Free planning tool · Australian serving sizes
Wedding Drinks Calculator
How much alcohol do you need? Enter your guests, the hours the bar is open and who is drinking. This wedding alcohol calculator turns it into a shopping list of beer, wine, spirits and toast champagne, and updates as you type.
Your result
Your estimated shopping list
For 100 guests over 5 hours at a wedding with beer, wine, spirits and cocktails, average drinkers, plus a champagne toast.
About 6 drinks per guest: 2 in the first hour, then roughly 1 an hour after that, adjusted for your crowd. The toast is counted separately below.
Beer
180stubbies or cansAbout 8 cartons of 24. Split across a lager, a pale ale and a mid-strength for choice.
Wine
55bottles (750 ml)- 22 bottles of red
- 22 bottles of white or rosé
- 11 bottles of sparkling for the bar
Spirits & cocktails
7bottles (700 ml)About 150 standard 30 ml nips across vodka, gin, rum and whisky, or the base spirits for your cocktail menu.
Champagne toast
17bottles (750 ml)One pour for each of your guests at 6 pours a bottle, in addition to the sparkling above.
Estimate for 100 guests over 5 hours (wedding, beer, wine, spirits and cocktails, average drinkers): about 600 drinks in total. Buy roughly 180 stubbies or cans of beer (8 cartons), 55 bottles of wine (22 red, 22 white, 11 sparkling), 7 x 700 ml bottles of spirits, plus 17 bottles of champagne for the toast.
Assumptions used
- Australian planning rule: 2 drinks per guest in the first hour, then 1 per hour after that.
- Crowd and occasion: light drinkers 0.75×, average 1×, heavy 1.25×. Corporate events trimmed by 10%, private parties lifted by 10%.
- Drink split: a wedding with spirits is 30% beer, 45% wine, 25% spirits; beer and wine only is 40/60. Corporate and party splits shift slightly towards beer and spirits respectively.
- Sizes: wine 40% red, 40% white, 20% sparkling at 5 glasses a bottle. A 700 ml spirit bottle is 22 nips. A bottle of champagne is 6 toast pours. Everything rounds up to whole bottles.
Next step
Want us to take care of the bar as well?
You buy the alcohol at retail using this list. We bring the bartenders, the mobile bar, the glassware, the ice and the mixers, and refine the numbers against your cocktail menu, run sheet and guests before you shop.
- The Barmen. You supply alcohol, mixers and glasses; we bring the team and equipment.
- The Barmen Plus. Our go-to cocktail package: bar, non-alcoholic ingredients, glassware, ice and kit arrive with us.
- Anything unopened stays yours. Ask about sale-or-return before you buy; sparkling and spirits keep almost indefinitely.
How to read the result
A shopping list, not a rule book
Treat the figures as a starting order and adjust them for the crowd you know.
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The total
Standard drinks, first pour to last call
The four boxes divide that total into the things you actually buy. Craft beer fans lean the beer up; a summer garden wedding drinks more sparkling and white than red.
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Spirits
A small number that goes a long way
A 700 ml bottle is 22 nips, or roughly 12 to 15 cocktails depending on the recipe. Buy gin for the gin drinks, not a bottle of everything.
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The toast
One timed pour for everyone
Bought on top of the sparkling behind the bar, because it is poured all at once rather than ordered over the night. 6 flutes a bottle.
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Hours
Matter as much as guests
A bar that closes after speeches needs far less than one that runs through the dance floor. A cocktail hour adds the heaviest drinking of the day.
Ice is not on the list, but budget for it; DIY bars almost always under-buy it. For the reasoning in full, read How much alcohol do I buy?
Common questions
Wedding and party alcohol questions, answered
How much alcohol do I need for a wedding of 100 guests?
For a 5-hour reception with average drinkers and a full bar, plan on about 600 drinks: roughly 180 stubbies or cans of beer, 55 bottles of wine across red, white and sparkling, 7 x 700 ml bottles of spirits, plus 17 bottles of champagne for a toast. Adjust with the calculator above.
How many drinks per person should I allow at a wedding?
The common Australian planning rule is 2 drinks per guest in the first hour and about 1 per hour after that: 6 drinks per drinking guest at a 5-hour wedding. Take a quarter off for a lighter crowd or a daytime event; add a quarter for one that will celebrate hard.
How many bottles of wine do I need for 100 guests?
A 750 ml bottle pours 5 glasses. If wine is about 45% of the drinks at a 5-hour wedding for 100 guests, that is around 270 glasses, or 55 bottles: 22 red, 22 white or rosé and 11 sparkling, before any champagne for the toast.
How much champagne do I need for a wedding toast?
Allow one pour per guest at 6 pours per bottle, and round up: 17 bottles for 100 guests, 25 for 150, 34 for 200. Buy it on top of the sparkling behind the bar, because the toast is poured all at once.
Is it cheaper to BYO alcohol for a wedding?
Usually, yes. Buying at retail case prices and hiring the bar and bartenders separately means you pay for what your guests actually drink, with no venue margin per glass, and keep anything unopened. Alcohol consultation is included on all our BYO packages.
Can The Barmen supply the alcohol instead?
Yes. If you would prefer a package where we supply the alcohol, or a managed bar tab, contact us and we will build a quote around your event. Many clients still run the calculator first for a sense of the volumes.
Estimates only. Responsible service always.
This calculator provides an estimate for planning purposes only. Actual consumption varies with your guests, the weather, the food served, the length of the event and the drinks on offer, and The Barmen accepts no responsibility for purchasing decisions made on the basis of these figures. Responsible service of alcohol applies at every event we work: all of our staff are RSA trained, intoxicated guests will be refused service, and alcohol is never served to underage guests. Please drink responsibly and plan safe transport home for your guests.
Book The Barmen
You have the numbers. Now hire the bar.
Tell us your date and package. We confirm availability, send a tailored quote and refine this shopping list with you. A deposit secures the date.