Answer a few questions — get an exact shopping list
Planning a wedding bar is stressful — order too little and you run dry during the reception, order too much and you're hauling cases home. This free calculator takes the guesswork out. Tell us how many guests you're expecting, how long the reception runs, and what you're serving, and we'll give you an exact shopping list down to the bottle.
Whether you're planning a 50-person backyard wedding or a 250-guest ballroom reception, the calculator accounts for your crowd's drinking style, time of day, and the percentage of non-drinking guests — including a dedicated non-alcoholic drinks guide so every guest feels taken care of.
Based on — guests over — hours
For your — non-drinking guests, here's a curated shopping list so they feel just as taken care of as everyone else.
For 100 guests at a 5-hour evening reception with a moderate drinking crowd, you'll typically need around 15–17 cases of beer, 50–60 bottles of wine (split roughly 45% red, 55% white), and 12–15 bottles of spirits for cocktails. Use the calculator above for a precise number based on your specific crowd and event length.
A standard 750ml wine bottle provides about 5 glasses. For a wedding where wine is the primary drink, plan on roughly one bottle per two guests for a 4–5 hour reception. So a 100-person wedding needs around 50 bottles of wine as a baseline — more if your crowd are enthusiastic wine drinkers, fewer if you're also serving beer and cocktails.
For a single champagne toast, plan on one glass per guest. A standard 750ml bottle pours 4–5 champagne flutes, so divide your guest count by 4 and round up. For 100 guests, that's 25 bottles. Prosecco and Cava are popular budget-friendly alternatives that work just as well for toasts.
Beer typically accounts for about 30% of drinks consumed at a wedding reception. For 100 guests over 5 hours (with wine and spirits also available), expect to need roughly 8–10 cases (192–240 cans or bottles). Offer at least two styles — a light lager and a craft option like an IPA — to cover different preferences.
Yes — always. Most Total Wine, BevMo, and Costco locations allow returns on unopened alcohol. This means you can buy 10–15% more than you think you need without financial risk. Running out mid-reception is a far worse outcome than having a few cases left over.
Plan for non-drinking guests to consume roughly 1 beverage per hour, the same rate as drinkers. Offer a real variety — not just water and soda. Non-alcoholic beers (Athletic Brewing, Heineken 0.0), sparkling waters (Topo Chico, Spindrift), and a batch mocktail make non-drinkers feel genuinely included rather than an afterthought. Our calculator includes a full non-alcoholic shopping list based on your guest count.
For a self-catered bar (buying your own alcohol rather than hiring a full-service caterer), budget roughly $15–30 per drinking guest depending on your drink selection and brand choices. A 100-person wedding with a moderate bar typically runs $1,500–$3,000 in alcohol costs. Premium spirits and champagne push that higher; beer and wine only brings it lower.
Plan for 1 to 1.5 pounds of ice per guest — that covers both drinks and chilling bottles. For 100 guests, buy 100–150 lbs of ice. Get more if the event is outdoors in summer. Bag ice from a grocery store is fine; just make sure you have enough coolers or tubs to hold it all.
Exact bottle counts by guest size, red vs. white split, champagne toast quantities, and cost estimates.
Read the guide →Cases by guest count, craft vs. domestic breakdown, what styles to serve, and where to buy with a return policy.
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