If you’re doing your own dry bar for your wedding, you can use our system to work out how much drink, glassware and sundry items you need. From beer to spirits, flutes to rocks glasses, straws to napkins; you’ll walk off with a full list of exactly what and how much you need, no matter the scenario.

You need to consider:

  • How many day guests you have;
  • How many evening guests you have;
  • How many hours your bar is going to be open for;
  • Which drinks you will offer; i.e. beer and wine only, or spirits and cocktails too;
  • Are you going to close the bar during the meal and have only table wine and water available?

We have set out every scenario in simple stages from the reception to the evening bar. You can use our calculations to build your list, which you can then easily edit as your guest numbers and plans change.

drinks-for-wedding-reception

For the reception

GUEST NUMBERS 50 100 150 200 250
DRINKS
Prosecco 750ml 9 18 27 36 45
Soft alternative (L) 4 7 10 13 17
GLASSWARE
Flute glasses 50 100 150 200 250
Hi ball glasses 10 20 30 40 50

RATIONALE:

Most guests will have only one reception drink; whereas some will have two. We allow for 100% of guests having one reception drink and 25% of guests having a soft alternative. That way, those not having an alcoholic option balance out those who have several.

For the table

GUEST NUMBERS 50 100 150 200 250
DRINKS
Wine 750ml 16 32 48 64 80
Sparkling Water (L) 6 12 18 24 30
Still Water (L) 12 24 36 48 60
GLASSWARE
Wine glasses 50 100 150 200 250
Hi Ball glasses 50 100 150 200 250

RATIONALE:

It is widely recommended that you allow half a bottle of wine per guest; but in our experience, a third of a bottle is ample. Many guests will not drink wine at all, whereas others will have a couple of glasses at dinner and they balance each other out.
We allow 350ml water per guest and the general preference is one third sparkling and two thirds still.

For the toast

GUEST NUMBERS 50 100 150 200 250
DRINKS
Prosecco 750ml

Half glass option

Full glass option

  

6

9

  

11

18

  

16

27

  

22

36

  

27

45
Soft alternative (L) 1 2 2 3 4
GLASSWARE
Flute glasses 50 100 150 200 250

RATIONALE:

We allow for 100% of guests to have an alcoholic toasting drink and 10% to have an alcohol free option. Non-drinking guests often like to save themselves for an alcoholic toast; but, just in case there are some who want to toast with alcohol free, you’ll be covered.

TIPS: There are some good quality alcohol free sparkling wines out there now. Get some of this so that your non-drinking guests don’t feel left out.
If you have washing up facilities at your venue, your bar team can turnaround the glassware that was used for the reception drinks to avoid hiring extra glassware.

For the main bar

When our clients do their own bars, they tend to choose to provide either a simple bar with beer, wine and soft alternatives or they go further and provide spirits and cocktails too. Below you’ll find two tables and you can use the quantities that suit your evening bar offering.

TIP: The quantities of glassware in these two tables are accurate providing you have washing up facilities and team members to turn them around during the evening for re-use. If you do not have this in place, you need to multiply the amount by 3 for an evening bar.

Providing Beer, Wine & Soft Alternatives.

GUEST NUMBERS 50 100 150 200 250
DRINKS
BEER

Lager 330ml

Cider 500ml

Ale 500ml

Stout 500ml

  

90

30

20

10

  

180

60

40

20

  

270

90

60

30

  

360

120

80

40

  

450

150

100

50
WINE 750ml

White

Red

Rose

Prosecco

  

9

5

3

8

  

18

10

6

16

  

27

15

9

24

  

36

20

12

36

  

45

25

15

44
Soft alternative (L) 10 20 30 40 50
Ice (KG) 5 10 15 20 25
Straws 50 100 150 200 250
GLASSWARE
Hi Ball glasses 25 50 75 100 125
Wine glasses 50 100 150 200 250
Flute glasses 20 40 60 80 100
Pint glasses 20 40 60 80 100

 

Providing Spirits & Cocktails with Beer, Wine & Soft Alternatives.

GUEST NUMBERS 50 100 150 200 250
BEER 117

Lager 330ml

Cider 500ml

Ale 500ml

Stout 500ml

  

70

25

15

7

  

140

50

30

14

  

210

75

45

21

  

280

100

60

28

  

350

125

75

35
WINE 750ml 80

White

Red

Rose

Prosecco

  

6

3

2

6

  

12

6

4

12

  

18

9

6

18

  

24

12

8

24

  

30

15

10

30
SPIRITS (L) 140

Vodka

Gin

Rum

  

1.5

1

1

  

3

2

1.5

  

4.5

3

2.5

  

6

4

3

  

7.5

5

4
Soft alternative (L) 140 28 56 84 112 140
Ice (KG) 14 28 42 56 70
Lemons 4 8 12 16 20
Limes 4 8 12 16 20
Straws 160 320 480 640 800
Cocktail Napkins 100 200 300 400 500
GLASSWARE
Hi Ball glasses 70 140 210 280 350
Wine glasses 40 80 120 160 200
Flute glasses 20 40 60 80 100
Pint glasses 20 40 60 80 100
Rocks glasses 10 20 30 40 50

 

RATIONALE:

These quantities allow for an average of 6 drinks per guest split between the average ratios of beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks. This will do you for around 6 hours of open evening bar. You will have more than you need here; but, you certainly won’t run out. We recommend buying your stock from somewhere on a sale-on-return basis to enable you to return unopened and non-perishable goods. A supermarket or somewhere like Majestic Wine is perfect if you are doing your own wedding bar.
You should increase your amounts by 10% for each additional hour of open bar beyond 6 hours. For example, If you are having 7 hours of open bar for 50 guests, you will need 77 lagers. 70 + 7 (10% of 70).
You need to bear in mind that with any dry bar, you will always have stock left over, you will need to professionally staff it, hire glassware, refrigeration, a bar unit and all bar essentials for a seamless service. In addition to that, you will need to take care of all the cleaning and clear away. If you’d rather avoid this upheaval and heavy workload following the best day of your life, you can go for a fully inclusive mobile bar hire option where providers, like us, will take care of all of that and you will not be left with a load of excess stock either.

Contact Purple Fizz

Give us a call on 0800 246 1185 or email to ask us any questions about our mobile bar hire services.

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