A serving-ice calculation with examples for 100, 150 and 200 guests.
Your guest count is the starting point, but the right custom-ice quantity depends on how many drinks will use it. Someone drinking wine may use no cocktail cubes; someone choosing your signature drink twice may need two.
The planning formula
Guests × share choosing the drink × servings per participating guest × pieces per drink × (1 + spare allowance). Round up to a whole piece. If the bartender already has an estimate for drinks using this ice, start with that number instead.
A spare allowance helps with changes in demand and handling losses. The examples below use 10% simply as a planning assumption. Your bartender may recommend a different figure based on the menu and service length.
| Guests | Assumed drink choice | Servings each | Cubes with 10% spare |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 50% | 2 | 110 |
| 150 | 60% | 2 | 198 |
| 200 | 60% | 2 | 264 |
These are scenarios, not recommended consumption levels or forecasts. Each assumes one fresh cube per featured drink. Adjust the participation and serving assumptions with your caterer, including nonalcoholic drinks that use the same ice.
A 150-guest example
If 90 of 150 guests choose the signature cocktail and each orders it twice, you have 180 servings. At one cube per serving, a 10% allowance gives 198 pieces. You could request a quote for 200 custom cubes and ask the venue to keep a separate reserve of standard serving ice.
If the same 90 people choose it only once, the estimate falls to 99 pieces with that allowance. This is why the menu and likely demand matter more than a universal cubes-per-guest rule.
Custom pieces and standard bags are different
WK’s engraved options are ordered per piece, and we typically engrave orders of 100 cubes or more; smaller requests are considered individually. Standard online cuts come in 25-piece packs. For 198 standard cubes, divide by 25 and round up: eight packs supply 200 pieces. Do not apply the 25-pack calculation to a custom quotation unless that quotation specifies it.
What this estimate excludes
This formula is for the ice placed in finished drinks. Your caterer must separately plan ice for shaking, stirring, other cocktail formats, water service, bottle chilling and ice baths. Custom cubes are not a substitute for the whole event’s ice supply.
Questions for the bar team
- Which drinks receive custom ice, and during which service periods?
- Is the featured cocktail available all evening or only at cocktail hour?
- How many bars need their own working supply?
- Will the chosen glass accept the cube?
- Who keeps track of the reserve and replenishes each station?
Use our serving calculator and glass-fit guide, then send your quantity and wedding date. For the wider plan, read the custom wedding ice guide.