Events
Party Drinks Quantity Calculator
Enter guests, hours and drinks per person per hour to plan bottles and cans.
How many drinks for a party?
Drink shopping for a gathering is guests × hours × drinks per person per hour, then bottles or packs ≈ total servings ÷ servings per bottle, rounded up. Enter those four inputs plus optional pack price to size the buy and a rough spend. Sober crowds and soft-drink-heavy parties need a lower drinks-per-hour figure; open bars run higher. Always plan water and non-alcoholic options, and arrange safe transport — this page is quantity planning only, not medical or drink-drive advice. Wine, beer and premix packs have different servings per container, so set that field to match what you are buying. For food volume see party food and for overall spend event budget.
Worked example
30 guests × 4 hours × 1.2 drinks/person/hour = 144 servings. At 6 servings per bottle → 24 bottles; at £8 each ≈ £192.
Limits and assumptions
Planning estimate only — not medical, legal or drink-drive advice. Drink responsibly. Actual consumption varies widely.
Frequently asked questions
How do I account for non-drinkers?
Lower drinks per person per hour, or reduce the guest count used for alcoholic servings and buy soft drinks separately.
What about a children’s party?
Use soft-drink servings and a lower drinks/hour rate; do not use adult alcohol defaults.
Wine bottle vs beer pack — how do servings work?
Set “servings per bottle / pack” to glasses or cans in that container (for example ~6 glasses from a wine bottle, 8–12 from a beer multipack).
Open bar versus limited service?
Open bars usually need a higher drinks-per-person-per-hour figure than a short toast-only reception.