How many drinks per guest for a four-hour party?

Four to five is the working baseline: roughly two in the first hour as people arrive, then one an hour after that.

Almost always the cold white wine, the prosecco and the ice. Beer and spirits usually finish the night with stock left.

How much ice do I need?

Around 1kg per guest for a cocktail-led event. It sounds like a lot until you see how much sits in the ice wells.

How do I avoid over-buying?

Buy on sale-or-return where your supplier allows it, and weight the order towards the first two hours rather than spreading it evenly.

London Bar Concierge.

Planning guide

How much drink per guest?

The figures below are the ones we quote against for real London events. They assume a mixed adult crowd and a bar that is actually staffed — self-service always consumes more.

The baseline by event length

Event length	Drinks per guest	What that usually means
2 hours (reception)	2–3	Arrival drink plus one or two rounds
3 hours	3–4	One cocktail, then wine, beer or a soft serve
4 hours (standard)	4–5	The planning baseline for most parties
5–6 hours	5–7	Service slows after the food; pace matters more than volume

Where the drinks actually go

Consumption is not flat. The first hour is the heaviest by a distance — guests arrive thirsty, take a drink at the door and finish it during the first conversation. Once food appears, the pace halves. It picks up again for the toast and the first hour of music, then falls away.

This matters more than the total. A bar stocked evenly across four hours will feel understocked at 7.30pm and overstocked at 11pm. Weight the order to the front.

A split that usually works

Sparkling and white wine: around 40% of the order — this is what empties first.
Cocktails or spirits: around 30%, more if the bar is cocktail-led.
Red wine: around 10%, and less in summer than you think.
Beer: around 10%, adjusted to the crowd.
Alcohol-free: around 10% as a minimum, and rising every year — plan it as a real category.

Don't forget the ice

Budget around 1kg of ice per guest for a cocktail-led event. Most of it never reaches a glass — it lives in the ice wells keeping bottles cold. Under-ordering ice is the single most common way a good bar slows down on a warm evening.

How to avoid paying for what nobody drinks

Order on sale-or-return where your supplier offers it, so unopened stock goes back. When we supply the drink, that is how we quote it — you pay for what is opened, and the estimate is set against your actual timeline rather than a flat per-head figure.

Want this worked out for your event?

Send the date and guest count and we'll put real numbers against your timeline.

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