Wedding budget calculator

Enter your total budget and guest count to see how much to set aside for the venue and catering, photography, flowers, attire, music and the other costs of a wedding, plus the cost per guest. Use the standard split or set your own shares, and every amount adds up to exactly your total.

Total budget

Enter the amount in the currency you are paying in. The calculator does not convert currencies.

Guests

Currency symbol

$ dollar £ pound € euro

Set your own split

Enter the share of the budget for each category, from 0 to 100. The shares are scaled to add up to 100%, so 3, 2 and 1 work too. A category you leave blank gets nothing once you enter any share. Leave all blank to use the standard split shown in each box.

Venue and catering (%)

Photography and video (%)

Attire (%)

Flowers and decor (%)

Music and entertainment (%)

Contingency (%)

Hair and beauty (%)

Rings (%)

Transport (%)

Stationery (%)

Officiant and license (%)

Favors (%)

Jump to your results

What to buy

$30,000 for 100 guests, standard split

Venue and catering: $13,500 45% of the budget
Photography and video: $3,600 12% of the budget
Attire: $2,400 8% of the budget
Flowers and decor: $2,700 9% of the budget
Music and entertainment: $2,400 8% of the budget
Contingency: $1,800 6% of the budget
Hair and beauty: $900 3% of the budget
Rings: $900 3% of the budget
Transport: $600 2% of the budget
Stationery: $600 2% of the budget
Officiant and license: $300 1% of the budget
Favors: $300 1% of the budget
Per guest: $300 the whole budget ÷ 100 guests
Venue and catering per guest: $135 venue and catering ÷ 100 guests

These are planning figures, not quotes, and costs vary widely by place and season. Unlike the quantity calculators this one does not round up, because rounding every category up would add up to more than your total. Read our disclaimer.

Assumptions

The calculator uses these common rules of thumb. Change the inputs above to fit your guests.

Venue and catering	45% of the budget
Photography and video	12% of the budget
Attire	8% of the budget
Flowers and decor	9% of the budget
Music and entertainment	8% of the budget
Contingency	6% of the budget
Hair and beauty	3% of the budget
Rings	3% of the budget
Transport	2% of the budget
Stationery	2% of the budget
Officiant and license	1% of the budget
Favors	1% of the budget
Your own split	enter a share for any category; the shares are scaled to add up to 100%, and a category you leave out gets nothing. If every share you enter is 0, the standard split is used
Rounding	amounts are whole cents, shared out so the categories add up to exactly your total
Per guest	the budget, or the venue and catering share, divided by your guests and rounded to the nearest cent
Currency	only the symbol changes; nothing is converted

How we calculate

Standard split. Your total is shared out by category: venue and catering 45%, photography and video 12%, flowers and decor 9%, attire 8%, music and entertainment 8%, contingency 6%, hair and beauty 3%, rings 3%, transport 2%, stationery 2%, officiant and license 1%, favors 1%.
Your own split. Enter a share for any categories you want. The shares are scaled to add up to 100%, so 3, 2 and 1 work too, and a category you leave blank gets nothing.
Amounts. The total × each category's share, in whole cents. Any cents left over go to the categories that lost the most to rounding, so the amounts add up to exactly your total.
Per guest. The total ÷ your guests, and the venue and catering amount ÷ your guests, to the nearest cent.

Worked example: a $30,000 budget for 100 guests

With the default inputs ($30,000, 100 guests and the standard split):

Venue and catering gets 45% of $30,000 = $13,500, which is $135 a guest ($13,500 ÷ 100 guests).
The next biggest shares are $3,600 for photography and video (12%), $2,700 for flowers and decor (9%) and $2,400 each for attire and music (8%).
A contingency of 6% keeps $1,800 aside for surprises.
The whole budget works out at $30,000 ÷ 100 guests = $300 a guest.

To use your own split, enter shares for the categories you want. On a $100 budget, 2 for venue and catering and 1 for music scale to 66.7% and 33.3%: $66.67 and $33.33, which add up to exactly $100.

Questions

Where do the percentages come from?

They are a common rule-of-thumb split, not survey data, so treat them as a starting point. The calculator puts 45% towards venue and catering, 12% towards photography and video, and 6% aside for contingency, and shares the rest across the smaller items. Costs vary a great deal by place, season and guest count, so change the split to match the quotes you receive.

Why isn't anything rounded up?

The other calculators round up so you never run short of food or drink. A budget works the other way: rounding every category up would add up to more than the total you entered. Amounts are whole cents instead, shared out so they add up to exactly your total.

Does it convert currencies?

No. The dollar, pound and euro choices only change the symbol shown, so enter your total in the currency you are paying in.

Can I leave a category out?

Yes. Open "Set your own split" and enter a share for the categories you want. Any you leave blank get nothing. If you leave out venue and catering, the catering-per-guest row is dropped as well.

What is included in venue and catering?

The calculator uses it for the venue hire, the food and the catering staff, which is usually the largest cost and the one that rises with each extra guest. Use the party food calculator to check how much food your guests will need, and the cost per guest row to compare caterers' quotes.