Party serves
Guests × party hours × 1.2, rounded up. A separate one-hour fizz reception adds another 1.2 planned serves for each guest.
Cocktailhire Wedding & Party Drinks Planner
Free wedding & party drinks calculator + shopping list
Plan the ice, glassware, spirits, mixers, wine and fizz for a wedding, private party or client event, then download one practical PDF. Add a postcode for nearby suppliers.
For the quick calculators below, start with the adults drinking these drinks, not the whole guest list. The quick drinks estimate allocates 100% of its serves to spirits with mixers, wine and fizz. It does not calculate beer, cider, water, alcohol-free drinks or supplies for children and non-drinkers. Plan those separately. Use full attendance in the Bartenders tab and in any booking; a smaller drinks-planning group must not reduce the actual staffing or booking guest count. Read the limits and examples.
Planning the whole day? Open the whole-event planner
Plan separate stages, beer, cider, soft drinks and water; assign supplied stock, compare costs and download client, supplier or event-day briefs. Saved plans stay on your device, never on our servers.
The whole-event planner needs JavaScript. The quick calculators remain below.
I need all of this information
One form for the selected drinks, ice and working glassware.
Nearby suppliers
A shortlist from maintained mainland UK records, not a live search of every supplier. Distances are approximate straight-line estimates. How coverage and matching work.
How much ice will you need?
Find ice suppliers
Supplier database compiled from mainland UK data only.
How many glasses will you need?
Find glassware suppliers
Supplier database compiled from mainland UK data only.
How much will you need to buy?
How many cocktail bartenders?
Buying for a wedding or party? Your quick-calculator result also converts ice into bags and mixers into whole bottles, shows optional six-bottle case quantities, and lets you add your own drinks, glass-hire, corkage and delivery costs. Download those figures with a practical supplier handover in the same PDF. Blank prices stay visibly unpriced. For staged service, supplied stock and a fuller drinks-service cost comparison, open the whole-event planner above.
Planning your own wedding?
Replace the late-night spreadsheet spiral with a usable first plan
Enter the latest guest count and service time, choose the drinks you intend to serve and see the practical buying quantities together. Download the PDF to discuss with your partner, venue, family or suppliers instead of trying to explain figures scattered across several notes.
Professional wedding planner?
Turn an early client brief into consistent working quantities
Use the planner during discovery or supplier research to create a repeatable first-pass brief. The postcode search can surface relevant mainland UK ice and glassware options, while the PDF gives your client and supplier team the same starting quantities without a lead form in the way.
Useful from the first venue conversation
Use the result to question corkage, storage, chilling space, glass washing, dirty returns, delivery windows and bar staffing. The whole-event planner includes beer, soft drinks and a responsibility checklist. Actual table service, venue requirements and date-specific supplier availability still need confirming with the people involved.
How much ice do I need for a wedding or party?
Estimate cubed ice for serving drinks and add separate chilling ice for wine, beer or fizz buckets.
How many glasses should I hire for a wedding?
See the total working glassware and its split across highballs, wine glasses and flutes.
How much alcohol should I buy for a wedding?
Turn your preferred spirits, wine and fizz split into bottle and mixer quantities you can shop from.
How many wine or fizz bottles for a wedding?
Plan medium wine pours, fizz serves and an optional one-hour drinks reception before normal service.
How many bartenders for my wedding guests?
Use Cocktailhire's working benchmark to estimate the service team for your guest count.
Where can I hire glassware or order ice?
Add a UK postcode to search the maintained mainland supplier list near your event.
Your details stay yours
No email address or account is required. Whole-event plans stay on your device, including any optional event or business labels. A full postcode is not retained by the quick supplier search; its outward area is used only when you request nearby supplier results.
Clear assumptions, not a hidden guess
The public calculation rules, limits and review date are published separately so you can decide whether the estimate suits your event.
See how the calculations work Read the 2026 planning benchmarksHow much alcohol for a wedding or party?
See the formula, worked 50, 100 and 150-guest examples, and the wedding phases that should be calculated separately.
How many glasses should I hire?
Understand no-washing quantities, dirty returns, glass collection and why the wrong glass type can run out.
How many bartenders do I need?
Use the guest-count benchmark, then test the first rush, drinks menu, bar layout and support workload.
What must I organise at a dry-hire wedding?
Give alcohol, chilling, staff, glassware, licensing, access, waste and every supplier handover one named owner.
What do the quantities look like for 50 to 250 guests?
Use the 2026 benchmark tables, compare four, five and six-hour service, and download the full dataset.
Want cocktails and a staffed bar at your event?
Book Cocktailhire for professionally served cocktails, staffed mobile bars, or an all-in-one or wedding cocktail package. The free calculator and downloadable briefs are self-service planning tools. Our enquiry form is for paid cocktail and bar service bookings, not general drinks-planning advice.