Guest count calculator

How to use it

Most couples pick a budget and write a guest list separately, then find out months later that the two don't agree. This calculator puts them side by side. It takes a few minutes and works with rough numbers, so you can use it before you've booked anything.

1. Enter your target budget. Put in the whole amount you plan to spend and pick your currency. A rough figure is fine; you can change it as quotes come in.
2. Add an all-in cost per guest. Start from your venue or caterer's per-person quote, then add drinks, rentals, stationery and favours. The calculator shows straight away how many guests the budget covers at that price.
3. Add your venue's capacity if you have one. Seated capacity for the reception. Leave it blank while you're still looking; when it's set, the calculator checks the room as well as the money.
4. Count each tier of your list. Type how many people are in Top Priority, Nice to Invite, If Space Allows and Children. Switch off a tier you don't want counted, such as an adults-only reception.
5. Read where the list stops fitting. The tier ladder shows the running headcount and cost at each cut-off, and names the first tier that goes over budget or over the venue. Print it, or keep it safe in a free account.

How the maths works

The most guests your budget can afford is the target budget divided by the cost per guest, rounded down to a whole person. If you add a venue capacity, your guest limit is whichever is smaller: the money or the room. With a 30,000 budget at 250 a guest, the limit is 120. Add a venue that seats 100 and the limit drops to 100, because the room runs out first.

Your tiers then fill that limit in priority order. The ladder shows the running total at each cut-off: how many people you'd have if you invited everyone down to that tier, and what they'd cost. The first tier that takes the total past the limit is named in words, along with whether it's the budget or the venue that runs out, and how many of that tier would still fit. Switched-off tiers are left out of the totals altogether.

One price covers every guest. Children's meals and vendor meals are often cheaper, so if your list has a lot of them, the real number you can afford is a little higher than the answer here.

What happens when you save

Your numbers are kept in this browser, so they're still here when you come back on the same device. Nothing is sent anywhere until you choose to keep it. When you create a free account, your target budget becomes your wedding's budget (unless you set a different one when you create it), and the cost per guest, venue capacity and tier counts are saved as a named what-if. In Linenfold the same what-if can count from your real guest list instead of typed numbers, so the answer stays current as people are added and RSVPs come in. To split the total across categories, try the budget calculator; see pricing for what Complete adds.

Questions couples ask

What should the cost per guest include?

Everything, divided by guests: food, drinks, service charges, rentals, stationery, favours, and a share of the fixed costs like photography and music. A venue's per-person catering price alone will make the budget look bigger than it is.

How is the maximum number of guests worked out?

Your target budget divided by your cost per guest, rounded down. A 30,000 budget at 250 a head covers 120 guests. If you add a venue capacity, the smaller of the two is your limit.

Why does the order of the tiers matter?

The calculator fills the list from the top: everyone in Top Priority first, then Nice to Invite, and so on. The first tier whose running total goes past the limit is the one to trim, or the one that needs a bigger budget.

Should children count as full guests?

Use one price for now; many caterers charge less for children, so treat the answer as slightly cautious. Switch Children off to see an adults-only number.

Is my guest count private?

Yes. It's kept in your own browser and isn't sent to us or anyone else unless you keep it in an account.

What's in the free account?

The budget, guest list, headcount what-if, task list and seating chart, free forever. Complete is US$99 once, not monthly; the pricing page lists what it adds.

Want the rest of the toolkit? Browse the free wedding planning tools.