Tips for calculating the amount of alcohol and soft drinks for a wedding
Despite the large number of wedding agencies, many future newlyweds or their parents prefer to plan the celebration on their own. After all, no one knows guests better than friends and relatives. In order not to spend too much money, but without getting into an awkward situation, it is worth considering some helpful tips for calculating the amount of alcohol and soft drinks for a wedding.
General Tips
The main rule when planning a celebration is that alcoholic and other drinks must be in abundance until the end of the event.
There are two main approaches to planning the amount you drink. If you thoroughly know the preferences of each of your guests, then exactly those drinks that the people sitting at it will drink are displayed on each table. And if not very familiar people are present at your celebration, then the starting set of bottles on each table should be exactly the same.
Intermediate options, with rare exceptions, are not welcome, because each of the guests should be equally dear to you. Situations when guests will see elite drinks on the next table that they do not have are unacceptable - there should be no division of guests into categories.
The main acceptable exception to this rule is a table for young people and their parents, where the level of drinks can be slightly higher than that of everyone else. Although this is generally undesirable.
Do not forget that the calculation of alcohol for a wedding below is purely indicative, so you should always take into account the characteristics of your guests and take a bottle or two of each of the drinks presented in reserve.
Where to start the assessment
The first step is to count the total number of guests at your wedding. After that, you can divide them into three categories:
- those who usually drink a lot;
- those who drink in moderation;
- those who do not drink at all.
If you are not aware of the preferences of any guest, by default, you can classify him as a moderate drinker. It is also worthwhile to estimate in advance the number of men and women, since they usually prefer different drinks. Finally, it is worth considering the expected age of the guests.
The easiest way to estimate the number of drinks is by dividing them into several groups:
- strong alcohol;
- wine and wine drinks;
- beer;
- soft drinks without alcohol.
Let's consider the basic algorithms for estimating the required number of bottles for each of these categories. These patterns apply only to weddings celebrated at moderate temperatures. If your celebration takes place in a hot summer, then you can take 2 times less strong alcohol, and about 3 times more beer and wine. And vice versa, if it happens in winter, then it is better to increase the amount of spirits 2-3 times and completely abandon beer.
Spirits
The following types of alcohol are usually classified as strong:
- vodka;
- cognac or brandy;
- rum;
- gin;
- whiskey;
- other drinks with a strength of 30 degrees.
Usually these drinks are drunk by men, so it is more convenient to calculate for male guests.
By default, the expected amount of hard alcohol consumed by moderate drinkers is in the order of 300 grams per person. For heavily drinking guests, this figure tends to 0.5 liters.
Thus, if about 30 men will be present at your celebration, then you will need from 9 liters of strong drinks, which means 18 bottles of 0.5 liters each or 13 bottles of 0.7 liters each.
If at your banquet 20 medium-drinking guests and 10 heavy drinkers are expected, then you will need 11 liters of strong alcohol - these are 22 half-liter bottles or 16 containers of 0.7 liters each.
Taking into account Russian traditions, the most common proportion between types of spirits is 60% vodka and 40% cognac, whiskey, rum, and so on.
If your banquet will be mainly attended by older people, then the amount of vodka can be increased up to 70%. If, on the contrary, a large number of young people are expected, then it is best to reduce the amount of vodka to 35% and at the same time take 30% whiskey and 35% cognac.
Wine and Champagne
This category of drinks is usually preferred by women, so it is reasonable to exclude men from this part of the assessment and estimate the number of bottles based on the number of the fair sex. Here, the calculation is much simpler than in the case of strong alcohol - for each guest you should take 1 bottle of wine with a volume of 0.7 liters. It should be borne in mind that red wines are usually more popular than whites, so for every 6 bottles of red you should take 4 bottles of white.
If you want martinis or other vermouths to be present at your celebration instead of wine, then the basic proportions for it are the same as for ordinary wine.
As for the category of the drink, preference should be given to semi-dry and semi-sweet wines in equal measure. Dessert wines are good for light snacks, so they are unlikely to be popular at a banquet. Dry wine is a product for individual connoisseurs, so you shouldn't put it on every table. However, you should still buy a few bottles of this drink in reserve in case there is a guest at the table drinking only such wine.
Champagne is considered a separate category of wine drinks at weddings. The first toasts are usually spoken with him, so every guest should be able to get a glass and at least sip from it. This means that for each wedding guest, regardless of age, gender and alcohol preferences, there should be 250 ml of champagne. So if only 50 people are expected at your wedding, then you will need 13 liters of this drink, that is, 19 bottles with a capacity of 0.7 liters.
Beer for a banquet
In our time, it is not uncommon for a person to drink no alcohol other than beer in principle.
And if earlier beer at a wedding banquet was considered a sign of bad taste, now the presence of a foamy drink, if not on tables, then at least on the menu, is rather welcome. This is especially true for weddings that are played on hot summer days.
Each guest who will definitely drink beer should take at least 2 liters of this drink. And in summer it is best to take 2-3 liters of beer for each guest of your holiday. Of course, craft beers from private breweries or high-end brands like Guiness and Hoegaarden are preferred. In this case, the ratio of light and dark beer should be about 70 and 30%, respectively.
You will learn more about how to calculate the number of alcoholic drinks for a wedding in the video below.
Soft drinks
The minimum volume of soft drinks available without alcohol is 1.5 liters per person. In hot summer, you can safely multiply this figure by 2.
At the same time, about 1 liter of this figure should be mineral water. It is best to take about 70% non-carbonated mineral water and 30% carbonated.
Serving it in large containers is undesirable - it is better to have a glass bottle of up to 0.5 liters at hand for each guest.
In addition, for each guest it is worth stocking about 0.5 liters of juice or fruit drink. Most often, orange and apple juices are used in equal proportions at weddings. You can also recommend grape juice.
Drinks for a walk and a registry office
When calculating for the entire ceremony, and not just for the banquet, do not forget to take into account the drinks required for registration of marriage and the subsequent walk.
For the official part, it is enough to take champagne at the rate of 1 glass for each person who will be present at it.
If you plan to invite 10 guests to the registry office, then you will need 2.5 liters or 4 bottles of sparkling wine, respectively.
For a walk, you can take 2 times fewer bottles of champagne than there will be participants in it. So, if 10 people will participate in it, then you should take 5 bottles with you. Just do not forget to take along soft drinks at the rate of 300 g per person. It is more convenient and practical to take with you 1 bottle of 0.33 l for each of the participants in the walk.
