Split your total budget across every category, then boost what matters most. Free, no signup.
Enter your total budget and guest count first, then work through the ten categories. The sliders start from common industry breakdowns, with venue and catering at 45 percent, photo and video at 12, flowers and decor at 10, and the rest split smaller, adding to 100. Every slider is editable and shows its dollar amount live, so you see immediately what 10 percent actually costs. The star button marks a category as a priority, and you can star up to three. Hit Boost my priorities and the tool shifts 3 points into each starred category, pulling the money proportionally from the unstarred ones. Hit Auto-balance to 100 percent any time your sliders drift over or under, and the progress bar plus the note tell you exactly how far off you are. The reality check card shows your cost per guest and runs two warnings: it flags you if the misc and buffer category drops under 5 percent, and if venue and catering creeps past 55 percent. Percentages from the tool are editable starting points; your market and your priorities decide the final split.
Example only, not typical pricing. Say your budget is $25,000 for 100 guests. The defaults put venue and catering at 45 percent, or $11,250, photography and video at 12 percent ($3,000), and entertainment at 8 percent ($2,000). Your cost per guest is $25,000 divided by 100, or $250. Star those three categories and hit Boost my priorities: each gains 3 points, so venue moves to 48 percent ($12,000), photo and video to 15 percent ($3,750), and entertainment to 11 percent ($2,750), with the 9 points pulled proportionally from the unstarred categories. If your sliders ever total 103 percent, the note shows you are over by 3 percent, or $750 too much. And if you shrink the misc and buffer slider under 5 percent, the reality check warns you that weddings run over.
The tool starts from common industry breakdowns: venue and catering around 45 percent, photo and video around 12, and the rest split smaller. These are editable starting points; your local prices and your priorities decide the final split.
Star up to three categories you care about most, then hit the button. Each starred category gains 3 percentage points, and that money is pulled proportionally from the categories you did not star.
It rescales all your sliders so they add to exactly 100 percent, fixing any rounding drift on the largest category. Use it after dragging sliders around to see the clean dollar split.
If your misc and buffer category drops under 5 percent, the reality check flags it, because weddings run over and most planners suggest keeping at least 5 percent unassigned for surprises.
Your total budget divided by your guest count. It is the number that tells you what each seat at the wedding actually costs, and it moves the moment you change the budget or the guest list.