients grab a few bottles of others just in case and get some cheap beer ie bud colors and call it a day

How in the world do you estimate how much beer and wine for in-suite?!

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