Beverages for wedding?

Question

I am also asking my caterer this, but was hoping to get some input from others as well. We are having a wedding with approximately 100 guests. We are limiting beverage choices to Coke, Sprite, Beer, a white wine, a red wine, and champagne for a champagne toast. We have already purchased the champagne, but for the rest I am unsure of how much to buy. For the beer we are planning on getting a keg (or two?) but I am unsure of how much to buy for the pop and wine. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I had closer to 200 people for an evening wedding and I had 6 cases of white wine, 4 cases of red, and a half keg.  I also had non-alcoholic punch and tea.

I had way way way too much to drink.  They took the half keg to the afterparty and it was returned with beer still in it.  We had about 2 cases of wine leftover.  His family is French so I was really shocked that we still had wine left over.

Realistically I'd go for about 4 cases of coke, 2 cases of Sprite and 3 cases of each wine.  If you serve champagne (I don't mean just a toast but as in serve it) you go through way more of it b/c people will drink champagne b/c they feel obligated or it's more expensive.  The good thing about buying coke and sprite in cans is that you can always keep it around.  Bring it to parties and drink it yourself over the next several months.  The keg has to be returned so unless you have a LOT of beer drinkers 2 kegs is too much.

Answer 2

What size of keg? You can get them as small as 21L in Ontario, I'm not sure about elsewhere. And while it is much better beer that way, make sure that you're going to be able to finish all the kegs you open (or are you only going to offer one variety of beer? Offering only one kind somewhat cancels out having a keg).

Wine I'd suggest enough for two glasses per guest, at 5 glasses per bottle (assuming standard 750mL/5 standard servings bottles).

Pop get about 7 bottles of each or so. More if you can return unopened bottles (maybe 10) or expect people to drink a lot of sugary stuff. Less if you're on a tight budget (5 of each?). If you're inviting kids have something they can drink, apple juice is a nice (though unhealthy) option.

Answer 3

Definitely ask your caterer - you're going to have to take into account not only the number of guests but how many of those are children. Don't forget to have water available for guests who don't drink soda or alcohol. And a couple of things of Diet Coke wouldn't hurt either - my brother is diabetic, so diet drinks are all he can have!

Answer 4

It depends on if your guests are heavy drinkers or not.  Don't forget to have bottled water and diet soft drinks available as well.

Answer 5

may I suggest a diet soda as well?

ther are roughly about 100 beers ina  keg so I would do two

wine- about 30-50 bottles

soda-60 bottles

Answer 6

I would buy about 5 2-liter bottles of each kind of soda, as well as maybe 6 bottles of red wine and 6 bottles of white wine.  When you go to the liquor store, ask about their return policy.  Many liquor stores will allow you to return unopened wine bottles for a full refund if you over-buy, so you don't have to worry about wasting money if it doesn't get used.  Same with the pop bottles- if you go buy them at Wal-Mart or a grocery store, they won't have any problem returning them if they're unopened.

P.S.- In lieu of a keg, consider buying the beer in 6-pack bottles.  Not only will it look more elegant than a keg, but you can then have more variety with types of beer, and the unopened bottle return policy applies to them too, in case you over-buy.

Answer 7

You need to ask yourself if your guests are big drinkers and take it from there.  I was at a wedding this past weekend with no more than 100 guests.  We went through five kegs.  If the people you are inviting don't drink much, 2 would probably suffice.  If they drink a lot, you may want to get an extra keg or 2.  As far as wine, my friend bought 2 cases of white, 2 cases of red for a reception of 200 people.  The wine was gone before the reception was even half over.  Again, though, it will all depend on your guests.  Take a mental poll of how many people will be drinking and take into consideration who drinks a lot and who doesn't.  Also, speaking with your caterer will give a clearer idea of what to expect and how much to get.  If the alcohol should run out, be prepared for guests to start leaving or to get another keg on the spot!  Sometimes they will allow you to reserve a keg without paying for it unless it's needed.  At my wedding we had an open bar, so we never had to worry about the booze running out.  I've seen it happen at several weddings before and it's the quickest way to end the reception!