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Subject: Re: Large Party
From: Chris
Posted: Sun Jun 15. 2003, 17:44 UTC
Followup to: "Large Party"  by Joseph  (Thu Jun 12. 2003, 15:55 UTC)
> I am having a wedding for my daughter with 400 people invited.  I 
> will have beer, wine and mixed drinks.  How do I figure the job?  
> They are moderate drinkers.  I will have 3 Kegs of Beer and back up 
> with can beer.  How many cases of wine and scotch, vodka, 
> whiskey/burbon, gin and mixers will I need.  Is there a rule of thumb 
> to use?

Last night we hosted a wedding party for 450 at the country club where I work. 
We had six kegs of beer. However, we only served beer and sodas - no wine or 
liquor were to be served.

We've hosted smaller wedding parties, say 50-75 people, and in such cases we 
usually go through about two or three 1.5 liter bottles each of merlot and 
chardonnay, two of white zin (yuk!) and one of cabernet. If you want to offer 
just red and white wines, make them merlot and chardonnay. Two bottles of 
bourbon (Maker's Mark and Jack Daniels are popular and good bets), two of 
vodka (Absolut is generally well-recieved), one of gin (perhaps Beefeaters) 
and one of scotch (Dewar's is popular and versatile) usually suffice in such 
an event (i.e., 50-75 people). Go up- or down-market on brands depending on 
what you think your guests would like. Perhaps a bottle each of rum (I suggest 
Bacardi) and tequila (Cuervo is usually a winner), and a 350 ml bottle of 
triple sec, since a few margaritas and rum-and-cokes may be ordered. Get 
plenty of mixers like Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Tonic and ginger ale. I can't 
tell you how much to get because we use soda guns where I work. Don't forget 
orange juice, sour mix, cranberry juice, grapefruit juice; and a bottle of 
Rose's Lime Juice. A small bottle of Angostura bitters will not only last you 
the party, it'll last you a lifetime. Get some limes, lemons, oranges, 
maraschino cherries and olives.

You may want to ask some of the guests beforehand about what their preferences 
are.

Another thing you could do is promote signature drinks at the party, and stock 
up on ingredients for those.

What I'm giving you above is based on a general impression from limited 
experience of bartending for wedding parties. Others may have different 
opinions.

Are you having the party hosted at a club or a banquet hall? They will 
certainly also be able to lend you their expertise. 

If you are hosting this yourself, say, in a garden, house, church (one that 
does not mind drinking or partying!) or a rented space, make sure you have 
plenty of ice, and have someone available to make errands if supplies are 
running low. 


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