Create

How many bottles do you need?

A shopping list, not a theory. Set your guests and how long the party goes on, copy the list, send it to your wine merchant.

20300

No alcohol for them, but plenty of juice.

That’s 71 people served wine.

How long the party goes on
Your crowd drinks
Two details that matter
Wine, fizz and spirits

93 bottles

Plus 191 bottles of water and soft drinks, counted separately because they aren’t bought in the same place or at the same price.

For 100 guests, 71 of whom drink wine. A 75 cl bottle pours six glasses: everything is worked out from that.

Estimate the full budget

Your shopping list

Rounded up. Unopened bottles can go back.

  • 4275 clChampagne or proseccoServed throughout the reception. Prosecco or crémant does the job well, for a third of the price.
  • 1675 clWhite wineReception and starter. Serve chilled, not ice-cold.
  • 1975 clRed wineThe main course. It’s the bottle opened last, and drunk slowest.
  • 975 clRoséA quarter of the table wine: in summer, it’s what people ask for again.
  • 770 clSpiritsGin, vodka, whisky, rum. A bottle pours sixteen measures, with the mixers to go with them.
  • 611 LJuice and soft drinksFor the children, the drivers, and everyone else late in the evening.
  • 1301 LWaterIn a heatwave, double it. It’s the one line nobody has ever regretted over-ordering.

40 kg

Of ice. One bucket per drinks table, double if it’s hot.

250

Glasses to hire. People put one down and pick up another: that’s normal.

What it costs, and corkage

Between £840 and £2,050 if you buy the alcohol yourselves, depending on the bottles you choose. The same service ordered through the caterer often costs twice as much.

If the venue charges corkage, allow around £740 extra to bring your own wine. It’s the first thing to ask on the viewing, before the hire fee itself.

  • Buy from a merchant who takes back unopened bottles. Most do.
  • Have it delivered the day before, and plan where to keep it all cold.
  • Ask who opens, who pours, and until what time.

Your guests will know where and when

Drinks on the lawn at 5 pm, dinner in the marquee at 8: put the running order on your page, and your guests have it in their pocket on the day.

Create your page, it’s free

The questions people actually ask

How many bottles of wine for 100 guests?

Around 45 bottles for a drinks reception followed by dinner, assuming three guests in four drink. It’s worked out in glasses: a 75 cl bottle pours six, and you count two to three glasses per drinker at the reception, three at the table.

How much champagne for a wedding?

One bottle for six flutes. If the champagne is only for the toast, one bottle per six drinkers is enough. If it flows for the whole reception, plan three times as much, or switch to prosecco or crémant: nobody will mind, and the bill changes completely.

What is corkage?

What the venue or caterer charges to let you bring your own bottles, usually between £5 and £15 per bottle opened. Ask on the viewing: over a hundred and fifty bottles, the difference runs into thousands of pounds.

And how much water?

Much more than you think, especially in summer: a litre per person over a full evening, half still and half sparkling. It’s the only line where having too much costs almost nothing and running out shows immediately.