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Events & Weddings

Wedding budget calculator

Set your total wedding budget and see it split across every category, the way a planner would allocate it, so you know what each part can cost before you book anything. It also shows the number couples actually hit, because weddings have a habit of finishing over the plan.

§ 01 Your numbers

Change anything. The answer updates as you type.

Everything you plan to spend on the wedding itself. Not the honeymoon or the ring, unless you want those included.
Used to show a per-guest figure, since the guest count drives more of the cost than any other single choice.
Estimated cost
$30,000

Typical range $30,000 – $34,500

  • Venue & catering$13,500
  • Photography & video$3,600
  • Flowers & decor$2,400
  • Music & entertainment$2,400
  • Attire & beauty$2,100
  • Planner / coordinator$1,500
  • Stationery & invites$900
  • Rings$900
  • Contingency$900
  • Cake & desserts$600
  • Transportation$600
  • Favors & gifts$600
  • Total$30,000
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$15,000 to $45,000 is a typical full wedding. Line up a coordinator, real contracts, and insurance.

What this assumes, and where it could be wrong

Every one of these is a place the number could be off. They are here because you should be able to check our working, not because we are hedging.

THE ALLOCATION IS OURS, NOT A SURVEY.
The percentages behind each line are our own planner-style split of a budget, and they add up to the whole. Real weddings vary enormously: a backyard reception spends almost nothing on venue and a lot on a tent; a hotel wedding spends most of it on the room and the plates. Treat the split as a starting frame you move money around inside, not a rule

The high end of the range is a buffer, not a second estimate. Weddings finish over their opening budget more often than under it, so the calculator shows your plan and a realistic overrun above it. The buffer is ours; your discipline decides whether you hit it.

Guest count moves the number more than any other choice. Venue, catering, cake, favors, stationery, and rentals all scale with heads, so cutting the list is the single most effective way to cut the budget.

The average-wedding figures quoted across the web come from vendor and wedding-site surveys, not a government statistic. We do not repeat them, because a survey of the people selling weddings is not a neutral measure of what a wedding costs.

This is the wedding only. The ring and the honeymoon are separate decisions and are not in the default budget unless you fold them in.

Frequently asked questions

How should I split my wedding budget?
A common planner frame puts nearly half into venue and catering, then roughly a tenth into photography, and single-digit shares into flowers, music, attire, a coordinator, and the smaller lines like stationery, cake, transport, and favors. The calculator above does the split on your number. Move money between lines to match what matters to you.
What is the biggest wedding expense?
Venue and catering, almost always, and it is not close. Feeding and seating your guests in a space for an evening is the core cost of a wedding, which is why the guest count drives the total so hard.
How much should I budget per guest?
Divide your budget by your guest count and the calculator shows the figure. It is a useful sanity check: if the per-guest number looks low for the venue you want, either the budget is tight or the list is too long.
Why do weddings go over budget?
Because the list grows, the small lines are easy to undercount, and vendors quote the base and upsell the extras. The fix is a real contingency line (we default one in) and holding the guest count, which is the lever that moves everything else.

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