Plan on half a bottle of wine per adult guest for the meal, which is about three 125ml glasses each, and three-quarters of a bottle if the celebration runs from the ceremony into the evening. For 100 guests that means 50 to 75 bottles. Drinks House 247 suggests counting only the adults who will be drinking.
Wedding drinks are one of the few parts of the budget where both running out and over-ordering feel expensive. The good news is that the maths is predictable once you fix two numbers: how much each glass holds, and how long people will be drinking.
A standard 75cl bottle pours six glasses of 125ml, the standard small measure for wine in the UK. Over a sit-down wedding breakfast of two to three hours, most guests who drink wine have two or three glasses. Three glasses is half a bottle, which is why half a bottle per drinking guest is the planning figure caterers and venues use most often.
If the day carries on into an evening reception with dancing, consumption continues but slows. Adding a further quarter of a bottle per guest covers most evenings, bringing the total to three-quarters of a bottle, or four to five glasses per person across the day.
The table below assumes every counted guest is an adult who drinks wine, and 125ml glasses.
| Drinking guests | Meal only (½ bottle each) | Full day (¾ bottle each) | Champagne for one toast glass each |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 15 bottles | 23 bottles | 5 bottles |
| 50 | 25 bottles | 38 bottles | 9 bottles |
| 75 | 38 bottles | 57 bottles | 13 bottles |
| 100 | 50 bottles | 75 bottles | 17 bottles |
| 150 | 75 bottles | 113 bottles | 25 bottles |
| 200 | 100 bottles | 150 bottles | 34 bottles |
The toast column assumes one full 125ml glass per guest, six to a bottle. If the toast pour is smaller, around 75ml, one bottle stretches to about ten glasses.
The fastest way to over-order is to multiply by the full guest list. Before you do the sums, take out:
For a guest list of 120 with 15 children, 10 non-drinkers and a busy beer bar, the real wine-drinking count might be closer to 80 than 120.
A half-and-half split between red and white is a sensible starting point, then adjust for the day itself:
Choose wines that are easy to like rather than challenging. A wedding is not the place for a wine that divides opinion. A fresh, dry white, a soft and fruity red and a crisp rosé cover almost every palate.
If you serve a glass of fizz on arrival, plan for guests to have one or two glasses during a reception of about an hour. That adds a third to half a bottle of sparkling wine per drinking guest, on top of the wine for the meal. Some couples serve the same fizz for the reception and the toast; others switch to champagne only for the toast. Our guide to how much champagne you need for 50 guests works through the fizz maths in detail.
Order the wine once your final numbers are confirmed, usually two to four weeks before the day, and have it delivered with enough time to chill. Our guide to how far in advance to order wine for a wedding covers the timing in detail.
Plan on half a bottle per adult drinking guest for the meal, which is about three 125ml glasses. If the celebration runs into an evening reception, allow three-quarters of a bottle per guest.
For 100 adults who drink wine, plan on about 50 bottles for the meal, or 75 bottles for a full day and evening. Remove children, non-drinkers and beer drinkers from the count first.
Start with half and half. Lean towards white and rosé for a summer or outdoor wedding or a fish main course, and towards red for a winter wedding or a beef or lamb main course.
A 75cl bottle pours six 125ml glasses, five 150ml glasses or four 175ml glasses. Check which measure your venue uses before you do the maths.
Browse red wine, white wine and our award-winning wines, or see how wine delivery works across London. Our wedding and event drinks guide covers the rest of the day.
Deliveries are to over-18s only under our Challenge 25 policy. Please drink responsibly.
