120 guests · evening party · 5 hours · standing service · mixed bar. Computed with the engine professional crews use, not a rule of thumb.
Party
What a 120-guest party bar needs
≈ 1966 bar serves for 120 guests over 5 hours on a mixed bar. Water covers bar and table, still and sparkling.
Wine (all types)20 bottles
Sparkling (toast)20 bottles
Beer180 units
Non-alcoholic beer2 cases
Spirits (all bottles)52 bottles
Soft drinks & mixers33 cases
Water540 bottles
Team on shift9 people
Ice280 kg · 140 bags
Free numbers from the same engine the full planner runs. Pro turns them into the exact order per product, cocktail ingredients, glassware and one shopping list.
Those 1966 serves do not arrive evenly: the opening hour is the fastest, about 454 serves, because every guest wants a first drink at once; over hours 2–5 the bar settles into a steady 378 serves an hour. The totals above already carry this curve, so the bar is stocked for the surge, not for the average.
Field note: the garnish fruit is always on the order
Whatever the menu, Green Jar ships 2–4 kg of lemons and 3–5 kg of oranges with every bar, scaled to attendance. A bar without cut fruit reads as understocked long before any bottle actually runs out, so the fruit never waits for a cocktail list to justify it.
Adjust it to your event
Same engine, live. Change the crowd, the bar or the hours and recalculate.
Guests
Seated dinner served?
Bar service
Duration
Party
Frequently asked questions
How much alcohol do I need for 120 guests at a party?
Plan for about 1966 bar serves over 5 hours. On a mixed bar that becomes roughly 20 bottles of wine, 180 units of beer, 52 bottles of spirits and 33 cases of soft drinks and mixers, plus 540 bottles of water.
How much wine do I need for 120 guests standing?
The standing rule is 1 glass per guest, split across white, rosé and red, and a 750 ml bottle pours 6 glasses. Scaled to 5 hours that is 20 bottles for 120 guests.
How many bar staff do I need for 120 guests?
3 bartenders at the recommended level and 9 people in total, counting barbacks, runners and glass collectors. The comfortable level for the same event is 10.
Plan your full bar: bottles, cocktails, shopping list.
The free calculator gives staff, ice and totals. Pro turns them into the exact order per product and one Excel your supplier can read.