Post # 1
Member
324 posts
Helper bee
How much beer and wine should we buy for 4-5 hours of drinking for 70 guests…I’d say about 35 will drink a good bit, and most the others will have at least a couple glasses. Also, what are some good inexpensive wines and beers? Nobody is a wine connoisseur I am inviting, in fact most like white zinfandel, but I refuse to have that (which I guess makes me a wine snob)…I do want to find a good inexpensive sweet riesling for those folks though. Also, which beers? I was thinking bud light, budlight wheat, and a mexican beer. hmmm…decisions decisions
Post # 3
Member
605 posts
Busy bee
For quantities, just use this handy drink calculator from Evite:
http://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator.jsp’ defer=’defer
A knowledgeable distributor could make several good, affordable brand suggestions and offer you a package price.
Also, make sure you can return the extras. I know I’ll feel more secure over-buying and then bringing back what we don’t use.
Post # 4
Member
624 posts
Busy bee
There is a drink calculator on evite. I would suggest having more white than red…Suggestions for Reislings: Silver Lake and Leonard Kruetch (sp?). Wherever you go, see if they have magnum bottles- they are essentially two bottles of wine in one large bottle and cost less than what 2 bottles would be.
I don’t know how reasonable they will be to you though. Even though you don’t care for White Zinfendel, at least get it for your guests, especially since most drink that. You don’t have to drink it.
Post # 5
Member
5496 posts
Bee Keeper
I also think you should get white zin for those who like it. (My aunt only drinks this wine) I would get a few bottles of that and then a great variety of reds and whites. For beers, I would have a little more variety. Our caterer told us we get to select 2 domestic and 2 imported. I think Bud Light is fine for those who like that, but I would have some good imports too. We’re probably going to have Labatt Blue as one-not sure about the other yet. I also need to figure out the beers! Can’t wait to hear beer suggestions from Bees!
Also, not sure if it’s a state law or not but here in PA you can return any liquor or wine if it’s unopened. So if that’s true in GA, then you can always buy “extra” knowing you could return some after the wedding. 🙂
Post # 6
Member
324 posts
Helper bee
I think the reason people only like white zin is they do not know about sweet riesling..I mean I may get the white zin but I am undecided…as for beer…everyone likes bud light (I don’t ….I like craft (especially magic hat #9) but it’s also $$$). Hmm…decisions decisions. thanks though!
Post # 7
Member
324 posts
Helper bee
I’m pretty sure you can’t return alcohol in GA. It is still illegal to sell alcohol on Sundays here and a lot of counties restaurants either are dry, byob, or sell drinks but not on Sundays.. so annoying!
Post # 8
Member
2195 posts
Buzzing bee
There are now lots of really good, high-quality white zinfandels since they’ve become so popular in the past ten years, and though my favorite type of wine tends to be chardonnay, I have had some white zinfandels that I really liked. Not every white zinfandel is like the crappy spiked fruit punch-ish wine from a cheap brand like Sutter Home. I personally, meanwhile, have never had a riesling I liked. I always find it too flat and tinny, that’s just me. You should look around and taste some white zinfandels, I think you’ll be surprised. That way your guests can be happy too.
Post # 9
Member
2767 posts
Sugar bee
We bought the cheapest wine we could find and we thought it was good still. It was Tisdale Shiraz and Tisdale Chardonnay. It was $1.99/bottle at a Labor Day Weekend sale. We had 105 guests and only went through about 15-17 bottles of wine I think. We also had a keg of beer and that didn’t go fast either. By 11pm people were trying to finish it but it was slow-going.
We had mulled nonalcoholic cider and that went super fast. I got one of the last glasses of it and that was before dinner.
Post # 10
Member
2186 posts
Buzzing bee
as far as beer is concerned – we are gonna pick a generic light pale lager (probably miller lite) a lager or red ale (yuengling or killians) and probably a stout as well (HELLO GUINNESS!!! 🙂 hehehe)
Post # 11
Member
1067 posts
Bumble bee
For wine try Stella Rose it’s a sparling wine and is waaay better than zinfindale. I think it’s 10 bucks at bevmo but 6 bucks at the california winery
Post # 12
Member
9 posts
Newbee
Nothing is worse than bad beer or wine. you may be on a budget but spend a tad more for good flavor. The last thing you want to do is being remembered for something that made your guests tastebuds go downhill. Try local micro beer breweries. They want to get their name out there & will give you a good deal. Try the smaller locally owned vineyards too. Excellent wines at really great prices.
Post # 13
Member
9 posts
Newbee
There are some really good vineyards in Julian, California. We drove through a few on a roadtrip and were really impressed.
Post # 14
Member
331 posts
Helper bee
Are you sure about “everyone likes bud”? I know a lot of people who can’t drink it because it gives them headaches.
And for wine, Yellow Tail tends to be an inexpensive but good choice–I don’t know as much about the specific varieties though. I do, however, vote for getting what your guests like. If thats white zin, just go with it.
Post # 15
Member
5496 posts
Bee Keeper
None of my family or friends (myself included) like Bud. I can drink most beers, but can’t stand Bud or Bud Light. Stella, Labatt, Boston Lager, Heineken are all good choices for those who don’t like Bud. That’s a shame you can’t return unused wine/liquor!
Post # 16
Member
2767 posts
Sugar bee
We had Michelob golden light for our keg of beer. I would agree that Bud’s not that great. Could you do Michelob or Miller Lite?
Member