Wedding budget calculator
Pop in your total and how many people you hope to celebrate with. We'll split it across 21 categories, show what each guest costs, and tell you how many people you can truly afford. Free, no sign-up, and nothing leaves your device.
How to use it
A wedding budget is twenty-one small decisions that pretend to be one big one. This calculator makes the small ones visible. It gives each category a typical share, turns that share into money, and shows what each line costs per guest so you can see where the headcount really bites.
- Enter your total budget. Type the full amount you and your families are comfortable spending, before any buffer. Pick the currency you'll pay vendors in.
- Add your guest count. Use your best guess for the number of people who will attend, not the number you'll invite. Most couples see 10–20% of invitees decline.
- Adjust the percentages. Each category starts at a typical share. Raise what matters most to you and lower what doesn't. Keep the total at 100% so every dollar has a home.
- Check the cost per guest. The calculator divides your budget by your headcount. If that number feels low for your area, trim the guest list or raise the budget before you sign a venue contract.
- Keep it safe in a free account. Your split becomes the starting budget in Linenfold, where your vendors, payments and guest list keep it up to date for you.
Reading the numbers
Three numbers do most of the work. Cost per guest is your budget divided by your headcount; compare it to venue and catering quotes, which are almost always priced per person. Remaining to allocate tells you whether your percentages add up. And max affordable guests flips the question around: at a given cost per guest, how many people fit? For example, a 30,000 budget at 250 a head covers 120 guests. If your list is 150 long, that gap is the most useful thing on this page.
Food, drink and venue dominate. Together they usually take 40% or more, and both scale with guests. Photography, music, flowers and attire mostly don't, so a smaller guest list frees money for the things that scale poorly and feel better: a longer photo package, a live band, flowers you actually wanted.
Keep a buffer. We suggest 5–10% of the total, shown under the inputs. It isn't a category; it's the money that keeps a surprise cleaning fee or a last rental order from becoming a fight in the final week.
What happens when you save
Your split is kept in this browser so you can come back to it. When you create a free account, the same numbers become your starting budget in Linenfold. From there, the vendors you confirm fill in their prices against each category, your payments are tracked against each vendor, and your dashboard shows what's left to spend. Changing the guest list updates cost per guest automatically. The free plan includes the budget, headcount what-if, task list and a seating chart maker; see pricing for what Complete adds.
Questions couples ask
- How much should each part of a wedding cost?
- There's no right answer, only a typical one. Venue and catering usually take 35–45% of the total between them. Photography and video sit near 10–12%, music and flowers 6–8% each. The defaults here follow those ranges; change any of them to match your priorities.
- What's a realistic cost per guest?
- It depends on your city and the kind of reception. A plated dinner with an open bar in a major North American city often lands between 250 and 400 per guest once venue, food, drink, rentals and service charges are included. A backyard or community-hall wedding can be a fraction of that. Use the number this tool gives you as a check against venue quotes, not as a promise.
- Why keep a buffer?
- Service charges, tax, overtime, alterations and a last-minute rental or two are the usual surprises. Setting aside 5–10% means those don't turn into a scramble in the final month.
- Should I budget by category or by vendor?
- Start by category, because you don't have vendors yet. Once you've signed contracts, the category number becomes a cap and each vendor's contract fills it in. Linenfold shows you both views side by side.
- What if my percentages don't add up to 100?
- Under 100 means some of the budget is unassigned, which is fine early on. Over 100 means you've planned to spend more than you have; the calculator points it out so you can trim something before it becomes a contract.
- Does the calculator include tips and gratuities?
- Not as a separate line. Tips are usually paid on the day from cash, so put them in Miscellaneous or add them to the buffer. Linenfold's Complete plan has a final payments and tips planner for the last six weeks.
- Is my data saved anywhere?
- Only in your browser, so you can come back to this page and pick up where you left off. Nothing is sent to us until you choose to keep it in a free account.
Want the rest of the toolkit? Browse the free wedding planning tools.