How Much Beer and Wine should I get?

My friend Margaret is a wedding planner in Charleston!  I prefer to call her my party planner to the stars.  I reached out to Margaret to see if she could help answer a question that always seems to pop up.  How much beer and wine should I get?  Today, Margaret is sharing her tips for setting up the perfect bar. 

So let's say you are going to have a summer soirée at your home for 30 people, for 4 1/2 hours or so.  And you will have dinner, so your guests will have a full meal. 

Cocktail Hour:  Anticipate women having 1 to 2 drinks and men 2 to 3 drinks
Dinner:  (Assuming you're serving wine) women again will have 1 to 2 drinks and men 2 to 3.
After Dinner: Women may have 1 more drink (or a few more if you're friends with my friends!) and men might have 1 or 2 more.

If you're hosting 30 people for dinner in the summer Margaret recommends the following: 

• Water:  Make sure to have 2 cases of bottle water and, of course, water on the table.  And, in canisters on the bar for those who like to drink water in between alcoholic drinks.  She also recommends 1 case of La Croix or something as a non- alcoholic option. 
• Beer:  Margaret recommends serving 1 import, 1 local, and 2 domestic options: 3 cases of each because some ladies might drink beers in the summer:  You should have a cooler specifically for beer!
• Wine: 1 red and 2 white options: Do 6 bottles of each varietal (8 if you know you have some wine-o’s). 
• Liquor: Summer time means more clear liquor, vodka and gin, not too many brown water drinkers.  She recommends 1 handle of each. 
• A bag of limes and lemons, cut into wedges. 
• Mixers: 4 to 5 bottles of soda and tonic water;  a 12 pack of sodas of choice (Coke, Sprite, ginger ale) and you will be fine.
• Cocktail  napkins: She averages 3 per during cocktail hour (when there are passed HD’s)  so make sure you have at 100 plus cocktail napkins. 
• Ice: do not forget the ice! You should have a cooler devoted to just ice for drinks. 

Margaret always tell her clients to check with local liquor stores because 9 times out of 10 if you have not opened the bottles they will let you return unopened cases, bottles, etc. Always check.

When hosting a party she would average 4 to 5 drinks for women and 6 to 7 drinks for men. She recommends always overbuying. Depending on your party or your people you can adjust up or down accordingly.  But, generally speaking, this provides a great blueprint for setting up the perfect summer bar!