How much alcohol for a wedding of 100: 50 bottles of fizz and 43 of wine
For 100 adults at your reception, our estimate is 50 bottles of fizz and 43 bottles of wine, before anyone reaches the evening bar. Add about 100 soft drinks and 50 litres of water. Most of the answers you find online are American, measured in litres of spirits for an open bar. Here is the UK version, in 75cl bottles, split by the parts of a UK wedding day.
The one fixed fact: six glasses to a bottle
A standard 75cl bottle of wine or fizz holds six 125ml glasses. That is the small glass every licensed bar in England and Wales has to offer: the mandatory licensing conditions say still wine sold by the glass must be available in 125ml. Some caterers pour 175ml with a meal, which gives just over four glasses a bottle, so ask your caterer what they pour before you order.
Everything else in this post is a rate we chose, because we could not find a published UK figure for how much guests drink at a wedding that we could check. Each rate below is our estimate, and you can change every one in the drinks calculator.
How many of your 100 guests will drink?
The Health Survey for England 2022, published by NHS England in June 2024, found that 81% of adults had drunk alcohol in the last 12 months. Our calculator starts at 85% of adults drinking at a wedding, on the view that a celebration brings out a few people who rarely drink. That gives 85 drinkers and 15 who will want something else.
Change this first, because it moves every other number. If a large share of your families do not drink for faith reasons, or you have a lot of guests who are pregnant or driving, bring it down. Two weddings of the same size can need very different orders.
The order for 100 guests, part by part
This assumes a 90 minute drinks reception, a toast, and wine with the wedding breakfast. Our estimate counts two drinks each in the first hour of the reception (a welcome glass and a top-up), one an hour after that, one glass for the toast and three glasses of wine with the meal.
| Part of the day | Glasses each (our estimate) | For 85 drinkers |
|---|---|---|
| Drinks reception, 90 minutes | 2.5 glasses of fizz | 50 bottles of fizz |
| Toast | 1 glass of fizz | |
| Wedding breakfast | 3 glasses of wine | 43 bottles of wine |
| Soft drinks for 15 non-drinkers | 6.5 each | 98 drinks |
| Water, everyone | Half a litre each | 50 litres |
Non-drinkers get one soft drink for every drink the others have, through the reception, the toast and the meal. Give them something better than squash for the toast. An alcohol-free fizz looks the same in the glass in the photos.
Smaller or bigger wedding? On the same rates, 80 adults (Bridebook's average guest count for 2025 weddings) need 40 bottles of fizz and 34 of wine. 150 adults need 75 of fizz and 64 of wine. The numbers scale in a straight line, so your venue capacity is the place to start.
The evening bar is the part that varies most
Bridebook's UK Wedding Report 2026, from more than 7,000 couples, found an average of 21 extra guests arriving for the evening. They change the bar more than the meal does, because they arrive ready for a drink and stay until the end.
Couples in the UK tend to pick one of three ways to handle the evening:
- Cash bar. Guests buy their own. You pay nothing after the toast, and the venue's bar takes the risk of running out.
- A sum behind the bar. You put down a fixed amount and the bar runs as a cash bar once it is spent. Ask the venue to tell you when it is close, so you can decide whether to add more.
- You pay for everything. On our estimate of one drink an hour each for 4 hours, 85 day drinkers need 340 drinks. The 21 evening guests, at the same 85%, add about 72 more.
If you are buying your own drink for a venue with no bar of its own, check whether anyone will be selling alcohol on the day. Selling it needs a licence, and a cash bar is selling.
Before you order
- Round up. Running out of fizz before the toast is worse than taking six bottles home.
- Ask about sale or return. Some suppliers take back unopened bottles. Get it in writing, with the date they need them back by.
- Ask for corkage in writing. If your venue lets you bring your own, it may charge for each bottle it serves. A corkage charge can cancel out what you save by buying your own.
- Order from your final numbers. The figures above assume 100 people. Your real number comes from replies, and some guests will say no. The RSVP calculator gives a range before invitations go out.
Once you have a quote from the venue or a bar company, put it in your supplier list with its deposit and its due dates, so the drinks bill is part of the budget and not a surprise in the last month.
Sources
- The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010, Schedule, paragraph 4: still wine by the glass must be available in 125ml
- NHS England, Health Survey for England 2022: adult drinking, 6 June 2024: 81% of adults drank alcohol in the last 12 months
- Bridebook, UK Wedding Report 2026: average guest count of 80 and 21 additional evening guests, from 7,000+ couples marrying in 2025
Questions
How many bottles of prosecco do I need for 100 guests?
By our estimate, 50 bottles covers a 90 minute drinks reception and the toast for 100 adults, if 85 of them drink. That counts two and a half glasses each at the reception and one for the toast, at six glasses to a 75cl bottle. For the toast alone you need about 15 bottles.
How much wine per person for the wedding breakfast?
Our estimate is three glasses each for guests who drink, which is half a bottle. For 85 drinkers that is 43 bottles. Put it up if your families drink steadily through a long meal, and down if the meal is short or many guests are driving.
Is a glass of wine 125ml or 175ml?
Licensed bars in England and Wales must offer still wine by the glass in a 125ml measure. We count 125ml, which gives six glasses to a 75cl bottle. If your caterer pours 175ml, a bottle gives just over four glasses, so you need about 40% more wine.
Do we have to pay for the evening bar?
No. Many UK couples pay for the reception, the meal and the toast, then open a cash bar or put a set sum behind the bar. If you do pay for every evening drink, one drink an hour each for 4 hours is 340 drinks for 85 drinkers, by our estimate.
Run your own numbers
The free drinks calculator works it out for your guest count and timings. Change any rate, nothing to sign up for.
Open the drinks calculator