Wedding Budget Calculator
Start with the total you can afford, then split it the way real weddings spend it, and check the number that matters most: cost per guest.
Your results
The default split follows commonly published wedding cost surveys; your percentages drive every number. Per-guest figures are the fastest sanity check on a venue quote.
Worked example
A $30,000 wedding for 120 guests
At the default split: venue and catering 30,000 × 45% = $13,500, photo and video $3,600, flowers and decor $3,000, attire and beauty $2,700, music $1,500, cake $900, stationery $900, everything else $3,900.
Per guest: 30,000 ÷ 120 = $250.00 all-in, and 13,500 ÷ 120 = $112.50 for venue and catering, the figure to compare against per-plate quotes.
How this calculator works
category amount = total budget × category percent. cost per guest = total budget ÷ guests. Percentages are fully editable; if they do not total 100, the results panel tells you, and the dollar figures still follow the percentages you set so you can rebalance deliberately.
Taxes and gratuities are the most common budget surprise: in most provinces, venue and catering bills carry HST or GST plus PST/QST, and venues often add a service charge. Run your venue number through the provincial sales tax calculator on this site before signing.
Common questions
What is a normal cost per guest in Canada?
All-in Canadian wedding costs commonly land between $200 and $350 per guest for a full-service wedding, with venue and catering the largest share. This calculator shows your own split; use it to test whether a quote is in a sane range for your guest count.
Where do couples most often go over budget?
Guest count creep (every extra guest adds food, drink, rentals and stationery), decor upgrades late in planning, and forgetting tax and service charges. The contingency line in 'everything else' exists for exactly those.
Should the percentages match the defaults?
No. A backyard wedding might put 20 percent into venue and catering and more into food quality or music; a ballroom wedding the reverse. The defaults are a starting point from published cost surveys, nothing more.
Plan the rest
Budget set? Work out the bar with the Wedding Drink Calculator and the rentals with the Wedding Table Calculator.
Estimates only, using the budget and percentages you enter. Quotes, taxes and service charges vary by venue and province; confirm in writing before signing. Not financial advice.