A four-tier champagne tower holds 30 coupes, and at a 4 oz pour that's 5 bottles before anyone has a second glass. Fifteen ideas for the night follow, with the full bottle counts for the tower and the midnight toast at the end.
1. Champagne Tower
The showpiece of the night. Build it on a sturdy, level table and pour slowly from the top; the section on bottles works out how many it takes.
2. Countdown Bar
Set the bar under a big clock so everyone can see midnight coming. Line up the coupes for the toast in advance.
3. Gold and Black Balloon Ceiling
Helium balloons with long ribbons fill the ceiling and every photo. Have them filled the afternoon of the party.
4. Sparkling Wine Tasting Bar
Pour a Champagne, a Prosecco and a Cava side by side and let guests pick a favorite. It's a party game and a bar at once.
5. Midnight Snack Station
Bring out sliders and fries at 11:30. Food late in the night does more for a party than another round.
6. Caviar and Chips Bar
Kettle chips, crème fraîche and a small tin of caviar or trout roe. It's the fanciest snack you can make in five minutes.
7. Disco Ball Dance Corner
One mirror disco ball and a spotlight turn a cleared corner into a dance floor. Move the rug first.
8. Confetti Popper Place Settings
A popper at every place setting means everyone has something to do at midnight.
9. Gold Sequin Photo Backdrop
A sequin wall is where every photo of the night gets taken. Hang it near the best light in the room.
10. Champagne Ice Bucket Station
A tub of ice keeps the bottles cold without anyone opening the fridge all night. Set towels beside it for the drips.
11. Time Zone Toasts
Toast midnight in another time zone every hour from 7 p.m. It gives the night a rhythm, so pour each toast small.
12. Black and Gold Tablescape
Black linen and gold cutlery look expensive and photograph well. Rent the cutlery if you don't own it.
13. Late-Night Espresso Martini Station
An espresso machine at the bar keeps the party awake past midnight. Our New Year's Eve cocktails list how strong each drink is.
14. Resolution Cards and Jar
Guests write a resolution, fold it and drop it in. Open the jar next New Year's Eve.
15. Morning-After Brunch Station
Set out water, coffee and pastries before bed. It's the kindest thing on this list.
How Many Bottles Does a Champagne Tower Take?
A square tower has one coupe on top, four under it, nine under that, and so on. So the coupe count climbs fast with each tier. A standard bottle of sparkling wine is 750 ml (one of the federal standards of fill in 27 CFR 4.72), which is 25.4 fl oz.
| Tower | Coupes | Wine at 4 oz each | 750 ml bottles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 tiers | 14 | 56 oz | 3 |
| 4 tiers | 30 | 120 oz | 5 |
| 5 tiers | 55 | 220 oz | 9 |
Those counts fill every coupe once. A tower is poured from the top until it overflows down the tiers, so some wine ends up on the tray; we haven't found a published figure for how much, so buy at least one spare bottle. Coupes vary in size too, and a bigger coupe changes every number in the table.
How Much Champagne for a Midnight Toast?
At a 4 oz pour, one bottle gives 6 toasts. That's 10 guests: 2 bottles; 20 guests: 4 bottles; 30 guests: 5 bottles. Each 4 oz pour of a 12% Champagne, such as Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, is about 0.8 of a standard drink by the NIAAA definition of 0.6 fl oz of pure alcohol. The time zone toasts (#11) add one of those an hour, which is why they should be small.
For the cocktails to serve around the toast, see our 15 New Year's Eve cocktails.
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