Wedding drink calculator
Don't let the bar run dry. Get a realistic estimate of the bottles you need to keep the party alive.
Average is dangerous
I genuinely hate it when blogs say "2 drinks per person." That works for a boring office party, but a wedding is different. People usually have 2 drinks in the first hour alone (cocktail hour), and then settles into one drink per hour after that. If you follow the generic advice, your bar will be empty by 9 PM, which is a disaster.
This calculator uses a "1 + 1" formula: one drink per hour, plus one extra for the first hour of chaos. Then we add a 10% safety margin because, trust me, you’d rather have 5 cases of beer leftover in your garage than have 100 sober, annoyed guests staring at an empty keg.
Pro Tip: The Return Rule
Check with your liquor store. Many shops (like Total Wine in the US) will let you return unopened, unchilled, and un-damaged cases of wine and beer. This is your insurance policy. Buy 20% more than you need, keep it in the back room, and only chill it if you actually need to open it.