Total drinks, bottles, cases, and cost — from guests and hours
| Container | Standard Serving | Servings per Bottle |
|---|---|---|
| Beer bottle / can | 12 oz | 1 |
| Wine (750ml) | 5 oz pour | 5 |
| Wine magnum (1.5L) | 5 oz pour | 10 |
| Champagne (750ml) | 4 oz toast pour | 6 |
| Liquor (750ml) | 1.5 oz shot | 16–17 |
| Liquor (1L) | 1.5 oz shot | 22 |
| Liquor handle (1.75L) | 1.5 oz shot | 39 |
The math is just ounces: a 750ml bottle is 25.4 oz, so wine at 5 oz gives 25.4 ÷ 5 ≈ 5 glasses and spirits at 1.5 oz give 25.4 ÷ 1.5 ≈ 17 shots. For mixed cocktails that use 2 oz of spirit plus mixer, plan closer to 12-14 drinks per 750ml instead. This calculator uses 17 for straight shots and rounds every bottle and case count up.
| Reception | Standard Rule (1/hr) | Generous (2 + 1/hr) | Total for 100 Guests (Standard) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours (cocktail hour + dinner) | 2 drinks | 3 drinks | 200 drinks |
| 3 hours | 3 drinks | 4 drinks | 300 drinks |
| 4 hours (typical evening) | 4 drinks | 5 drinks | 400 drinks |
| 5 hours | 5 drinks | 6 drinks | 500 drinks |
| 6 hours | 6 drinks | 7 drinks | 600 drinks |
The generous rule assumes a drinking-heavy crowd: two drinks in the first hour (arrival plus toasts), then one per hour — the pattern caterers see when the dance floor is full and the bar is open. If about 60% of your guest list drinks, you can also cut either total by that share; most planners keep the full number as buffer instead, since unopened bottles often return or keep.
Bar planning is three multiplications in a trench coat. This tool runs them in order and rounds the way a caterer would: every bottle and case count rounds up, never down.
Drinks = guests × per-guest rule × daytime factor, where the rule is 1/hour (standard) or 2 + 1 × (hours − 1) (generous). Then each type's drinks convert to containers: beer ÷ 24 per case, wine ÷ 5 per bottle, liquor ÷ 17 per 750ml, champagne flutes ÷ 6 per bottle. Cost sums each count × your unit prices.
Enter guest count and hours, pick a drinking rule and a mix that matches your crowd, and toggle the toast. Prices are optional — leave the defaults for a ballpark or type your venue's retail prices for a real budget. Daytime weddings scale the total to 85%.
100 guests, 4-hour evening reception, standard rule: 100 × 4 = 400 drinks. With the standard 50/25/25 mix that's 200 beers = 8.33 cases → 9 cases; 100 wine glasses ÷ 5 = 20 bottles; 100 liquor drinks ÷ 17 = 5.9 → 6 bottles. A champagne toast adds 100 flutes ÷ 6 = 16.7 → 17 bottles. At default prices that's 9 × $25 + 20 × $12 + 6 × $20 + 17 × $15 = $840 of alcohol. Switch to the generous rule and everything scales: 500 drinks → 11 beer cases, 25 wine bottles, 8 liquor bottles.
Two adjustments worth knowing. If only 60 of the 100 guests drink, the honest total is closer to 240 drinks — but most hosts keep the full 400 as buffer because running out at hour three is worse than leftover cases. And if the venue charges corkage or requires their bartenders, that fee rides on top of the alcohol cost itself.
Using the standard rule of one drink per guest per hour, a 4-hour reception for 100 guests needs about 400 total drinks. Split 50% beer, 25% wine, 25% liquor, that's 200 beers (9 cases of 24), 20 bottles of wine, and 6 bottles of 750ml liquor. Add roughly 17 bottles of champagne if you're pouring a toast.
It's the industry planning rule bartenders and caterers use: budget one alcoholic drink per guest for every hour of the reception, assuming roughly 60% of guests drink. For a heavier crowd, use the generous variant — two drinks the first hour, then one per hour after — which yields 5 drinks per guest over 4 hours instead of 4.
A standard 750ml bottle holds 25.4 ounces, and a wine pour at a wedding is 5 ounces, so you get about 5 glasses per bottle. A 1.5L magnum holds about 10. Champagne toast pours are 4 ounces, so one bottle fills about 6 flutes.
About 16 to 17 standard 1.5-ounce shots — 25.4 ounces divided by 1.5. Real-world count runs lower once you account for cocktail recipes using 2 ounces of spirit plus mixers; planning at 14-15 mixed drinks per bottle is safer for a full bar. A 1.75L handle holds about 39 shots.
Skip the liquor math and split the same total drinks between beer and wine — a common mix is 60% beer, 40% wine. For 100 guests over 4 hours that's 400 drinks: 240 beers (10 cases) and 160 glasses of wine (32 bottles). Beer-and-wine bars typically cut total consumption 10-15% since guests drink liquor faster.
Yes — a morning or early-afternoon reception usually runs 10-20% lighter than an evening one. Multiply the calculator total by 0.85 for a brunch or lunch wedding, and consider shifting the mix toward sparkling wine and light beer. Evening dances with an open bar run the full estimate or more.