Alcohol Calculator for a Wedding or Party in the US in 2023
How much beer, wine, cocktails, spirits and soft drinks do you need?
Enter the number of guests attending your party below. The Wedding Alcohol Calculator provides a fast estimate of how much soft drinks, beer, wine, cocktails, and spirits you'll need and the expected costs.
.Alcohol Calculator for a Party or a Wedding with Cost Estimator for US in 2023
How many adults?
How many children?
What is the duration of your party in hours?
USE THE PRICE SETTINGS AND ADVANCED SETTINGS TO CUSTOMIZE TO YOUR PERSONAL SITUATION.
Disclaimer: please use at your own risk. See site terms of use
What factors influence how much alcohol and soft drinks you'll need for a party?
1 - The number of guests
When determining how many drinks are needed, the first thing to do is to establish your guest count. You need to make a distinction between the number of adults and children. Suppose you have children on your guest account. In that case, you'll need more soft drinks and fewer alcoholic beverages.
2 - The duration of the party
The duration of the party is another essential factor to consider when estimating how much alcohol to buy. If your party lasts for several hours, you'll need more drinks than if it's only last for an hour or two.
3 - Double drinks in the first hour
Guests tend to drink more for the first hour. A rule of thumb is that a guest drinks two beverages in the first hour and one beverage every hour afterward. Therefore, the default setting in the Advanced Settings to double the drinks in the first hour is set to YES. However, if your situation is different, you can change this setting to NO.
4 - What do the guests drink?
You need to distinguish between beer drinkers, wine drinkers, and liquor drinkers. If you know that most of your guests prefer beer, you need to adjust the settings in the Advanced Settings accordingly. The same goes for wine and liquor drinkers.
The default setting is based on data from the US demographics data published in 2020. However, depending on your visitors' drinking habits, your situation may differ.
If you have some insight into the drinking habits of your guests, use Advanced Settings to improve the accuracy of the calculation. If your visitors tend to drink more wine than beer, alter the defaults by lowering the amount of beer consumption and increasing the amount of wine consumption.
5 - How much do the guests drink?
The average party drinker in the US consumes 2 drinks in the first hour and 1 drink per hour after that. Your specific situation may be different.
Use the Advanced Settings to fine-tune whether your guests are light, modest, or heavy drinkers.
6 - What time of day is the party taking place?
The time of day is another essential factor to consider when estimating how many drinks are needed. If your party takes place in the afternoon, you'll need fewer drinks than if it's taking place at night.
7 - Are the guests eating?
If your guests are eating, they'll drink less. If dinner is included, expect the wine consumption to be higher and the beer consumption lower. Use the Advanced Settings to adjust for this.
8 - What's the weather like?
If it's hot outside, your guests will drink more than if it's cold. Use the Advanced Settings to adjust for this.
Use the Wedding Alcohol Calculator to include all of these factors to give you a fast and accurate estimate of how much alcohol you need for your wedding or party.
What factors influence the cost of alcohol and soft drinks for a party?
1 - Your location
The first factor influencing the cost of alcohol and soft drinks is your location. If you live in an area with a high cost of living, you can expect to pay more for alcohol and soft drinks than if you live in a less expensive area.
In high-density urban areas such as Los Angeles or New York, you'll almost certainly need to increase the average price at least by 25%.
2 - Where do you buy the drinks for a party?
The quickest and most affordable approach to purchasing drinks is to stock up at a local store. This can be a big-box retailer like Walmart, Target, or a local grocery store.
You'll save money by avoiding the markup that bars and restaurants charge. You can also compare prices online to find the best deals on beer, wine, and liquor if you have the time.
If your event is at a wedding or party venue, you will most likely not be permitted to bring your drinks. You'll need to hire an authorized caterer, or the venue itself will serve and charge the beverages.
On average, they generally charge four to eight times the purchase price for their beverages. Suppose your gathering is held in a bar or restaurant. In that case, the costs are typically about five to twelve times greater than what you would pay for the drinks at a whole sell retailer.
You may compare the different costs in the Alcohol Calculator for a Wedding or Party by selecting the buttons: 'Store,' 'Catering,' or 'Bar/restaurant.'
3 - The prices of the drinks
The cost of alcohol and soft drinks can vary depending on the type of drink and the brand. Vodka, gin, and whiskey are generally more expensive than beer and wine. Soft drinks are the most inexpensive beverages.
In the Price Settings block, you can set the price of the different drinks. Suppose you know the exact prices for your situation. In that case, you can enter them here to improve the accuracy of the budget calculation.
4 - Minimum purchase amount
A caterer or venue may require a minimum purchase amount for beverages for your occasion.
In the 'Advanced Settings,' you may define a minimum purchase amount for beer, wine, spirit, and soft drinks. If your total order falls short of the necessary amount, the calculator will display how much more you need to spend to reach it.
5 - Service fees and tips
You may be charged additional service fees and gratuities when you hire a caterer or venue for your event. You need to include these costs in your total cost for the drinks.
You can find out how much these additional charges will be by requesting a quote from the vendor. You
You may use the information above to make a more accurate cost estimate using the Alcohol Calculator for a Wedding or Party. Use the Advanced and Price settings to do so, and the calculator will do the rest!
What is the average cost of alcohol and soft drinks at party in the US for 2023?
We have composed a table with average prices of popular settings.
Guest | Time | Store | Catering | Bar |
50 | 2h | $225 - $275 | $1,100 - $1,300 | $1,450 - $1,650 |
50 | 4h | $375 - $500 | $1,750 - $2,000 | $2,300 - $2,600 |
100 | 4h | $825 - $950 | $3,600 - $3,900 | $4,800 - $5,100 |
150 | 4h | $1,200 - $1,450 | $5,400 - $5,800 | $7,200 - $7,700 |
250 | 4h | $2,100 - $2,300 | $9,100 - $9,500 | $12,100 - $12,650 |
350 | 4h | $2,900 - $3,200 | $12,800 - $13,350 | $17,000 - $17,600 |
| 500 | 4h | $4,200 - $4,550 | $18,400 - $19,000 | $24,400 - $25,000 |
The aim of this table is to give you an indication of common prices. However, the exact number can vary quite a bit depending on a number of factors, such as your location, low/high season and package deals.
How to download and open the results of the Drinks Calculator in Excel or Google Sheets?
After you have made your own drink calculation using the Drinks Calculator on this page, you can download a spreadsheet with your drinks and budget needed. After you press the DOWNLOAD button, two files will be downloaded, both in a so-called "CSV" format.
1 - In the first file whose name ends with '_comma', the cells in the spreadsheet are separated by commas.
2 - In the second file whose name ends with '_semicolon', the cells in the spreadsheet are separated by semicolons.
You can import the downloaded spreadsheet in both Excel and Google Sheets. Excel in US and Google Sheets can usually automatically open CSV files with a comma separation while Excel in Europe usually needs a CSV file with a semicolon separation.
Click on this Youtube link for a demo how to import a CSV file in EXCEL.
For a demo how to import in GOOGLE SHEETS, click on this Youtube link.
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