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Create your free dashboard →Budget by guest count
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How a wedding budget percentage breakdown works
A common starting point is to split your total budget by category. Most couples land near: venue & rentals ~40%, catering & bar ~22%, photography & video ~12%, flowers & decor ~8%, music/entertainment ~7%, attire & beauty ~5%, stationery ~3%, and a misc/buffer ~3%. The calculator above shows these as both a percentage and a dollar amount, and you can switch to My own categories to set your own split or Estimate by guests to build a total from scratch.
How much to budget per guest
Per-guest cost is the figure caterers quote against, so it's the number to watch. Rough per-guest ranges many couples use:
- Catering & bar: ~$70–$130 per guest (often the single largest per-head cost).
- Rentals (tables, linens, place settings): ~$10–$25 per guest.
- Stationery (invitations, save-the-dates): ~$4–$8 per guest.
- Favors: ~$3–$8 per guest.
Costs like the venue, photographer, flowers, and music are mostly fixed — they don't scale much with headcount — which is why the Estimate by guests mode separates fixed costs from per-guest costs. Enter your guest count and it scales the per-guest lines automatically.
Planning RSVPs too? Try the free wedding RSVP estimator to see how many invited guests are likely to attend, then track real responses in your dashboard.