Drinks Per Guest Calculator
Calculate how many wine bottles, beer cans, and spirit bottles you need for any size gathering.
Enter guest count, hours, and event type for a full estimate.
The standard planning rule: one drink per person per hour, adjusted for event type.
A “drink” is one 5 oz glass of wine, one 12 oz beer, or one 1.5 oz shot of spirits.
Drink rate by event type:
- Casual gathering: 1 drink/person/hour (conversation-focused, slower drinking)
- Cocktail party: 1.5 drinks/person/hour (drinks in hand the whole time, mingling)
- Dinner party: 0.75 drinks/person/hour (food absorbs some, pace is slower)
- Wedding or celebration: 1.5 drinks/person/hour (toasting, dancing, higher consumption)
- Outdoor BBQ: 1.25 drinks/person/hour (heat and activity push consumption up)
From total drinks, the calculator splits the estimate: 40% wine, 40% beer, 20% spirits. Adjust this mentally if you know your crowd skews heavily toward one type.
Bottle yields:
- Wine: 5 glasses per 750 ml bottle
- Spirits: about 17 standard 1.5 oz shots per 750 ml bottle
Practical rules of thumb: Always round up on bottles — a leftover bottle of wine is never a problem, but running out mid-party is. Add one extra wine bottle per 10 guests as a buffer. If you are serving champagne for a toast only, that is separate: one bottle per 6-8 guests.
Non-alcoholic drinks matter too. Have at least one non-alcoholic option available, and figure on 1-2 non-alcoholic drinks per non-drinker per hour. A good rule is one-third of total drink volume in soft drinks and water.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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