I’m planning my 21st birthday party at a local bar. I have 50 guests and am wondering what would be a realistic bar tab for those guests over 4 hours? I’m concerned, because I don’t want to run out of alcohol. -K. Peters, Monash

Dear K. Peters,

It really depends on the venue you have chosen and the prices of their drinks. If you choose their basic house beer, wine, soft drinks and sparkling you would be looking at $25 to $30 per person for 4 hours, however if you include cocktails into the bar tab this could raise it up quite a bit.

You also have to keep in mind that 21st party goers usually consume quite a bit of alcohol (especially if it’s free). Therefore the best way to budget this is tally up how much you would spend on a normal night out and times it by 50 people and put that amount over the bar.

You should also ask the bartender to keep you updated throughout the night to how the tab is going. Don’t be concerned of running out of alcohol, you’re at a bar, you can top up the bar tab if it runs out. The Mark Agency Events

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