How many drinks does the average guest drink at a wedding?

[TravelingGal]

I am looking into a place that doesn''t have beverage packages. You just host a bar and pay for each drink.

I''m trying to budget for this, but I honestly can''t figure out how much I should budget for on average. At first I guessed high and thought 6-8 drinks for the guests during a 4 hour period, but then I realized I''d have quite a few drunk guests!! Is guestimating at 4 drinks per guest too low? Half our guests don''t drink, so I was think the ones that do will make up for it...

Your input is much appreciated...

 

[sydneycasandra]

I think you also need to consider the time of day, location, formality level (string quartet receptions might have less drinking than say, party-til-4-am DJ''d receptions), and what type of food you''ll be serving (full dinner or just appetizers?)


How long do you expect the reception to go on? If you''ve booked the hall from say, 4pm to 8pm, you''ll have a lot less drinking than if it is from 7pm til ???

 

[E B]

I'd guess 4 or 5 drinks pp (for 4 hours) is about right, especially if half don't drink. Just in case it's not enough, you could have some extra cases of beer/wine set aside.

 

[TravelingGal]

It''s from about 11:30 to 4..so it is a daytime wedding. I''ll figure it''s about 5 on average....

Thanks!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Five per person sounds about right. I was thinking one drink per 45 minutes or so??

Are you going to have a full bar, or serve beer and wine? It can get a bit tricky with the full bar, unless you limit the type of booze you serve. I once went to a "vodka" wedding!

If you do want to incorporate a "cocktail" into your bar menu, then how about a signature drink? I once went to daytime wedding where they served beer, wine, and bellinis. Other signature drinks I recall being served at other weddings were margaritas, sangria, and kir royales.

 

[fountainfairfax]

A friend in catering once told me they figure an average of 2 drinks per person for the first hour, 1 per hour there-after and that this usually balances out the heavy-handed with the non-drinkers. They actually use this calculation for the entire length of the event, including the desert portion (we really know how to drink here on Long Island

.)

 

[TravelingGal]

fountainfairfax, that sounds about right. And you think you guys can drink in long island...you should see a room full of Aussies! Eek!

Chargergrrl, at Charthouse they can limit the type of alcohol. They have three types of classifications - house, premium and top shelf. Nothing unusual there. I think the premium drinks top out at around 10 bucks. We can also put a monetary limit on the bar. We''ll probably do about 1500 bucks or so...should cover it. It''s really not any cheaper to do a signature drink, unfortunately. And we have to buy wine at their regular bottle prices...yikes!