UK licensing law for private parties

Serving alcohol to guests at a genuinely private party in your own home does not usually require a licence in the UK, but if you are charging for entry, hiring a venue, or the event is open to the public, you may need a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) from your local council, which caps attendance and has strict conditions. Always check before assuming a house party rule applies to a hired hall or a ticketed event.

UK measures: what actually goes in a "unit"

A standard UK pub measure is 25 ml or 35 ml for spirits and a pint is 568 ml, both used as the baseline for the "1 drink per hour" rule of thumb this calculator applies. If you are serving wine in larger "large glass" measures (250 ml rather than a standard 175 ml glass) or stronger craft beers, guests will reach their alcohol unit total faster than this calculator's default assumption.