Never Run Out of Drinks Again
Whether you're hosting a casual backyard barbecue, a holiday party, or DIY-ing your own wedding bar, figuring out how much alcohol to buy is notoriously stressful. Buy too little, and the party dies early. Buy too much, and you've wasted hundreds of dollars. Our Party Drink Calculator uses professional catering formulas to give you an exact shopping list.
The Golden Rule of Party Drinks
Professional event planners and caterers use a simple formula to calculate total beverage needs:
2 drinks per guest for the first hour + 1 drink per guest for each additional hour.
If you are hosting 50 people for a 4-hour party, that equals 5 drinks per person, meaning you need exactly 250 total drinks.
How to Split the Bar (The 50/25/25 Rule)
If you are hosting a full open bar with beer, wine, and liquor, how do you split up those 250 drinks? The standard catering ratio is:
- 50% Beer: 125 beers (About 5 cases)
- 25% Wine: 62 glasses of wine (About 13 bottles)
- 25% Liquor: 62 mixed drinks (About 4 bottles of liquor)
Don't Forget the Mixers and Ice!
If you are serving liquor, you must buy mixers. A good rule of thumb is to buy 1 liter of mixer (tonic, club soda, cranberry juice, Coke) for every 1 bottle of liquor. For ice, plan on buying 1 to 1.5 pounds of ice per person.