Party Planner

Party Planning Tips | Occasional Permits

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Party Planning Tips
Whether you're throwing a social, planning a wedding reception, or putting together the office Christmas party, there are always many questions with respect to the beverage alcohol you plan to serve, and the responsibilities associated with being a host. The tips in this section will help you with your planning.

Basic Tips

• You may need a permit
  If you're selling alcohol or inviting many guests to a location other than your home, you may need a permit. Check our Occasional Permits page to be sure you're within the law.
  
  
• Decide what kind of party you're having
  Choose a good menu of beverages. You can use our mixer page to look up the ingredients for any drink, and our online products guide to find out what brands are available in Manitoba.
  
  
• Decide how many guests you'll invite
  This will help determine how much of everything you'll need. Use the calculator or method below to calculate how much to buy, and do your shopping well in advance at any of our locations to make sure you don't get caught short.
  
  

How Much to Buy?
Here's a guide to help you decide how much liquor you'll need:

If you're using a computer with JavaScript installed, you can use the calculator below for an interactive guide to how much of each kind of alcohol you need to serve.

Enter any number at right, such as the number of people you're serving, then click 'Calculate' and the party-planning calculator will tell you how many standard drinks you need. It will also tell you how many bottles of beer, wine and spirits you need to make a good mix, so you can please most of the people, most of the time.

Enter number of people: Need this many total drinks: Bottles of Beer: 750ml Bottles of Wine: 750ml Bottles of Spirits:

What to Buy?
Once you know how much to buy, you still have to decide which kinds of alcohol to buy. After all, what will people want?

About half of all Canadians express a preference for beer. The rest of the party-goers will be more or less equally interested in mixed drinks and wine. These are the ratios we used in our calculator, above.

You can also manually calculate the alcohol you need. First, estimate how many people will be drinking at the event. Second, multiply this number by four (most people drink 2 to 3 standard drinks at a party. We estimate one extra drink per person so that you won't run out!) This tells you the number of standard drinks you need to accommodate. Next, translate this standard drinks number into the different kinds of drinks. A bottle of beer provides one drink, a 750ml bottle of wine provides five drinks, and a 750ml bottle of any spirit is about 17 drinks.

Finally, multiply those numbers by the preference percentages above (50% beer, 25% wine, 25% spirits) and you have a shopping breakdown of the alcohol you need to buy.

For example, a typical selection for a party of 100 people would be 400 standard drinks, distributed in this way:

• 200 12-oz. bottles of beer (200 drinks) AND
• 20 750ml bottles of table wine (100 drinks) AND
• 6 750 ml bottles of spirits (100 drinks)

What Kinds of Spirits?
It may help you to remember that in Manitoba, the most common spirits are these, according to our sales statistics. (All values are approximate, and fluctuate from season to season.)

• Whisky
• Vodka
• Rum
• Scotch
• Gin
• Tequila
• Vermouth (for martinis and manhattans)
• Other (aperitifs, liqueurs)

A number of aperitifs and liqueurs are very popular in Canada, including Bailey's Irish Cream and Kahlua, both of which are often served with milk or coffee. That's right, don't forget milk, cola, orange juice, tonic water, soda water, and all the other mixes that make mixed drinks great, and don't forget to get extra soft drinks for non-drinkers and designated drivers.

Of course, if you're having a theme party, you may want theme drinks, so this math may not apply. A South Seas Barbeque might need more rum and tequila, for example.