Wedding alcohol calculator: how much beer, wine and spirits to buy
Enter how many guests will drink. You get cases of beer and bottles of wine and spirits, worked out from BC Liquor’s published wedding guide and rounded up.
How it works
The calculator uses the formula in BC Liquor's Wedding Planning Guide: drinking guests × 4 = the standard drinks you'll need for a 3-hour reception, split 50% beer, 30% wine and 20% spirits.
- Beer: 12 per case.
- Wine: 6 glasses per 750 mL bottle.
- Spirits: 24 drinks per 750 mL bottle.
Every figure is rounded up, so you won't run short. The guide's own table rounds down slightly in places; for 100 guests it shows 16 cases of beer and 3 bottles of spirits, where this gives 17 and 4.
Count drinking guests, not every guest
Leave out anyone who won't drink. In BC, guests under 19 can't be served.
Longer than 3 hours?
The formula is built on a 3-hour reception, so a longer one needs more. The guide doesn't give a per-hour figure, so we don't invent one. Buy a little extra of what your crowd drinks most, and check the store's return policy first.
Planning outside BC?
This is BC Liquor's formula because it's the published one we've checked. If your province's liquor retailer publishes its own wedding guide, use theirs. We'll add provinces here as we check their guides.
Leftovers
BC Liquor takes back unopened bottles in saleable condition within 60 days, with a receipt. A restocking fee may apply, so ask your store before you buy.
Supplying the alcohol yourself?
In BC, that usually means a $25 Special Event Permit, certified servers and your receipts on site, and guests still can't bring their own bottles to a hall. See the venue rules and the BC permit.
How we built this
The formula comes straight from BC Liquor's Wedding Planning Guide (PDF, January 2022); returns from BC Liquor's returns policy. Nothing is averaged or estimated.
By WeddingVenuer. Last checked 3 October 2026.