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Wedding Budget Calculator

Split your wedding budget across venue, catering, photography and the rest, in the proportions real couples spent in 2025.

Enter your total budget to see how couples typically divide it.

To see the cost per guest.

Estimate. A real-world figure based on the assumptions listed below, which you can change.

How this calculator works

Enter your total budget and the calculator divides it across twelve categories, using the percentages The Knot calculated from its 2026 Real Weddings Study, a survey of 10,474 US couples who married in 2025. Venue and rentals take the largest share, 29%, then catering, cake and drinks at 24%.

The published percentages are rounded, and the twelve add up to 101%. So each category gets its published share of 101 rather than 100, which keeps every category in proportion and makes the lines add up to your budget. Amounts are rounded to whole dollars so that the rounded lines still total your budget exactly.

Add your guest count to see the cost per guest. The same study found the average 2025 wedding cost $34,200, which the result compares your budget with.

Treat the split as a starting point, not a rule. It is a national average across couples who made very different choices, so move money toward what matters most to you.

The formula

Exactly what happens to your numbers, step by step.

  1. Each category

    budget × published percent ÷ 101

  2. Per guest

    budget ÷ number of guests

A worked example

A $30,000 wedding for 120 guests.

What you enter

Total budget
$30,000
Guests
120

Step by step

Venue and rentals (29%)
$30,000 × 29 ÷ 101 = $8,614
Catering, cake and drinks (24%)
$7,129
Photographer and videographer (10%)
$2,971
Per guest
$30,000 ÷ 120 = $250

$8,614 for the venue and $7,129 for catering, out of $30,000

Together the venue and food take more than half of the budget. That is why guest count matters so much: both grow with every guest, while the rings and the officiant cost the same however many people come.

Assumptions

Every result here rests on these. Change your inputs and the result changes with them.

  • The split is The Knot’s national average for 2025 weddings. Your region, season and priorities will move it.
  • Every category is included. If you will not hire a planner or have guest entertainment, move that share to what you will spend on.

What this cannot tell you

  • The 6% for attire and beauty covers the couple only. If you are paying for attendants’ outfits or hair and makeup, budget for them separately.
  • Costs vary widely by region and season, and these are national averages.
  • It plans a budget; it does not track spending against one.

Questions people ask

How should I split my wedding budget?

By The Knot’s 2026 data, couples spend about 29% on the venue and rentals, 24% on catering, cake and drinks, 10% on photography and video, 9% on flowers and decor, 6% each on music and attire and beauty, 5% each on rings and a planner, and the rest on entertainment, transportation, stationery and the officiant.

What is the average cost of a wedding?

The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study put the average 2025 wedding at $34,200, from a survey of 10,474 US couples. Averages are pulled up by the most expensive weddings, so a typical couple may spend less.

What takes up most of a wedding budget?

The venue and the food. Venue and rentals average 29% of the budget, and catering, cake and drinks 24%, so together they are more than half. Both depend heavily on the number of guests.

Why do the percentages add up to 101%?

Because each published percentage is rounded to a whole number. The calculator applies each as its share of 101, which keeps the proportions The Knot published while making the categories add up to exactly your budget.

Related calculators

Sources and review

Sources

Methodology version 1.0.0 · Last reviewed

Cite this calculator

For coursework, a resource list or your own site. How every calculator is built and checked is set out on the methodology page.

Citation

Chalk Calculator. (2026, October 12). Wedding Budget Calculator (Methodology version 1.0.0). https://chalkcalculator.com/wedding-budget-calculator/

Link to it from your site

<a href="https://chalkcalculator.com/wedding-budget-calculator/">Wedding Budget Calculator</a> from Chalk Calculator