Event Drink Calculator: How Much Alcohol and Ice to Buy
Enter your guest count, event length, the share who drink and your beer, wine and spirits mix, and get cases of beer, bottles of wine and liquor, soft drinks, ice, cups and bartenders.
Work Out How Many Drinks to Buy
| Drink | Servings | What to buy |
|---|---|---|
| Beer (12 oz) | 150 | 7 cases of 24, or 1 half-barrel kegs |
| Wine (5 oz) | 132 | 27 bottles of 750 ml (5 pours each) |
| Spirits (1.5 oz) | 94 | 6 bottles of 750 ml (16 pours each) |
| Soft drinks | 125 | 125 cans, bottles or glasses |
500
Drinks to plan for
375 alcoholic and 125 soft drinks, 5 per guest.
100 lb
Ice
10 bags of 10 lb.
550
Cups
One a drink, plus 10%.
2
Bartenders
At the busiest time.
The formula
(2 drinks the first hour + 1 each hour after) × 100% pace = 5 drinks per guest.
Drinkers × drinks per guest = alcoholic drinks, split by your mix.
Beer ÷ 24 = cases. Wine ÷ 5 = bottles. Spirits ÷ 16 = bottles.
Place bars, drink stations and water points on your room layout with event floor plan software.
Planning estimate only, from common rules of thumb. Serve responsibly: check local alcohol licensing and liability insurance, use licensed or certified bartenders where they are required, check IDs, and keep water, food and a ride-home plan available.
How the Event Drink Calculator Works
1. Count guests and who drinks
Start from your confirmed guest count. Set the share who drink alcohol; everyone else, including guests under the legal drinking age, gets the same number of soft drinks.
2. Apply the 2-then-1 rule
A common rule of thumb is about 2 drinks a guest in the first hour and 1 an hour after, so a 4-hour event is 5 drinks a guest. Pick a lighter pace for daytime or business events and a livelier one for evening celebrations.
3. Split by your bar mix
The alcoholic drinks are split between beer, wine and spirits by your shares, then turned into cases and bottles: 24 beers a case, 5 glasses a bottle of wine and 16 pours a bottle of liquor.
4. Add ice, cups and bartenders
Plan about 1 lb of ice a guest (2 lb in hot weather), a cup a drink plus 10% spare, and 1 bartender per 50 to 100 guests.
5. Confirm with your bar service
Take the numbers to your caterer or bar service. Ask whether unopened bottles can be returned, and use our questions to ask a caterer to check what their bar package covers.
Work out the food with the event food calculator, and put the bar cost into your event budget template.
Drinks by Guest Count
What the calculator gives for a 4-hour event at a typical pace, with 75% of guests drinking and a 40 / 35 / 25 beer, wine and spirits mix. These are planning defaults from common rules of thumb, not a standard.
| Guests | Beer cases | Wine bottles | Liquor bottles | Ice | Bartenders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 50 lb | 1 |
| 100 | 7 | 27 | 6 | 100 lb | 2 |
| 150 | 10 | 40 | 9 | 150 lb | 2 |
| 200 | 13 | 53 | 12 | 200 lb | 3 |
| 300 | 19 | 79 | 18 | 300 lb | 4 |
Serve Responsibly
Alcohol rules vary by state, city and venue. Before you buy, check whether you need a permit or license to serve or sell alcohol, whether the venue requires its own bar service, and whether your event insurance covers liquor liability. Hire licensed or certified bartenders where they are required, check IDs, stop service on time, and keep water, food and a ride-home option available.
Lay Out the Bars on Your Floor Plan
Map D doesn’t order or serve drinks. Where it helps is the layout: place bars, drink stations, ice and water points next to the booths, vendor spaces and seating on your event floor plan, drawn to scale, so you can check queues and walkways before the day. You can build one event’s floor plan free; publishing and sharing it, and selling booths from it, needs a paid plan, from $1,500 per event.
What this assumes
Every figure the calculator starts with, and where it comes from. Where the honest answer is that a number depends on your venue, it says so rather than inventing one.
