Wedding Budget Calculator
Turn a total wedding budget into a realistic breakdown across every category — venue, catering, photography and the rest — using the percentage splits planners typically recommend, so nothing gets forgotten.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your total budget.
- Enter the guest count to see cost per head.
- Use the breakdown as a starting point and shift money to your priorities.
Formula used
The percentages reflect common planner guidance: catering (~28%) and venue (~22%) dominate, together roughly half the budget. These are starting points, not rules — reallocate freely.
Example calculation
A 25,000 budget: catering ~7,000, venue ~5,500, photography ~3,000, with a ~1,500 contingency.
Across 80 guests that's about 313 per guest — and cutting 10 guests saves roughly a guest's worth of catering each.
Where the money actually goes
Wedding budgets blow up because the big categories are easy to underestimate and the small ones are easy to forget. Catering and venue together typically eat around half the total, and catering scales directly with the guest list — which is why the single most powerful lever on a wedding's cost is the number of people invited, not the choice of flowers or cake.
The percentage breakdown exists to make sure every category gets budgeted before you start spending, so you don't lavish money on the venue and find nothing left for photography. Treat it as a frame, not a mandate: couples who care about photos over flowers should shift the split accordingly. The contingency line matters too — weddings reliably spring extra costs (alterations, overtime, surprises), and a 5–10% buffer keeps them from derailing the plan.
Why use this calculator?
- See every category budgeted, so nothing is forgotten.
- Understand how guest count drives the biggest costs.
- Get a per-guest figure to sanity-check the list size.
Frequently asked questions
How much of a wedding budget goes on catering?
Typically the largest single share — around 25–30%, since it scales with guest count. Venue is usually next at ~20%. Together they often account for about half the total budget.
What's the biggest way to reduce wedding costs?
Cut the guest list. Because catering, drinks and venue capacity all scale with numbers, fewer guests reduces the largest costs proportionally — far more than economising on décor or favours.
How much should I keep as contingency?
Around 5–10% of the total. Weddings reliably produce unplanned costs — dress alterations, vendor overtime, weather backups — and a buffer prevents those from forcing cuts elsewhere late in planning.