Good wine for a party & how much! help please!

RyanAsh

Hi all - looking for some help here. basically im organising a surprise party for my parents at our house and currently the guest list is about 100 people (max), mixed ages as friends, family and neighbours will be included and potentially will bring their children, we've no idea yet how many will come and its a fairly informal affair so while i'll get them to RSVP i dont really want to be strict about how many from their family would be coming etc. So im trying to estimate how much drink would be needed. We'll be providing food as well, a buffett type scenario so people will be there from about 7/8pm, so a long enough evening.
So i was thinking:
- 30 bottles white wine (two kinds maybe?)
- 30 bottles red wine (two kinds maybe?)
- 7 boxes of beer (24cans in each is it?) probably heineken
- 3 x 1L Vodka
- 1 x Whiskey
- 1 x Gin or Bacardi

Does anyone know - firstly is that the right amount of alcohol? I dont want a scenario where we run out of drink....would be very embarrassing!
Secondly and most important I want to keep the cost as low as I can as im on a tight budget so can someone recommend some reasonable wine, maybe ones from Lidl about about 5euro a bottle??? My parents actually drink Lidl wine quite a bit as do their friends so there wouldn't be any snobbery about it or anything like that, as long as we got a good one. Is it worth going up to Newry for the drink now that the euro-pound exchange has changed? I know Sainsburys up there were doing 3 bottles of wine for £10 when i was there last but again I dont know whats a good wine and dont have the luxury of trying loads beforehand. Would appreciate any help on this!

Murphyt

I am not sure about a wine to recommend, if they like lidl wine then go with it, but you might want to check out an off licence first, they should have something similiar. Also the likes of O'Briens and Cheers (and probably a lot more) will allow you to get more than you will need and bring back what you dont use, also they can provide you with glasses which can be helpful.
Hope that is some use

91011

Firstly avoid any wines that are half price as in reality they are only worth the money you are paying.

Secondly after the last budget and current exchange rates there is little or no difference in Northern Ireland prices. - Next weeks UK budget may mean prices in the south will be cheaper (Potential Christmas headline - NI shoppers queueing to get into Dundalk carparks:D)

Thirdly, drop into cheers / o'briens / tesco / cellars wine warehosue & check their 20% & 30% off offers (these are more realistic discounts as margin on wine is about 25%)

Bottled beer is cheaper than cans - becks work out about 67c per bottle in Tesco.

100 people at approx 4 drinks each = your numbers seem to be spot on, maybe a little high (but you'll put the excess to good use:D). Some will of course bring bottles too and some won't be drinking.

schemingbohemia

Don't just get 1 type of beer either, I'd mix it up. You could get some decent beers in Lidl or Aldi (Aldi have a lovely Irish Traditional Ale made by O'Hara's of Carlow) check through here for some reviews.

Fill up your bath with water and ice to keep the beers cold (I think I heard something about adding salt to keep the temperature down) as you won't have room in the fridge.

MattKane

Hi Ryan,

Expect to get around 5 glasses of wine per bottle. If you're expecting around 100 people 60 bottles should be fine. That's over half a bottle per person. Maybe go slightly in favour of white.

If you're interested, we are doing a straight 20% off our retail prices for the month of June if you spend over €300, and we offer free delivery nationwide.

Our house wines, Cuvee Jean Paul Sec and Cuvee Jean Paul Rouge are a good bet at €5.99 per bottle after discount (a genuine discount at that) and would wipe the floor with most supermarket wines around the €7-8 mark. If you need any further advice, just shout.

Ps. If you're in Munster I can suggest a great catering company to look up.

Cheers,

Matt

irish_goat

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Fill up your bath with water and ice to keep the beers cold (I think I heard something about adding salt to keep the temperature down) as you won't have room in the fridge.

Correct though it's best to let people know if you add salt so they can give the top a rinse.

Definitely get some different beers in, maybe some stout too and don't forget about mixers and ice for the spirits.

Check out the Wedding forum on here as there's usually people there looking to buy wine in bulk.