200 guests · evening wedding · 6 hours · seated dinner · mixed bar. Computed with the engine professional crews use, not a rule of thumb.
Wedding
What a 200-guest wedding bar needs
≈ 3878 bar serves for 200 guests over 6 hours on a mixed bar with a seated dinner. Water covers bar and table, still and sparkling.
Wine (all types)76 bottles
Sparkling (toast)34 bottles
Beer300 units
Non-alcoholic beer2 cases
Spirits (all bottles)99 bottles
Soft drinks & mixers62 cases
Water1025 bottles
Team on shift15 people
Ice520 kg · 260 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 3878 serves do not arrive evenly: the opening hour is the fastest, about 751 serves, because every guest wants a first drink at once; over hour 2 the bar settles into a steady 625 serves an hour; through hour 3 the pace eases to around 626 an hour as the crowd winds down; through hour 4 the pace eases to around 625 an hour as the crowd winds down; through hour 5 the pace eases to around 626 an hour as the crowd winds down; through hour 6 the pace eases to around 625 an hour as the crowd winds down. The totals above already carry this curve, so the bar is stocked for the surge, not for the average.
Field note: ice runs on the clock, not the guest list
A rule from the Green Jar crews: a 3-hour event still needs 60% of the ice a 6-hour one does, because chilling bottles costs the same however short the night is. Stretch the same party to 12 hours and the order grows to 190% of the base, almost double. That is why the duration of your event moves the ice number more than the guest count does.
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
Wedding
Frequently asked questions
How much alcohol do I need for 200 guests at a wedding?
Plan for about 3878 bar serves over 6 hours. On a mixed bar that becomes roughly 76 bottles of wine, 300 units of beer, 99 bottles of spirits and 62 cases of soft drinks and mixers, plus 1025 bottles of water.
How much wine do I need for a wedding dinner of 200 guests?
A 750 ml bottle pours 6 glasses of 125 ml. With a seated dinner, plan 1 glass of white and 1 of rosé per guest plus 1 bottle of red per 25 guests: 76 bottles for 200 guests.
How many bar staff do I need for 200 guests?
4 bartenders at the recommended level and 15 people in total, counting barbacks, runners and glass collectors plus 2 dinner runners for the seated service. The comfortable level for the same event is 16.
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.