Beverages for your wedding: How much drinks should you purchase?

Are you planning a wedding and handling the beverages yourselves? Have you found it difficult to figure out how much beer, water, and wine you need to buy? If so, you're not alone. One of the hardest parts of wedding planning can actually be calculating beverages. Even though beverages can be included in the cover price, there can, for example, be self-purchase of beverages for the reception.

There can be a big difference in how much each guest consumes. Some don't drink alcohol, others only drink beer, and some prefer wine.

Below you will find a guide to how much drinks you should purchase, as well as which types of beverages are most commonly served at weddings. With Wonderfuldays' smart tool, you can adjust the following guidelines to fit your party and number of guests.

How much should we buy?

It is naturally up to you to decide how many beverages you wish to purchase. However, it's never fun to run out of drinks, so always remember to buy a little extra if you're in doubt.

Below you can see the guidelines for how much you should calculate per person for drinks at a wedding.

• Welcome drink: About 1.5 glasses per person. Typically sparkling wine/champagne.
• Appetizer: About 1.5-2 glasses per person. Usually white wine is served with the appetizer.
• Main course: About 3 glasses per person.
• Dessert: 1.5 glasses of dessert wine and/or 1 glass of Bailey's or other liqueur per person.
• Soda/beer: About 2-5 glasses per person. Can vary greatly depending on the company.

With Wonderfuldays' smart calculation tool, you can easily calculate how much you need to buy of the different beverages, and adjust the selection to suit your big day.

How much do the different bottles contain?

The amount can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the following provides a general insight into the amounts of the different types of beverages.

What temperature should the drinks be served at?

• Red wine, cognac and other liqueurs are served at room temperature between 17-20 degrees.

What are the benefits of hiring a professional bartender?

One advantage of hiring professional bartenders is that there is one less thing to focus on before your big day. When you hire professional bartenders, you collaborate with them to agree on a drinks and cocktail menu, and typically a serving period of 4-6 hours with unlimited serving.

The bartenders typically take care of setting up the bar, bringing equipment, and the subsequent cleaning. This gives you space and peace to focus on all the many other tasks leading up to and on the day itself.