How Much Alcohol Should I Have at My Wedding?

Do I want to have an open bar at my wedding? Would my venue let me bring my own alcohol to serve? Do I need to hire bartenders? How much alcohol should I even have at my wedding?! These might be questions going through your head when you think about having alcohol at your wedding. We compiled some tips and tricks and information about all things bartending from our experts at Ohio Bartenders for Hire to answer any questions you may have!

Misconceptions about serving alcohol at your wedding –

#1 “I don’t need a bartender! Alcohol can be self-serve!”

This is actually a pretty dangerous mindset to have! If guests can get as much alcohol as they want whenever they want, you may end up with a lot of people who’ve had way too much to drink, since there is no one to keep track of how much they’ve had or how they’re acting. Vanessa Long at Ohio Bartenders for Hire trains their bartenders to keep track of how much each guest has been served, and will cut them off if necessary. By having a bartender serving the alcohol, you also eliminate any potential for your underaged cousins from sneaking off with a beer.

#2 Bartenders are only there to serve alcohol

Having a bartender actually means the opposite of this! There are so many different options, hot chocolate bars, unique lemonade stands, mocktails, are just a few! Ohio Bartenders for Hire does more than just serve alcohol, they can create a personalized experience for your guests and for you to enjoy on your special day- and you won’t have to worry about any of the details yourself! Leave it to the professionals, and let yourself enjoy your big day!

So how much alcohol should I serve?

For the wine drinker –

According to Ohio Bartenders for Hire, you can get about four glasses of wine from a single bottle, so it's recommended to have four bottles of red wine per 50 guests, and six bottles of white wine per 50 guests.

For the beer drinker –

Vanessa Long notes that the typical beer drinker will have at least four beers at an event like a wedding, making the recommended amount of beer to be four times however many beer drinkers you expect (if you expect 50 beer drinkers to attend, the recommended number of beers would be 200 glasses or cans).