Wedding budget splitter

How to use the splitter

Choose your city, then enter your total budget, the guest count, the style of wedding, the kind of dinner and the quality level. The splitter works out venue and catering from your guest count first, because dinner and the bar for every guest are the largest cost: dinner per guest for your city, a six-hour bar, an 18% service charge and your province's sales tax. Whatever is left is shared across attire, photography, entertainment, flowers, stationery, rings and a planner, with 8% held back as contingency.

Why guest count matters most

Most couples spend 45 to 55% of their budget on venue and catering. The splitter shows your share and warns you when food and drink take more than 60%, because that leaves too little for everything else. It also shows what each extra guest adds, which makes it easier to decide on the last few names on the list.

What the styles change

A banquet hall or hotel usually includes the room with the catering. A cultural, multi-day wedding adds room costs for the extra events, and a destination wedding at a resort adds a per-guest venue charge. A micro-wedding under 50 guests has a higher cost per guest but a much lower total.

Reading the results

The figures are a starting point, not a rule. If photography or a live band matters most to you, move money to it from flowers or stationery. Remember that most vendor quotes are before tax and service charges, and confirm both before you sign.