For 100 guests over five hours, plan about 500 total drinks: roughly 8 to 10 handles of spirits, 20 to 24 bottles of wine, 4 to 5 cases of beer, and 4 to 5 gallons of non-alcoholic base. Buy one extra of every spirit — unopened bottles are returnable at most California retailers, and running dry at 9:30pm is not fixable.
This is the question we get more than any other, and almost every answer online gets it wrong in the same way — by starting from guests. You cannot buy guests. You buy bottles, and to get to bottles you have to go through drinks.
Here is the actual chain: guests → drinks → ounces → bottles. Do it in that order and the number comes out right every time. Below are the tables, the assumptions behind them, and the six mistakes that cost couples the most money.
Step 1: How many drinks?
The planning number we use after hundreds of Southern California events: two drinks per guest in the first hour, then one per guest per hour after. For a five-hour reception that is six drinks per guest at the theoretical maximum, and about five in practice once you account for people who nurse one drink all night and people who only drink water.
For 100 guests over five hours: roughly 500 drinks.
Adjust from there:
- Four-hour reception: about 400 drinks.
- Six-hour reception: about 600 drinks.
- Daytime or brunch wedding: reduce by roughly 25%.
- Crowd that skews under 35: increase by roughly 15%.
- Crowd with many non-drinkers or children present: reduce alcohol, but do not reduce total drinks — the demand shifts to non-alcoholic.
Step 2: How do those 500 drinks split?
The reliable split at a Southern California wedding with a cocktail menu:
| Category | Share of drinks | Drinks (of 500) |
|---|---|---|
| Signature cocktails | ~55–60% | 275–300 |
| Beer | ~20–25% | 100–125 |
| Wine | ~15–20% | 75–100 |
| Simple pours (spirit + mixer) | ~5% | ~25 |
Those shares move with the crowd. A wine-country wedding in Temecula shifts toward wine. A daytime backyard event in the Inland Empire shifts toward beer and micheladas. A Mexican or Latino wedding shifts heavily toward cocktails and beer. Tell us the crowd and we adjust the list.
Step 3: Ounces to bottles
The conversion nobody memorizes, so here it is once:
| Bottle size | Ounces | Cocktails at 1.5 oz | Cocktails at 2 oz | Wine pours (5 oz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 750ml | 25.4 | ~16 | ~12 | ~5 |
| 1L | 33.8 | ~22 | ~16 | — |
| 1.75L (handle) | 59.2 | ~39 | ~29 | — |
| Case of beer (24) | — | 24 servings | — | — |
| Keg (1/2 barrel) | 1,984 | ~165 servings (12 oz) | — | — |
Handles are the value buy for events, almost always. The per-ounce price is meaningfully lower and you handle fewer bottles behind the bar.
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The full shopping list for 100 guests, five hours
This assumes two signature cocktails at 1.5 oz of base spirit each, split about 65/35 between a refreshing option and a spirit-forward one.
| Item | Quantity | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Base spirit — refreshing cocktail | 5–6 handles (1.75L) | ~190 drinks at 1.5 oz |
| Base spirit — spirit-forward cocktail | 3–4 handles (1.75L) | ~105 drinks at 1.5 oz |
| Modifier liqueur (orange, elderflower, amaro) | 3–4 × 750ml | 0.5–0.75 oz per drink |
| Vermouth (if a stirred drink is on the menu) | 1–2 × 750ml | Refrigerate after opening |
| Bitters | 2–3 × 4 oz bottles | ~100 drinks per bottle |
| Wine — white and rosé | 14–16 bottles | Skew 2:1 over red in SoCal |
| Wine — red | 6–8 bottles | Lighter reds travel better outdoors |
| Sparkling wine (toast + spritzes) | 10–14 bottles | ~5 pours per bottle |
| Beer | 4–5 cases | ~2/3 light lager, 1/3 local craft |
| Seltzers (optional) | 1–2 cases | Increasingly requested under 35 |
| Ice | 200–250 lbs | Included — we bring it |
| Sodas, tonic, ginger beer, grapefruit soda | 9–10 gallons | Included |
| Fresh citrus juice | ~2.5 gallons | Included — squeezed day-of |
| Syrups and garnishes | 1 gallon syrup, full garnish set | Included |
| Non-alcoholic base | 4–5 gallons | Included — 1.5 per guest minimum |
| Still and sparkling water | 100+ L | Included |
Everything marked included comes with every La Barra Co. package, along with the bar itself, RBS-certified bartenders, glassware and tools, and no automatic gratuity or service charge. Your actual shopping list is the top eleven rows. That is what dry hire in California means.
