Easy Guide to Renting Glassware

One question we get quite often is, “How many glasses do I need to rent?”

Thankfully, some simple math combined with knowing a bit about your guests’ preferences will help you get a good idea of how many glasses you’ll need to rent. We’ve put together the guide below to help you plan your rentals!

HOW MANY BAR GLASSES DO I NEED?

The general rule of thumb is to multiply the number of guests by the length of the party in hours (1 drink/glass per guest per hour). If your reception lasts 3 hours and you have 100 guests, you’ll serve 300 drinks. But wait, the formula doesn’t stop here! 

If you’re offering only wine and beer, you can assume that 60% of drinks will be wine and 40% will be beer. However, you know your guests better than anyone and can probably decide if this is accurate. Given the general rule of 300 drinks/glasses, you should rent 120 beer glasses and 180 wine glasses. If you’re planning to have a wine glass at the table as part of your place setting, you would add another 100 wine glasses in this example. Riedel red/white glasses are a great option that work for all varieties. 

If you’re also offering mixed and non-alcoholic drinks, you can assume these will make up 20-25% of your drinks from the bar, so you should rent 75 old fashion or hi-ball glasses.

HOW MANY WATER GLASSES?

Keeping your guests hydrated is important, so plan for everyone to have a water glass. Water goblets and hi-ball glass both work as water glasses. For a 100-person wedding, plan for 100 water glasses for the table settings, plus 25 extra for vendors and water requests at the bar.

MULTIPLE BARS

For larger events, some people opt to have more than one bar running during the cocktail hour when demand for drinks is highest. After the rush, one bar is kept open while the other one(s) are usually removed. For each additional bar you have, increase the number of glasses by 50%.

TYPES OF GLASSES

While Pedersen’s does offer a wide range of glassware, glasses typically fall under five categories: wine glasses, hi-ball + rocks, water goblets, champagne + cocktail, liqueur glasses, and specialty glasses, such as martini or shot glasses.

TAKE AWAY

According to the formula, for a 100 guest wedding, you will probably serve 300 drinks from the bar alone (100 guests x 3 hours), about 120 of them beer (even if you’re serving bottles, you will want a few glasses on hand) and 180 wine. Therefore, you’ll need:

• 180 wine glasses
• 125 water goblets –100 for each place setting and 25 for the bar
• 75 old fashioned or hi-ball glasses
• 100 champagne flutes (if you’re planning on doing a champagne toast)

We hope this guide has helped you! Remember, Pedersen’s sales team is always here to help plan your celebrations!