How Many Bottles Do You Need for a Club Table? A Group-Size Guide

By Ethan Reid, Bottle Service & Hospitality Pro

Last updated: 10 June 2026

After eight years working tables, the question I have answered more than any other at the point of booking is some version of: how many bottles do we actually need? It matters, because ordering too few interrupts the night with constant menu decisions, and ordering too many leaves you staring at an unopened bottle at 3am that nobody wanted. The good news is that table maths is predictable. Here is how I size an order for any group, and how the venue's minimum spend folds into it.

The Baseline Maths Every Table Host Should Know

Two numbers do most of the work. A standard 70cl spirit bottle pours roughly 16 single-measure drinks once you add mixers, and a 75cl bottle of champagne pours five to six glasses. From there it is simple multiplication against how your group drinks: a typical table guest gets through two to three drinks in the first couple of hours and slows from there.

That means one spirit bottle realistically serves about four people for a full night at a comfortable pace, while one champagne bottle is a single round for a group of six rather than a night's supply. If you remember nothing else from this guide, remember those two ratios.

Bottles by Group Size

Applying the maths, here is the planning baseline I give groups when they book, as of June 2026:

• Two to four people: one spirit bottle with mixers carries the night. Add a champagne if there is something to toast.
• Five to six people: two bottles, classically one spirit plus one champagne, or two spirits for a mixed-drinks group.
• Seven to nine people: three bottles, weighted toward spirits, with the third arriving mid-night rather than upfront.
• Ten to twelve people: four bottles or a large-format centrepiece plus spirits. This is where a magnum starts to make sense as the shared moment.

Every group skews the numbers a little: heavy champagne drinkers burn through bottles faster than spirit drinkers, and a late-arriving group needs less than one settling in at 11pm. Treat the list as the starting point, not a rule.

How Minimum Spend Changes the Maths

Here is the part most first-time bookers miss: at most London venues the decision is partly made for you. Tables carry a minimum spend sized to the table and the night, and the menu pricing means that minimum usually translates to a certain number of bottles anyway. A six-person table's minimum typically lands around the two-bottle mark, and bigger tables scale up from there.

So rather than fighting the minimum, plan with it: work out what your group would naturally order using the maths above, check it against the venue's minimum on our table prices guide, and if there is a gap, close it with the upgrade your group will actually enjoy, a better spirit, a champagne for the table, or food where the venue offers it. What arrives alongside the bottles, the mixers, ice, and garnishes, is covered in our guide to what comes with bottle service.

Spirits, Champagne, or Both

For the order itself, the split matters as much as the count. Spirits with mixers are the workhorse: they serve the most drinks per pound and keep every glass at the table full. Champagne is the moment-maker, one shared round that lifts the table, best timed rather than rationed through the night. Our champagne versus spirits guide goes deeper, and if you are tempted by the big formats, the bottle sizes guide explains what a magnum or jeroboam actually holds.

From experience on the floor, the tables that enjoy the night most run roughly two-thirds spirits to one-third champagne, and they time the champagne for the moment the whole group is together rather than opening everything in the first half hour. London's table culture has only grown more presentation-led in recent years, as Time Out's London bar coverage reflects, but the serving maths underneath it has not changed.

Order in Waves, Not All at Once

My single biggest tip: never order the full count upfront. Tables that open everything at once end up with flat champagne and warm mixers by 1am, and I watched it happen weekly when I worked the floor. Start with one bottle as you sit down, read the table after an hour, and add the next wave when the first runs low. Your waitress tracks the running spend against the minimum, so pacing the order costs nothing and keeps every drink cold.

If the night outruns your plan, topping up is the easiest order in the venue. If you have overshot, a sealed bottle sometimes goes home with you depending on licensing, but do not count on it; it is far better to order one short and add than start one over.

What If Your Group Does Not Drink Much?

Not every table is built around alcohol, and the maths bends to fit. For a group with light drinkers or non-drinkers, size the order to the drinkers only, then round the table out with what the venue offers beyond bottles: mocktails, premium soft drinks, and food at the venues that serve it can usually be put toward the spend. The minimum still applies, since it attaches to the table rather than to what you pour, but how you reach it is more flexible than most groups assume.

I have set up plenty of tables where half the group was not drinking, and the version that works is one good spirit bottle for the drinkers, a round of well-made alcohol-free options for the rest, and the champagne moment kept for a toast everyone joins with whatever is in their glass. Tell the venue in advance and the waitress will pace the night around it without anyone feeling like the odd one out.

Plan the Order Before the Night

Tell us your group size, the split of champagne and spirit drinkers, and the night you have in mind, and we will size the order and the table to match before you commit. Message us on WhatsApp or book a table and we will confirm the venue's minimum and menu before your night.