Catering & events / Bar
Plan bar service
Compare planned serves with your bartender service pace.
Event plan
Bartenders to plan
Enter guests.
How it works
Put in your numbers
Use your own rates, times and measurements.
See your answer straight away
It works it out as you type.
Copy or print it
Send it on, or keep it with the job.
What it covers: Check bartender headcount and drinks stock against planned serves.
Free to use. No sign-in needed.
How to work out how many bartenders you need for an event
Bar staffing comes down to how many drinks will be served and how fast your team can make them. This planner turns guests, drinks per guest and the service window into planned serves, average serves per hour and the bartenders to plan. It also turns your drinks mix into a drinks stock estimate.
- Enter the guests expected and drinks per guest during service. Base drinks per guest on past events with a similar crowd and length.
- Enter the service window in hours, meaning the time the bar is actually serving.
- Set serves per bartender per hour at a realistic pace for this menu and bar setup. Mixed drinks take longer than pouring beer or wine.
- In Drinks stock, set the share of drinks for beer and cider, wine, spirits and soft drinks, and the serves per bottle or can for each. The starting figures are only a guide. A drink set to 0% is left out.
- Open Costs, choose your currency and add a bartender cost per hour if you want the bartender cost. It covers the bartenders to plan for the whole service window.
- Check the bartenders to plan, the planned serves, the average serves per hour and, for each drink type, the serves and the bottles or cans to buy.
Tips and common mistakes
- Drinks are not spread evenly. Arrivals, breaks and the end of speeches bring rushes well above the average, so plan extra help at peak times.
- The planner shares the planned serves across your drinks mix in proportion, so the shares do not need to add up to exactly 100%. Check the mix still matches what your guests drink.
- Check serves per bottle against your own pour sizes and glassware, not the starting figures.
- Check the rules where you work on serving alcohol, licensing and staff breaks.
Questions
How many bartenders do I need per guest?
Multiply guests by drinks per guest to get total serves, then divide by the hours of service to get serves per hour. Divide that by how many serves one bartender can make in an hour and round up. Use your own pace, as it depends heavily on the drinks menu.
How many drinks per person should I plan for an event?
Look at past events with a similar crowd, length and time of day. Longer events and events where drinks are included usually need more per person. Enter your figure as drinks per guest and adjust it after each event.
How do I work out how much alcohol to buy for an event?
Multiply guests by drinks per guest to get total serves, split them by your drinks mix, then divide each type by the serves one bottle or can gives. Round up to whole containers. The drinks stock section of the planner does this for you.
How many serves are in a bottle of wine?
It depends on your pour size and glass. Divide the bottle volume by the pour you use. As an illustration, a 750 ml bottle poured at 150 ml gives 5 serves. Set your own figure in the planner.
Why are there still queues at the bar if the numbers say we have enough staff?
The planner uses an average across the whole service window. Real demand comes in rushes, so a bar staffed for the average can fall behind at peaks. Plan extra help for arrivals and breaks, and keep the menu simple if speed matters.
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