- Drinks per guest
- About 2 drinks per drinking guest in the first hour and 1 an hour after: 3 for 2 hours, 4 for 3 hours, 5 for 4 hours. Part hours are prorated. This is a common bar-planning rule of thumb, not a standard. The Light pace uses 75% of it and the Lively pace 125%.
- Soft drinks
- Guests who don't drink alcohol get the same number of drinks as soft drinks, sparkling water, juice or mocktails. Drinkers' water is not counted, so put out water stations or pitchers on top.
- Pour sizes and bottle yields
- Beer is a 12 oz serving, 24 to a case. A half-barrel keg (15.5 gal) holds about 165 12 oz pours in theory; the calculator uses 150 to allow for foam. Wine is a 5 oz pour, 5 to a 750 ml bottle. Spirits are a 1.5 oz pour, 16 to a 750 ml bottle (about 17 in theory, less spillage).
- Bar mix
- Your beer, wine and spirits shares of the alcoholic drinks. The default 40 / 35 / 25 is a common starting point for a full bar. For beer and wine only, set spirits to 0. If the shares don't add to 100%, the calculator scales them so they do.
- Ice
- 1 lb per guest by default, the common rule for ice in drinks. Use 2 lb per guest in hot weather or if you also chill cans and bottles in tubs. Bags are counted at 10 lb.
- Cups
- One cup per drink, because bartenders usually pour each drink into a fresh cup, plus 10% for drops and spares. Use glassware counts from your rental company instead if you have them.
- Bartenders
- 1 bartender per 75 guests by default, the middle of the common 1 per 50 to 100 range. Use 1 per 50 for a full cocktail bar or a fast-arriving crowd, and up to 1 per 100 for beer and wine only.
What it does not model
- Alcohol licensing, permits and liability insurance. Who may sell or serve alcohol, and how, depends on your state, city and venue, so check local rules and the venue contract.
- Mixers, garnishes, cocktail ingredients and specialty drinks, which your bar service plans from the menu.
- Coffee, tea and water service for everyone, which most caterers quote separately.
- Your bar service's own pour sizes, package prices and minimums, which set the real order.
- Guests under the legal drinking age. Count them as non-drinkers.
Estimate only, from the figures you entered. Not a quote. Last reviewed November 2026.
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Frequently asked questions
How many drinks per person for a party?
A common rule of thumb is about 2 drinks per drinking guest in the first hour and 1 drink each hour after. That is 4 drinks a guest for a 3-hour event and 5 for a 4-hour event. Plan a little less for a daytime or business event and a little more for an evening celebration.
How much alcohol do I need for 100 guests?
With this calculator's defaults, 100 guests over 4 hours with 75% drinking and a 40 / 35 / 25 mix need about 7 cases of beer, 27 bottles of wine and 6 bottles of liquor, plus 125 soft drinks, 100 lb of ice and 2 bartenders. A beer and wine only bar at 50 / 50 needs about 8 cases of beer and 38 bottles of wine.
How many drinks are in a bottle of wine or liquor?
A 750 ml bottle of wine pours about 5 glasses of 5 oz. A 750 ml bottle of liquor pours about 16 drinks of 1.5 oz, a little under the 17 it holds in theory once spillage is allowed for. A case of beer is 24 servings of 12 oz.
How many bartenders do I need for an event?
A common ratio is 1 bartender per 50 to 100 guests. Use 1 per 50 for a full cocktail bar or when most guests arrive at once, and closer to 1 per 100 for beer and wine. Many places require licensed or certified servers, so check local rules and the venue contract before you staff the bar.
Can Map D plan my event bar?
No. Map D doesn't order or serve drinks. You can place bars, drink stations and ice and water points on your event floor plan to scale, so you can check queues and walkways before the day. The free plan builds one event's floor plan; publishing and sharing it needs a paid plan, from $1,500 per event.
Sources
- Map D guide: questions to ask a caterer · checked 2026-11-03
- Map D help center: the free plan and how to upgrade · checked 2026-11-03
- Map D pricing · checked 2026-09-18