How much alcohol do you need for your Wedding?

19 Aug How much alcohol do you need for your Wedding?

Be sure to order the right amount of beer, wine, and spirits for your event.

Learn how much alcohol you need for your wedding.

Weddings are about love, hope — and toasts! Therefore, most brides and grooms provide guests with a wealth of champagne, wine, beer, and spirits all night long.

 

 

Meet the expert and Pro-Tip

How Much Alcohol do you need for your wedding? What do you expect to serve?

These are great questions for anyone, especially non-insiders, to ask. That’s why I decided to ask this question to a professional like Emilio Scroppo.

Emilio Scroppo is a renowned bartender and trainer, who has been in the food and beverage industry for over 35 years.

 

He built his talents and techniques through running 3 familiar businesses. He also teaches private cocktail classes, has worked as a consultant, and is an active member of the A.I.B.E.S. (Barmen Italian Association)

In 2019 with Riccardo, one of his two brothers, he won the Mix Italy Contest Tour – Mt Magazine, with their drinks “Bitter Sweet Symphony” and “Gallo Italico“.

Known as one of the best mixologists in Sicily, Emilio Scroppo is a true expert behind the art of cocktails.

 

 

What and how to offer it.

It is important to first decide what to offer your guests. Will there be a variety of wines, gin, and beer, wine and beer? Your first step is to determine what type of alcoholic beverage you want to serve to guests.

In addition, for the bar at the reception, you have many customization options: open bar, beer and wine bar, and cash-only bar.

Suppose this special event is a wedding with 100 guests and a 5-hour reception. For example, suppose that no alcohol is served before or during the ceremony and you’re starting with a cocktail hour.

A good rule is to estimate one drink per person per hour.  But I often find that guests drink 2 drinks in the first hour of the open bar, and then drink 1 drink every hour thereafter.

 

 

My 10 golden rules:

1. Keep in mind you know your audience better than anyone. The exact amount to serve depends on your guests’ preferences, the reception time, and the season
2. Usually, 50% of guests want wine, 25% beer, and 25% want the hard stuff.
3. Of course, if you’re only serving beer and wine, the percentages you need for each would increase accordingly, so you are likely to choose a 60% wine and 40% beer mix.
4. A standard 750mL bottle of wine serves 5 glasses (including champagne)
5. 12 drinks in a 750 ml spirit bottle
6. If you have many beer lovers, you may wish to provide 3-4 beers per person.
7. There are limitless options of liquor to choose from. It is important to provide variety. Try to provide basic things: Vodka, Whiskey, Scotch, Rum, and Gin.
8. It’s always smart to have multiple bar locations fully staffed so that your guests can quickly get drinks and then mingle and have fun.
9. In addition to alcoholic beverages and cocktails, make sure to offer a good variety of sodas, flavorings, and water at the bar, so that everyone feels involved.
10. There should be 1 bartender for every 75 wedding guests for a beer and wine reception. If you have a full bar and/or a formal wedding, I recommend 1 bartender and 1 runner for every 50 wedding guests.

 

 

Here’s an example.

So ultimately, how much alcohol do you need for a wedding with 100 people? With the 5-hour reception, each guest can enjoy a total of 6 drinks.  In my experience, when it comes to an open bar, I always like to be cautious, so I suggest adding a drink to this calculation and increasing it to 7 drinks per guest for the 5-hour event.

If you think this number seems too large, remember that it is better over than under.

 

Not that people will drink all of these drinks, but you must consider how often guests leave half-full drinks, or somebody misplaces theirs while dancing.

In addition, in a typical crowd, there will be some heavy drinkers, and perhaps some non-drinkers. Therefore, although one guest likes to drink seven drinks, another guest can only drink one…or not at all!

 

Assuming percentages and all other things above, for a wedding of 100 people will be needed:

• 70 bottles of wine
• 95 bottles of beer
• 15 bottles of liquor (750 ml)
• 20 bottles of champagne for toast (optional)

 

 

 

Special thanks to @AlessandroGrasso for these beautiful pictures

to @EmilioScroppo for his valuable advice

Thank @TenutaCuffaro for hosting this event

 

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