Everyone knows that it’s a good idea to drink plenty of water when consuming alcohol, so hydrating your guests at your event is very important. At the majority of the events I have done, the hosts have served individual plastic water bottles, either in the small 8oz size, or in the larger 16 oz size. There is a better way to hydrate your guests that is less expensive and much less wasteful.
The biggest problem with individual plastic water bottles is the amount of waste. People come and grab a water bottle, take it out into the party, take a few sips, and then set it down, half full. They lose track of it, and a few minutes later they are back for another one. At the end of the night we dump countless half full water bottles out. On top of that, keeping them cold requires a tremendous amount of ice. If you must use individual water bottles, use the 8oz size, as people tend to at least finish them.
Using a Hydration Station
The better way of hydrating your guests is to provide a hydration station. A separate table set up where guests can self serve water, ice tea or lemonade. We have water dispensers that can hold three gallons of water and ice. You can add lemons, oranges, limes, of cucumbers, etc., to flavor the water. I can buy five gallons of filtered water for $1.50, 150 cups for $10. That’s $11.50 total cost to hydrate all of your guests, instead of $50 worth of individual water bottles that you have to haul around.
At a hydration station, guests tend to drink their water quickly and dispose of the cup immediately. The water is ice cold and tastes great. Much less waste and trouble to clean up. At the end of the night, it takes five minutes to break the hydration station down. No boxing up loose and wet water bottles. No ice bins needed. A second dispenser may be set up with ice tea or lemonade, providing your guests with non alcoholic options. The hydration station takes the pressure off the bartender as well. Guests self serve and don’t have to wait in line for water.
The hydration station especially makes sense at big events or weddings. We did one large corporate event with 500 guests and went through 5 gallons and 2 gallons of lemonade for the entire 3 hour event. Using plastic water bottles would have been a major hassle, and would have generated so much waste. Ask about our hydration station for your next event.
Shaken Not Stirred in LA 