Planning Guide
How Much Alcohol Do You Need for 100 Wedding Guests?
Updated September 2026 · Rikki's Mobile Bar
Start with the number of adults who expect to drink alcohol, rather than the total guest count. As an illustrative stock-planning scenario, suppose 75 of your 100 guests drink alcohol and you budget four servings per participating guest across the event: 75 × 4 = 300 servings. This is a purchasing example, not a recommendation for how much anyone should drink. With a menu split of 40% beer, 30% wine, and 30% cocktails, the calculation is:
- Beer: 120 servings = 5 cases of 24 cans or bottles.
- Wine: 90 servings ÷ approximately 5 glasses per 750ml bottle = 18 bottles, using 5-ounce pours.
- Spirits: 90 cocktails ÷ approximately 16 pours per 750ml bottle = 6 bottles rounded up, assuming 1.5 ounces of spirits per cocktail. Recipes using more spirits require more stock.
- Water, zero-proof drinks, mixers & garnish: plan these separately for all guests and your chosen recipes.
Scaling to 150 guests
For 150 guests with the same participation and menu assumptions, the stock budget is 450 servings: 180 beers (8 cases rounded up), 135 glasses of wine (27 bottles), and 135 cocktails (9 bottles of spirits rounded up). Confirm the actual number of participating adults, recipes, and service hours with your bartender before ordering; adjust each category to your guests' preferences.
Why this is only a starting point
Guest demographics, time of year, whether it's an afternoon or evening event, and your specific drink menu all shift these numbers. This is exactly the kind of planning that a licensed mobile bar handles for you — we build quantities around your actual guest count and drink program rather than a generic formula, so you're not over-buying or running short mid-reception. Read more about how that works on our licensed mobile bar service page.