How to do a wedding budget
Published . Updated .
To do a wedding budget, start with one total you can afford, then find out who is contributing and how much. Split the total across the main categories, setting aside a share for the things nobody quotes for. Then check the split against what it means per guest and adjust it as real quotes arrive. The calculator does the sums at each step.
Run your own figures through the wedding budget calculator. It splits the total, shows the cost per guest and keeps a running check that the split adds up to 100%.
1. Set the wedding budget total first
Agree a single figure before looking at venues. Work it out from what you have saved, what you can save each month until the date, and what anyone else has offered. A total chosen first stops the venue setting it for you.
If the money is coming from savings over the coming months, the household side matters as much as the wedding side. The directory’s budget and money page lists free planners for working out what you can put aside.
2. Find out who is paying, and how much
Ask anyone who has offered to help for an amount, not a promise to “help with the flowers”. A figure can go into the budget; an offer cannot. Note whether a contribution is a gift towards the total or comes with an expectation about where it goes, because that changes how much choice you have over it.
Wedding budgeting with family contributions
The calculator takes up to four contributions and shows what is left for the two of you to find. The fields are numbered rather than named, so nothing personal is entered.
3. Split the total across categories
The calculator starts from this split, which you can change:
- Venue, food and drink 45%
- Photography and video 12%
- Clothes, hair and make-up 9%
- Flowers and decoration 8%
- Music and entertainment 7%
- Rings 3%
- Stationery, transport, cake, and ceremony and legal fees 2% each
- Contingency 8%
The default split is a starting point, not an average. It is a round-number split chosen for this calculator, not taken from a survey of real weddings, and it is there to be edited. For comparison, MoneySavingExpert says “venue costs are likely to account for about one third to half of your budget – and leave room for contingency too.”
Move the percentages to match what matters to you. If photography matters more than flowers, shift a few points from one to the other; the calculator shows the running total and offers to rebalance if the split stops adding up to 100%.
4. Check it per guest
Divide the total by the number of day guests. That figure is the one to hold against a venue’s per-person price, and it shows quickly whether the guest list and the budget agree. The calculator also gives the venue, food and drink line per head, and, if you enter your caterer’s price per head, what ten more day guests would add.
5. Keep a buffer for the things you forget
MoneySavingExpert’s advice is blunt: “Whatever your budget is, whatever you think you’re going to spend, budget for at least 10% more.” The default contingency here is 8%. Raise it if you would rather follow that advice.
Contingency also covers lines that are easy to leave out, such as the legal fees. GOV.UK gives the cost of a registrar as “£62 at a register office” and “£114.50 at a registered religious building”. The Church of England says that in 2026 the legal fee for a church wedding is a maximum of “£605 if you marry in your home parish” and “£723 if you choose to marry away from where you live”.
Which? says that with “wedding insurance premiums relatively small”, getting covered “could make sense”, and notes you may already be covered by other policies. If you take a policy, it belongs in the budget too.
A wedding budget breakdown in pounds
Here is one budget run through the calculator: a total of £18,000, 70 day guests and 40 evening guests, a caterer charging £65 a head, and two contributions of £4,000 and £2,000. The split is the default. Open this example in the calculator to change any figure.
| Amount | Category | Share |
|---|---|---|
| £8,100 | Venue, food and drink | 45% |
| £2,160 | Photography and video | 12% |
| £1,620 | Clothes, hair and make-up | 9% |
| £1,440 | Flowers and decoration | 8% |
| £1,260 | Music and entertainment | 7% |
| £540 | Rings | 3% |
| £360 | Stationery | 2% |
| £360 | Transport | 2% |
| £360 | Cake | 2% |
| £360 | Ceremony and legal fees | 2% |
| £1,440 | Contingency | 8% |
The calculator also shows a cost per day guest of £257 and £116 a head for the venue, food and drink. Ten more day guests would add £650 at the caterer’s price, and after the two contributions £12,000 is left for the couple to find.
The venue line works out at about £116 a head, while the caterer quoted £65. That leaves around £51 a head for room hire, drinks and anything else the venue charges, which is the question to put to the venue next.
Using a wedding budget planner as quotes come in
A budget changes from a plan into a record once you start booking. Keep the calculator for the split, and keep a list of every line with its estimate, its quote and what you have paid. The wedding budget spreadsheet guide gives the cost lines to put in it and the columns to use.
How to budget for a wedding when a quote comes in high
When one line goes over, take the difference from another line or from contingency, and change the percentages to match. If the total itself has to move, change it in one place and let every line move with it. Each change of plan then shows up in pounds straight away, against the same total.