Wedding Budget Calculator

A wedding budget is easiest to build from the guest list outward, because guests drive the largest single cost. Catering and drinks are usually priced per head, so every additional name adds a fixed amount to the bill, and venue capacity often forces an upgrade once numbers cross a threshold. Decide the guest count before almost anything else: it sets the scale of the whole day. Fixed costs are the second half of the picture. Venue hire, photography, attire, flowers, music and stationery do not change much with guest numbers, so they dominate smaller weddings and shrink as a share of the total as the guest list grows. This is why the average cost per guest falls as a wedding gets bigger — the fixed costs spread over more people even as the variable ones rise. The category most couples underestimate is the buffer. Deposits, delivery charges, service fees, taxes and the small extras that appear late in planning routinely add ten per cent or more on top of the quoted prices. Building that margin in from the start turns a late overspend into a planned figure, and it is the difference between enjoying the day and resenting the invoice. This calculator totals catering and the main fixed categories to give a full working budget and a cost per guest. It uses your own figures rather than national averages, which vary enormously by region and season. Treat it as a live planning sheet: change the guest count or a category and watch the total move, then keep a buffer on top.

This calculator returns estimates for general information only. It is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice, and it cannot replace guidance from a qualified professional who knows your circumstances. Figures such as loan payments, investment growth and retirement projections are simplified models based on the inputs and assumptions you provide, not guarantees of future results.