Plot No. 74 · Everyday & Shopping
Wedding Budget Calculator
Split a total wedding budget across the categories that usually make up a wedding, from venue and catering down to stationery, using typical percentage splits. It also shows the cost per guest, so you can see how the number of invitees moves every category at once.
Splits follow typical wedding budget shares. Adjust your total to match any fixed quotes you already have, such as a venue or photographer.
The link saves your inputs so you can bookmark or share this exact result.
What a UK wedding actually costs
The Hitched Wedding Industry Report 2026, published in January 2026 from a survey of 2,020 couples who married the previous year, puts the average UK wedding at £21,990 and the average spend per guest at £272, up £11 a head on the year before. Those two numbers imply an average guest list of about 81 people, which is why this calculator starts at 80 guests. Averages hide a wide spread, so read the regional figures below as a sense of scale rather than a target.
| Region | Average cost (as of 2026) | Against the £21,990 UK average |
|---|---|---|
| London | £24,622 | £2,632 higher, about 12 percent |
| South East | £23,589 | £1,599 higher, about 7 percent |
| East of England | £23,350 | £1,360 higher, about 6 percent |
| Scotland | £22,123 | £133 higher, about 1 percent |
| UK average | £21,990 | baseline |
| Weddings with 101 or more guests | £35,591 | £13,601 higher, about 62 percent |
The same survey found 56 percent of couples went over their original budget, 32 percent landed on it and only 6 percent came in under. Overspending is the normal outcome, not the exception, which is the case for keeping a contingency line rather than allocating every pound.
Wedding budget breakdown by total spend
Every column below is the same percentage split the calculator applies, worked out at five common budget levels. The middle column is the £21,990 national average. Read down a column to see what each category gets, or across a row to see how one category grows as the total rises.
| Category | Share | £10,000 | £15,000 | £21,990 | £30,000 | £45,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue and catering | 45 percent | £4,500 | £6,750 | £9,896 | £13,500 | £20,250 |
| Photography and video | 12 percent | £1,200 | £1,800 | £2,639 | £3,600 | £5,400 |
| Attire | 8 percent | £800 | £1,200 | £1,759 | £2,400 | £3,600 |
| Flowers and decor | 8 percent | £800 | £1,200 | £1,759 | £2,400 | £3,600 |
| Entertainment and music | 8 percent | £800 | £1,200 | £1,759 | £2,400 | £3,600 |
| Stationery and favors | 3 percent | £300 | £450 | £660 | £900 | £1,350 |
| Rings | 3 percent | £300 | £450 | £660 | £900 | £1,350 |
| Hair and beauty | 2 percent | £200 | £300 | £440 | £600 | £900 |
| Transport | 2 percent | £200 | £300 | £440 | £600 | £900 |
| Contingency buffer | 9 percent | £900 | £1,350 | £1,979 | £2,700 | £4,050 |
| Total | 100 percent | £10,000 | £15,000 | £21,990 | £30,000 | £45,000 |
Venue and catering take 45 percent, so at the national average that one line is £9,896 of the £21,990 total. It is the only category large enough that a change to it reshapes the whole plan, which is why it is worth settling before anything else. Rows are rounded to whole pounds for display, so a column can read a pound or two off its total.
Cost per guest at different budgets and guest counts
Cost per guest is the total budget divided by the guest list, so it falls as you invite more people on a fixed budget. That is the trap in the number: a low cost per guest is not efficiency, it is a thinner wedding spread over more chairs. Compare any cell against the £272 UK average to see where a plan sits.
| Total budget | 50 guests | 80 guests | 100 guests | 150 guests | 200 guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £10,000 | £200 | £125 | £100 | £67 | £50 |
| £15,000 | £300 | £188 | £150 | £100 | £75 |
| £21,990 | £440 | £275 | £220 | £147 | £110 |
| £30,000 | £600 | £375 | £300 | £200 | £150 |
| £45,000 | £900 | £563 | £450 | £300 | £225 |
Working the other way round is often more useful when the guest list is already fixed: multiply the head count by the standard you want to hit. 100 guests at the £272 average needs about £27,200, and 150 needs about £40,800. If the money is not there, the honest lever is the guest list, because trimming £272 of average spend for every name you remove beats shaving a few percent off flowers. To sanity check the catering quote itself, the unit price calculator compares per head packages that bundle different things, and the savings goal calculator works out how long it takes to save the total at a given monthly amount.
How the wedding budget split works
This calculator takes one number you control, the total you are willing to spend, and divides it across the ten categories a wedding usually breaks into. Each category has a fixed percentage share that sums to 100, so the arithmetic is a single multiplication per line: the total multiplied by that category's share, divided by 100. Venue and catering take 45 percent as one combined line, photography and video 12, then attire, flowers and decor, and entertainment at 8 percent each, stationery and rings at 3, hair and beauty and transport at 2, and a 9 percent contingency buffer left deliberately unallocated.
