{
  "id": "wedding-alcohol",
  "version": "4735d449ecd1",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Wedding Alcohol Calculator",
  "question": "What wedding alcohol do I need?",
  "summary": "Estimates the beer, wine and liquor to buy for a wedding or party from the guest count, the hours of the bar and a drinks-per-hour rate, in cans, cases and 750 mL bottles.",
  "category": "food",
  "subcategory": "brewing",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/food/wedding-alcohol-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/food/wedding-alcohol-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "Drinks = guests × hours × drinks per guest per hour. Beer cans = beer share of drinks (12 fl oz each); wine bottles = wine drinks × 5 fl oz ÷ 750 mL; liquor bottles = liquor drinks × 1.5 fl oz ÷ 750 mL; each rounded up. 1 fl oz = 29.5735295625 mL.",
  "assumptions": [
    "One drink is one US standard drink (NIAAA): a 12 fl oz beer, a 5 fl oz glass of wine or a 1.5 fl oz shot of spirits.",
    "The drinks-per-hour rate is a planning rule, not a measured average; raise it for a lively crowd and count only guests who drink."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "g": {
        "title": "Guests who drink",
        "description": "The number of adult guests who will drink alcohol.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 100000
      },
      "h": {
        "title": "Hours of the bar",
        "description": "How long the bar is open, in hours.",
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": 0.25,
        "maximum": 48
      },
      "r": {
        "title": "Drinks per guest per hour",
        "description": "The planning rate; 1 drink per guest per hour is a common rule.",
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": 0.1,
        "maximum": 5
      },
      "b": {
        "title": "Beer",
        "description": "The share of drinks served as beer.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100
      },
      "w": {
        "title": "Wine",
        "description": "The share of drinks served as wine.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "drinks": {
      "label": "Total drinks",
      "description": "Guests × hours × drinks per hour.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "wineBottles": {
      "label": "Wine (750 mL bottles)",
      "description": "Wine drinks × 5 fl oz ÷ 750 mL, rounded up.",
      "format": "integer"
    },
    "beerCans": {
      "label": "Beer (12 oz cans or bottles)",
      "description": "One can per beer drink, rounded up.",
      "format": "integer"
    },
    "beerCases": {
      "label": "Beer (cases of 24)",
      "description": "Cans ÷ 24, rounded up.",
      "format": "integer"
    },
    "liquorBottles": {
      "label": "Liquor (750 mL bottles)",
      "description": "Liquor drinks × 1.5 fl oz ÷ 750 mL, rounded up.",
      "format": "integer"
    },
    "liquorShare": {
      "label": "Liquor share (%)",
      "description": "The drinks left for liquor: 100% − beer − wine.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "glassesPerBottle": {
      "label": "Glasses of wine per bottle",
      "description": "750 mL ÷ 5 fl oz.",
      "format": "number"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "g": 100,
      "h": 5,
      "r": 1,
      "b": 50,
      "w": 30
    },
    "outputs": {
      "drinks": 500,
      "wineBottles": 30,
      "beerCans": 250,
      "beerCases": 11,
      "liquorBottles": 6,
      "liquorShare": 20,
      "glassesPerBottle": 5.07210340527645
    },
    "text": "Buy about 30 × 750 mL wine, 250 × 12 oz beer and 6 × 750 mL liquor."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "g": 100,
        "h": 5,
        "r": 1,
        "b": 50,
        "w": 30
      },
      "expect": {
        "drinks": 500,
        "wineBottles": 30,
        "beerCans": 250,
        "beerCases": 11,
        "liquorBottles": 6,
        "liquorShare": 20
      },
      "source": "NIAAA, What Is A Standard Drink? (12 fl oz of 5% beer, 5 fl oz of 12% wine, 1.5 fl oz of 40% spirits), https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/what-standard-drink (retrieved 2026-10-03); hand calculation in content.mdx: 150 glasses × 5 fl oz × 29.5735 mL = 22,180 mL ÷ 750 = 29.57, so 30 bottles"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "g": 60,
        "h": 4,
        "r": 1.5,
        "b": 0,
        "w": 100
      },
      "expect": {
        "drinks": 360,
        "wineBottles": 71,
        "beerCans": 0,
        "liquorBottles": 0,
        "glassesPerBottle": 5.07210340527645
      },
      "source": "NIAAA, What Is A Standard Drink? (12 fl oz of 5% beer, 5 fl oz of 12% wine, 1.5 fl oz of 40% spirits), https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/what-standard-drink (retrieved 2026-10-03); hand calculation in content.mdx: 360 glasses ÷ 5.0721 glasses per bottle = 70.98, so 71 bottles"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), What Is A Standard Drink?: 12 fl oz of regular beer at 5%, 5 fl oz of wine at 12%, 1.5 fl oz of distilled spirits at 40%; about 14 g of pure alcohol each. Retrieved 2026-10-03. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/what-standard-drink",
    "NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.8: 1 US fluid ounce = 2.957353 × 10⁻⁵ m³ (1/128 of a gallon of 3.785411784 L). Retrieved 2026-10-03. https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811/nist-guide-si-appendix-b-conversion-factors/nist-guide-si-appendix-b8"
  ],
  "related": [
    "abv",
    "food-cost",
    "recipe-scaler"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}