Scaling up and down
| Guests | Total drinks | Spirit handles | Wine bottles | Beer cases | Sparkling | N/A base |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | ~250 | 4–5 | 10–12 | 2–3 | 5–7 | 2–2.5 gal |
| 75 | ~375 | 6–7 | 15–18 | 3–4 | 8–10 | 3–3.5 gal |
| 100 | ~500 | 8–10 | 20–24 | 4–5 | 10–14 | 4–5 gal |
| 125 | ~625 | 10–12 | 25–30 | 5–6 | 13–17 | 5–6 gal |
| 150 | ~750 | 12–15 | 30–36 | 6–8 | 15–20 | 6–7 gal |
| 200 | ~1,000 | 16–20 | 40–48 | 8–10 | 20–28 | 8–9 gal |
The six mistakes that cost the most
- Buying 750ml bottles instead of handles. Roughly 15–25% more per ounce, and twice as many bottles to manage behind the bar. Handles, unless the spirit only comes in 750ml.
- Buying too many different spirits. A full back bar with seven spirits for a 100-person wedding means most of those bottles go home three-quarters full. Two base spirits plus a modifier covers a two-cocktail menu completely.
- Under-buying the refreshing cocktail. The lighter drink outsells the spirit-forward one about 65/35, every time. Couples routinely buy 50/50 and run out of the popular one first.
- Buying too much red wine. At a Southern California wedding, especially outdoors, white and rosé outsell red about two to one. Buy accordingly and you will not be driving eight bottles of cabernet home.
- Forgetting the non-alcoholic plan. 20–30% of guests want a zero-proof option, and the plan is 1.5 drinks per guest, not per non-drinker. See the mocktail guide.
- Not asking about returns. Most California retailers take back unopened bottles with a receipt, which makes over-buying free and under-buying expensive. Confirm your specific store's policy, keep the receipt, and keep the boxes.
Where to buy in Southern California
For most of our clients it comes down to three options. Total Wine has the widest selection, competitive handle pricing and a straightforward return policy on unopened stock — confirm the policy at your specific store. BevMo is comparable, often with better promotional pricing on cases. Costco, if you have a membership, is frequently the cheapest per ounce on major spirits and on wine, but the selection is narrow and inconsistent between warehouses, so it works best when you are flexible on brand.
Whichever you pick, place the order at least two weeks out for anything above about 100 guests. Large single-store purchases of handles regularly need to be ordered in, and discovering that four days before the wedding is genuinely stressful.
What we do with your list
We run a menu call four to six weeks out, send an exact bottle-by-bottle shopping list three to four weeks out sized to your headcount and your actual menu, and revise it once your final count lands about ten days before the date. You buy once and buy right, and anything unopened goes back.
The 30-day checklist covers everything else in the timeline, the cost guide covers pricing, and the signature cocktail guide covers what goes on the menu in the first place. Serving Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and the Inland Empire — send your date and guest count and you will get a real number back, usually within the hour.
Frequently asked questions
How much alcohol do I need for 100 wedding guests?
Plan for roughly 500 total drinks across a five-hour reception. A typical split is 8 to 10 handles of 1.75 liter spirits, 20 to 24 bottles of wine, 4 to 5 cases of beer, and 4 to 5 gallons of non-alcoholic base. Buy one extra bottle of each spirit, since unopened bottles are returnable at most California retailers with a receipt.
How many drinks does one bottle of liquor make?
A 750ml bottle holds 25.4 ounces and makes about 16 cocktails at 1.5 ounces of base spirit each, or about 12 at 2 ounces. A 1.75 liter handle holds 59 ounces and makes about 39 cocktails at 1.5 ounces, or about 29 at 2 ounces. Handles are almost always the better value for events.
How much wine do I need for 100 guests?
Plan 20 to 24 bottles of wine for 100 guests at a wedding where cocktails are also served, which works out to roughly 100 to 120 glasses at 5 ounces each. Skew white and rose over red about two to one in Southern California, particularly for outdoor and warm-weather events. Add 10 to 14 bottles of sparkling if there is a toast.
How much beer should I buy for a wedding?
Four to five cases for 100 guests, which is roughly 96 to 120 bottles or cans. About 25 percent of drinkers default to beer, and that share rises for daytime, outdoor and casual events. Split it roughly two thirds light domestic or Mexican lager and one third local craft, and keep it all genuinely cold rather than just cool.
Can you return unopened alcohol after a wedding in California?
Most California retailers including Total Wine and BevMo accept returns of unopened, undamaged bottles with a receipt, though policies vary by location and by whether the purchase was made under a special event order. Confirm the specific store policy before you buy, keep the receipt, and keep bottles in their original packaging so overbuying costs you nothing.
Do I need to buy mixers and ice too?
Under a dry-hire arrangement you buy the alcohol only. La Barra Co. includes the bar itself, RBS-certified bartenders, ice, all mixers and sodas, garnishes, glassware and bar tools in every package, with no automatic gratuity or service charge. That means your shopping list is spirits, wine and beer, and nothing else.