Wedding budget and cost-per-head calculator

How it works

Each category gets its percentage of the total, rounded to the nearest pound. When the split adds up to 100%, any pounds lost or gained in rounding go into Contingency, so the categories always add up to exactly the budget. If the split adds up to more or less than 100%, the tool says by how much and offers Rebalance, which scales every category in proportion until they total 100%, to one decimal place.

Cost per day guest is the whole budget divided by the day guests, because the day guests are who most of the money is spent on. Venue per head does the same with the venue, food and drink line alone, which is the figure to hold against a venue’s per-person price. Enter your caterer’s price per head and the tool shows what ten more day guests would add.

The default split is a starting point to edit, not an average of real weddings. For comparison, MoneySavingExpert’s wedding guide says venue costs are likely to be about a third to a half of the budget, and suggests budgeting at least 10% more than you expect to spend. The default here puts 45% on the venue and 8% aside for contingency; move either to suit your day.

Assumptions

• 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%.
• Rounding drift goes to Contingency. A category at 0% is left off the printout.

Questions

Where do the default percentages come from?

They are a round-number starting point chosen for this tool. They are not survey figures and nobody’s average; change them to match your quotes.

What is the contingency line for?

The things nobody quotes for: postage, gifts for parents, extra hours. It also takes up the odd pound from rounding.

Why per day guest and not per guest?

Evening-only guests are not at the meal, so dividing by everyone would make each day guest look cheaper than they are.

What does “left for the couple” mean?

The budget minus any contributions you enter, such as money from family. No names are asked for; the fields are numbered.