How Much Alcohol Do You Need for a 200-Guest Wedding?

Figuring out how much alcohol to buy for a wedding can be tricky. The last thing you want is to run out of booze during the reception, but you also don't want to spend a fortune on drinks your guests won't consume.

Whether you're planning to offer an open bar or providing your own alcohol for the event, here's a brief guide to help you figure out how much you'll need to buy for a 200-guest wedding.

How Much Alcohol Should I Buy for a 200-Guest Wedding?

For a 200-guest wedding at which you're providing the alcohol, it is recommended to purchase:

140 bottles of wine
350 bottles of beer
20 bottles of spirits (1L)
40 bottles of Champagne or prosecco

Those totals are based on a 6-8 hour wedding reception, including a couple of hours for the cocktail hour. The general rule is that each guest will have roughly one drink per hour of the reception. Of course, in practice, some guests will drink more, and some will drink less. But this should give you a good starting point.

The above alcohol order should give you more than enough to fulfil the average of one drink per hour while also accounting for those misplaced half-full drinks and top-ups throughout the night.

Keep in mind that these are only estimates, and you may want to adjust them based on your specific event or the drinking habits of your guests.

How to Segregate and Serve Your Wedding Alcohol

If you're wondering how you should split up serving your alcohol on the day, you can follow a few general guidelines. For example, for a 200-guest wedding, you might:

• Serve wine during the reception meal – before transferring anything left behind the bar once the dancing starts.
• Leave beer behind the wedding bar, only serving it once the reception meal has concluded and the music starts.
• Restrict Champagne and/or prosecco to the cocktail hour and toasts.
• Limit spirits to just the cocktail hour (perhaps offering a signature cocktail to guests upon arrival) and then offer it from the wedding bar once the dancing starts.

Of course, this is just a guide – you can adjust it however you see fit!

Deciding Your Alcohol Order Splits

Of course, to get your alcohol order spot on, you will have to either canvas your guests or make some assumptions about what they'll drink.

Start by considering what proportion of red, white, and rosé wine drinkers you have. You could review your guest list and gauge which wine type each person is likely to drink. Also, consider the season and the nature of your wedding. For instance, for indoor weddings during winter, you might want to serve more red wine, whereas, for an outdoor summer wedding, you might want to focus on white wine and rosé.

Next, consider the beer drinkers. Again, you could look at your guest list or make an assumption, but you could also ask guests to indicate their beer preferences within their RSVPs. This way, you can stock up on the right types and avoid having too many unopened bottles at the end of the night.

Finally, think about how you would like to split up your spirits order. Is vodka more popular than whiskey? Will you be serving cocktails during the cocktail hour? You'll need to consider these factors when deciding on your order quantities.

Once you've taken all of these factors into account, you should have a good idea of how to split up your alcohol order for a 200-guest wedding.

Don't Forget Your Extras

For weddings, it's not just a case of ordering enough alcohol – you'll also need to think about all of the extras. For example, you'll need:

• Ice – 250 grams per person
• Soft drinks and mixers – 500ml per person
• Water – 1 L per person
• Cocktail garnishes such as oranges, lemons, and limes – one-quarter per person

These extras are often overlooked, but they're essential for making sure your bar runs smoothly on the day.

So there you have it – everything you need to know about ordering alcohol for a 200-guest wedding. Just remember to consider all of the factors, from the type of alcohol your guests will drink to the extras you'll need for your bar, and you'll be sure to have a wedding that everyone remembers for all the right reasons!