Free wedding budget calculator
Wedding budget calculator
that shows where it all goes.
Setting a wedding budget is easy. Knowing whether it is realistic is the hard part. This free wedding cost calculator takes two numbers you already know - your total budget and roughly how many guests you are inviting - and turns them into a full category breakdown in seconds. It starts with the allocation percentages most couples use, then lets you drag every category to match your own priorities. As you edit, you will see the amount behind each line, your running total, your cost per guest, and the three categories eating the most of your budget. Nothing is saved to an account and nothing is shared - the numbers live in your browser until you clear them. Use it to sanity-check a number before you book, or to rebalance when a quote comes in higher than you hoped.
$300
$30,000 across 100 guests
Venue and catering
$12,000
Photography and video
$3,600
Buffer for surprises
$3,300
| Category | Share of budget | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Venue and catering | % | $12,000 |
Photography and video | % | $3,600 |
Music and entertainment | % | $2,400 |
Flowers and decor | % | $2,400 |
Attire and beauty | % | $2,400 |
Invitations and stationery | % | $900 |
Cake and desserts | % | $600 |
Transportation | % | $900 |
Rings | % | $1,500 |
Buffer for surprises | % | $3,300 |
| Total | 100% | $30,000 |
Estimates are the easy part.
Eventi tracks planned vs actual spend per category as real quotes come in, so you always know where you stand before the deposits are due.
The average wedding cost breakdown
No two weddings are priced the same, but the shape of the spending is remarkably consistent. Venue and catering almost always dominate, taking around 40 percent of the total because they are charged per head and include the food, drink, staff, and the space itself. Photography and video come next for most couples at roughly 12 percent - these are the things you keep long after the day. Music and entertainment, flowers and decor, and attire and beauty each tend to land near 8 percent, while stationery, cake, transportation, and rings fill in the smaller shares.
The single most useful line in any wedding budget is the one couples forget: a buffer. Setting aside about 10 percent for surprises - the extra bottle of wine, the overtime hour, the delivery fee nobody mentioned - is what keeps a budget from quietly breaking. The calculator above seeds all of these percentages so you can start from a sensible baseline and adjust, rather than from a blank page.
How much should you budget per guest?
Cost per guest is the number that turns a wedding budget from abstract to concrete. Take your total budget, divide it by your guest count, and you have it - the calculator does this live at the top of the results. It matters because so much of a wedding scales with headcount: the catering, the rentals, the favours, the invitations, even the size of venue you need. Add fifty guests and you are not just adding fifty plates, you are often bumping into a bigger space and more staff.
That is why trimming the guest list is the fastest lever most couples have. Before you cut a category you love, try lowering the guest count in the calculator and watch the cost per guest and the totals move. Once your list is set, a tool like Eventi's seating chart maker helps you turn that final headcount into tables without the spreadsheet gymnastics.
Where couples overspend
Overspending rarely comes from one big blowout. It comes from a dozen small yeses that never get counted against a plan. The classic traps are the guest list that keeps growing after the venue is booked, the upgrades bundled into a catering package, and the decor that looks modest per item but adds up across every table. Stationery and favours are easy to underestimate because they are cheap individually and bought in bulk.
The fix is not willpower, it is visibility. Give every category a number, keep a buffer, and check each new quote against the plan before you commit. Save on paper where guests barely notice - digital invitations and RSVPs instead of printed suites - and spend where the day is actually shaped. If you are trimming stationery, Eventi's invitation maker lets you send beautiful invitations over WhatsApp for a fraction of the printed cost, and collect the RSVPs in the same place.
Wedding budget questions, answered.
Everything you need to plan a number you can trust.
From a budget to the big day.
Plan the number here, then let Eventi track the real spend, the guest list, and the RSVPs.
Free to start - no credit card required.