Wedding guests order at a rate of 90%. Corporate guests order at 85%. That gap is smaller than most people in this business assume. Weddings come out ahead because they run long, and every hour past the two-hour baseline brings another 10% of the guest list back to the bar.
Add a menu that leans toward lattes and mochas, plus a couple who isn't price-shopping, and a wedding can be the highest-margin event you book, as long as the quote covers everything it should.
The participation math
For a wedding, drinks per guest build like this:
- First two hours: 0.90
- Each hour after that: +0.10
- Four hours of cocktail hour and reception: 1.10
At 150 guests over four hours, that's 165 drinks. Stock for 182, which adds a 10% buffer. If you run dry at hour three, the whole room sees it, and plenty of those guests will plan an event of their own someday.
| 150 guests | Hours | Drinks |
|---|---|---|
| Wedding | 4 | 165 |
| Wedding | 3 | 150 |
| Corporate | 4 | 152 |
Cut the wedding to three hours and you lose 15 drinks. That fourth hour is the reason for the extended-service line item further down.
Against a four-hour corporate event with the same headcount, the wedding pours about 9% more. You'll hear "weddings drink double" in vendor groups, and it isn't true. Weddings deserve a higher price because the service runs longer and the drinks skew premium, and because a bad day costs you more, but don't build the quote around twice the volume.
What to charge, by region
These are 2026 all-in bands per drink. Add 15% for premium venues like resorts, estates and historic landmarks.
| Market | Per drink |
|---|---|
| West Coast metros (LA, SF, Seattle, Portland) | $7.50 to $9.50 |
| East Coast metros (NYC, Boston, DC, Miami) | $7.00 to $9.00 |
| Texas metros (Austin, Dallas, Houston) | $6.00 to $7.75 |
| Midwest and Mountain metros (Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver) | $6.00 to $7.50 |
| Secondary markets (Nashville, Phoenix, Charlotte, Salt Lake) | $5.50 to $7.00 |
Take a 150-guest wedding at a mid-range Austin venue. Those bands put beverage revenue at roughly $1,100 to $1,300. That range is a sanity check, and the quote itself gets built from the pieces below. Sit at the low end of your band for a Friday in March and the high end for a Saturday in June.
Then add a $500 to $600 service fee for the barista hours, which is where a lot of the margin sits. Add the line items below and price per guest the way the catering pricing guide lays out. The same Austin wedding comes to $2,400 to $2,700 all-in. If you're quoting it under $2,000, you're undercharging.
Three line items that get left off
- Extended service. Cocktail hour plus reception usually runs four hours, so charge for the fourth hour instead of throwing it in.
- Custom menu design. The couple will want their names on the menu, a signature drink and a framed sign for the easel. That's design work, and it should be on the invoice at $75 to $150.
- Late-night coffee. Receptions tend to sag around 9pm, about when the dancing thins out. An espresso-and-chocolate service for the last hour turns that dip into a second rush. Offer it when they book, at $300 to $500.
Two contract clauses worth having
Head count reconciliation. Final guest count locked at 10 days out. Charges based on that count, not on who actually attends. No refunds for no-shows, no surcharge for late additions up to 10% of locked count.
Weather contingency. Outdoor events require a covered space within 50 feet of the cart. If the venue cannot provide this day-of, a 50% rain deposit is forfeit and the service can be cancelled at the vendor's discretion.
The head count clause matters because RSVPs keep moving until the final week. The weather clause is there for the machine, which can't sit out in the rain, and the tent a coordinator promised in March isn't always up on the day.
For a four-hour wedding, plan on 1.10 drinks per guest. For every other event type, see how many drinks a guest count produces.
The Numbers is a VenVen column. Costs, prices and margins, worked out line by line.
