7 min read

Party Planning: A Drink Calculator for Weddings, Graduations, and More

By: Beau Farrell on Jul 28, 2022 12:30:00 PM

Life is Better Paired With Party Planning

Party planning can be really fun, but anyone who’s planned an event might say that it’s also stressful. Whether it’s a graduation party, a sports viewing, a holiday celebration, a wedding reception, or a big weekend hangout, you want to make sure everything goes smoothly and, most importantly, you have enough food and beverages for your guests.

Having (or not having) the right amount of alcohol could make or break your party. But have no fear, we’re here to help! Let’s start out by asking a few initial questions:

Did you invite light, average, or heavy drinkers?
How many adults over the age of 21 will be drinking?
What is your overall party budget?
Will you have only beer, only wine, only spirits, or a combination of everything?
Will someone be bartending, or will it be self-serve?

Drinks You'll Want to Consider

It doesn’t hurt to have a variety of drinks available for your guests. Here are some tips for stocking your party bar:

Pick a clear, grain-based spirit like gin or vodka.
Grab a bottle of brown liquor like bourbon, scotch, or whiskey.
Have some mixer ingredients handy: club soda, ice, lemons and limes for garnishes, simple syrup, bitters for classic cocktails, juice (orange, cranberry), and sodas (cola, ginger ale).
Feeling like extra is better? Include rum and tequila, or champagne if it’s a fancy affair.
Some people prefer red wines, others prefer white wines. Know your audience or just get some of each – maybe even rosé.

Go local by adding Minnesota wineries and local beer if possible. We’re lucky to have lots of great brewers in Minnesota so take advantage!

Know How Far a Bottle Goes

Does anyone really know what an actual serving of alcohol looks like? We sure do! Here’s the rundown:

One bottle of wine (750ml) contains about 5 glasses.
One bottle of spirits (750ml) contains 17 shots (1.5 ounces each).
Bottles or cans of beer…well, you know how this goes.

Knowing how much you get per bottle or can will help you gauge how much of each you’ll need to have on hand at your party. All you have to do is finalize your guest list and then do a little math. If you end up over purchasing, don’t fear! We take back unopened bottles so you can return whatever wasn’t used…or you can keep the leftovers for yourself.

Drink Calculator

Hopefully we didn’t scare you away with the M-word, but math is needed at this stage of the game to decide how much to buy. Here’s where you will be grateful you paid attention in math class. As a general rule of thumb, plan on most guests consuming 1.5 drinks in the first hour of arrival and then one drink per hour thereafter. Let’s break it down:

(Number of guests X 1.5) + (Number of guests X party hours after the first hour) = Total Drinks

Let’s try talking through it with an example. Say you want to throw a party with 25 friends that lasts about four hours.

First 1.5 hours: 25 people x 1.5 drinks each = 37.5 drinks
Next 3 hours: 25 people x 3 drinks each = 75 drinks
Total drink count: 112.5
For your 25 friends, you’ll need enough beer, wine, and liquor to serve about 113 drinks.

Identify the Drinks

The final bit of math that you need to do is figuring out how much of each category of alcohol you need. Try the 50-25-25 breakdown:

About 50% of guests will drink wine
About 25% will drink beer
About 25% will drink spirits

Continuing with our example of 25 guests and their roughly 113 drinks, that means you should plan to have:

Wine for about 67 drinks (11 bottles)
Roughly 28 bottles or cans of beer (which comes out to be two 12-packs and a 6-pack)
About 2 bottles of spirits

Read the Room

So, you’ve done all the math and have a more educated guess of how much alcohol you’ll need to get. Before you run to the store and start shopping, there’s one last thing to consider. You’ll probably drink a fair amount more at a bachelorette party or a night up at the cabin with your buddies than you’ll drink at lunch with your relatives from out of town, so it’s important to factor that in. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help read the room:

What type of party is it – one with lots of drinking expected or less?
What time of day is it? With the rise of darties (daytime parties) this question may not hold as much weight.
What is the ratio of adults to children on the guest list?
What ratio of guests will likely drink wine, beer, or cocktails? How many known non-drinkers will be attending your party?
What kind of alcohol do people like? If it's a wine crowd - do your guests like red, white, rose or a combination?

Food, Drinks, and Different Event Types

You might need a few simple ideas for the kinds of food and drinks you can serve together at your next event so we’ve listed some ideas to get the juices flowing (pun intended). Choose what you think will best suit the mood, the time of year, and the kind of get-together you want!

Wine and Cheese Party – Learn some helpful wine-tasting terms and find chocolates to pair while you’re at it.
Halloween Party – Cocktails and punch recipes with eerie vibes.
Super Bowl Party – Beer is best.
Brunch – Go for mimosas.
Wedding Reception – See how much wine for a wedding you’re planning.
Christmas Party – So many seasonal options, but go classy with wine.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget non-alcoholic beverages for your underage and non-drinking guests. And don't skimp on the food, either! Plan to have at least a few finger foods or snacks to munch on.

If wine is the direction you’re headed in, here are some suggestions for great, crowd-friendly wine that won't bust the party budget:

Red:

White:

Rose/Sparkling:

Bartenders-For-Hire

Still not sure what to buy or feeling like you’re not wanting to manage the bartending process yourself? No worries. Hire a professional bartender from Haskell's! Our bartenders-for-hire can work with you on your budget and selections. You'll save money, time, and a few worries by trusting our experienced professionals to run the bar. Did we mention that Haskell's delivers? Whether you need one case of beer or twenty, we are here to help you keep the party flowing–we mean going.