The second input, the guest count, does not change any category. It only divides the total to give a cost per guest, which is the figure worth checking a plan against because it is the one wedding number that is comparable between couples. Note what it is not: it is the whole budget spread over the guest list, so it already carries a share of the photographer and the flowers, and it will always be far larger than a caterer's per head quote for the meal.
The percentages are a starting allocation, not a prediction. Their value is that they are internally consistent and add to your actual total, so you can see immediately whether a real quote you have already been given fits the share this plan leaves for it. If the venue wants more than 45 percent, the money has to come from somewhere, and the table above shows exactly which lines are large enough to give it.
How to use the wedding budget calculator
- Enter the total amount you can spend on the wedding, including anything family has offered to contribute.
- Enter the number of guests you expect to invite, counting everyone who will eat and take a seat.
- Read the cost per guest at the top, then compare it against the 272 pound UK average to see where the plan sits.
- Work down the category list and mark any line where you already hold a real quote, then adjust the total until those quotes fit the shares.
Worked examples
The national average wedding
Inputs: A total budget of £21,990 with 80 guests.
Result: Venue and catering come to about £9,896, photography and video £2,639, and each of attire, flowers and entertainment about £1,759. Cost per guest is about £275, within a few pounds of the £272 UK average, because 80 guests is close to the average guest list the survey implies.
The same budget stretched over a bigger guest list
Inputs: A total budget of £21,990 with 150 guests.
Result: Every category is unchanged, because the split depends only on the total. Cost per guest falls to about £147, a little over half the UK average. Nothing has become cheaper: the same food, drink and seating budget is now covering nearly twice as many people.
Limitations and common mistakes
Edge cases and limitations
- The percentages are fixed and cannot be edited in the tool. If your split is genuinely different, treat the output as a reference plan and reallocate by hand.
- Venue and catering are one combined line, which suits an all-inclusive venue but not a dry hire where you book a room and a caterer separately.
- Nothing here is per person except the cost per guest. Catering, drinks and favors really do scale with the guest list while the photographer and the band do not, so a large change in guest count should move your total, not just the division.
- The honeymoon, the engagement ring, pre-wedding events and any overnight accommodation are outside the ten categories. Rings in this list means the wedding bands.
- Figures are rounded to whole pounds for display, so the ten categories can add up a pound or two away from the total you entered.
Common mistakes
- Allocating the contingency buffer to something specific. The Hitched 2026 survey found 56 percent of couples overspent their original budget and only 6 percent came in under, so the buffer is the most statistically likely line to be needed.
- Setting the total from what you hope to save rather than what is already committed or reliably in hand, then discovering the gap after deposits are non-refundable.
- Comparing the cost per guest here against a caterer's per head price. They measure different things, and the caterer's number is a component of this one.
- Cutting flowers and stationery to fund a venue overrun. Those two lines are 11 percent between them, so removing both entirely does not cover a venue that lands a third over its share.
Frequently asked questions
How are the category percentages worked out?
They follow typical splits reported by wedding planners, where venue and catering usually take the largest single share, roughly 45 percent, with the rest spread across photography, attire, flowers, entertainment, stationery, rings, beauty, transport and a contingency fund.
Should I use these percentages exactly?
Treat them as a sensible starting point, not a rule. If you already have a fixed photographer's quote or a venue that includes catering, adjust your total budget and rework the other categories around what you already know.
Why include a contingency category?
Weddings almost always have late additions, price rises or last-minute extras. Keeping roughly 9 percent of the budget unallocated as a buffer means a surprise cost does not force cuts elsewhere at short notice.
How much does a wedding cost per guest in the UK?
The Hitched Wedding Industry Report 2026 puts the average spend at 272 pounds a head, up 4 percent from 261 pounds the year before. That is a whole-budget figure divided by the guest list, not just the price of the meal, so it already carries a share of the venue hire, the flowers and the band. Caterers quoting per head are quoting a much smaller number.
How much should I budget for a 100 guest wedding?
At the 272 pounds a head UK average, 100 guests works out at about 27,200 pounds. That is above the 21,990 pound national average because the average wedding has closer to 80 guests. Hitched found weddings with 101 or more guests averaged 35,591 pounds, so a large guest list moves the total more than any other single decision.
What percentage of a wedding budget should go on the venue?
This calculator allocates 45 percent to venue and catering combined, which is the single biggest line by a wide margin. If your venue quote excludes food, expect the room hire alone to sit nearer 20 to 25 percent and the catering to take the rest of that share.
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