It’s A Party!

For anyone planing a party or big get together this summer, one of the hardest things to figure out is how much you will need for your guests to drink.  No one wants to overbuy and spend money on drinks that they don’t need to spend, but running out is not an option anyone wants to face either.  Not having enough to drink turns a fun time into no fun at all.  So today we have a guideline for party beverages that just might help you estimate for that fun time you are planning.  These are averages but will give you some helpful guidelines to follow.  The better you know your guests drinking preferences the easier it will be for you to plan.  In any event, in addition to having enough to drink be sure you also have enough ice, both to chill your drinks in tubs or coolers, as well as the ice for glasses that you’ll need for non alcoholic beverages.

Just remember to do everything you can ahead of time to prepare, then remember to enjoy yourself and enjoy your guests.  Fun get togethers with family and friends make life so very abundant 🙂

Beverage Party Planning Guide

The average consumption per person is one drink every 45 minutes.  If you estimate your party will last 4 hours, plan on 6 drinks person.

Wine & Champagne
750 ml bottle     5 servings
1 case                 60 servings

Spirits
750 ml bottle    16 servings
1 liter                  22 servings
(1 servings = 1.5 oz)

Beer
1 case                 24 servings
5 gallon keg     40 servings

How To Make Your Calculations
Start with your best guess of the drinking habits of your guests.  Divide the number of guests between the types of beverages you plan to serve.  For example, if you choose to offer wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages (soda, ice tea, lemonade etc.), then figure the number of servings for each category, calculating one drink every 45 minutes.  Match the total servings to the chart above.

EXAMPLE:

50 guests for a 2 hour event
30 will drink wine               x      3 drinks =  90 servings
10 will drink beer                x      3 drinks = 30 servings
10 will drink non alcohol   x      3 drinks = 30 servings

In this example you will need:
Wine    =      1.5 cases   =  90 servings
Beer     =      5 six packs = 30 servings
Soda    =      6 -750ml bottles = 30 servings

If you don’t know what the drinking habits of your guests are, you will need to overestimate an equal division of all categories.  For example, using the same 50 people of our example above, with the same categories of beverages offered, assume 25 will drink wine, 25 will drink beer and 25 will drink soda.  In this case you will be buying a bit more than you probably need but neither you nor your guests will be disappointed.

(These calculations are taken from a chart provided at BevMo)