If you had a free bar for guests at your wedding, please come tell me how much drink you stocked it with!

[Puddlejumpingqueen]

Just that really, it is such an unknown and I am terrified of running out but at the same time I do not have limitless funds. Out venue will not allow the sale of alcohol (but serving it is fine) so mobile bar and temporary licence out of the question.

Summer wedding, approximately 80-90 guests, mix of wine/beer/cider/some spirits/soft drinks.

I have done all the calculators online which help you guesstimate but whenever I come up with a figure I have family members piling me in telling me it won't be enough and I need to double it!

So far I am thinking 30 bottles of red (its summer, no red meat being served) 60 bottles of white, 400 bottles of beer, 30 bottles of that awful fruit cider stuff, a litre bottle of vodka, gin, whiskey. 2 jugs of pimms and then a ton of soft drinks/water. Doubling just seems wildly excessive.

So please share your wisdom and experience!

P.s. If I didn't serve any sparkling wine or served sparking wine but not champagne would you think this a massive faux pas?

We had a limit of £2000 behind the bar. Once it ran out, guests paid for their drinks.

I would drop spirits too.

Would've thought wine and beer (plus soft drinks) would be the obvious choices. I, and most of the people I know, would drink more than one glass of wine per hour. if I'm honest.

Would see if I could get a sale or return deal, although you wouldn't know with that what you had actually spent.

I would say more spirits, have a great day

We are having a free bar but provided by a caterer. He estimates at one drink per person per hour. I found a really help guide on A Practical Wedding that gives different options for a full bar, modified full bar, and beer and wine: apracticalwedding.com/2014/06/how-to-buy-alcohol-for-your-wedding/

I think the key is to know your audience. There are ratios of beer to wine to spirits that are recommended, but if you know your guests are beer drinkers you will want to purchase more beer and less wine and spirits.

Have you thought about doing signature cocktails? You could do beer/wine/cider and Mr and Mrs cocktails, each with a different spirit. In my area there are a few larger stores that will take back any unopened alcohol and give you a refund. It might be worth looking around for a place like that so that you can over buy and not worry about running out.

My parents bought the beer for my Sisters wedding and a lot of the cans were wasted , people opening them and leaving them around, but even so we still took so much home . crates were given away and I've still got bottles of spirits untouched.

Def do a list if possible of what people are likely to drink and men are generally more likely to drink cans to bottles of wine , well the men I know , depends on the people invited .