Wedding budget spreadsheet
A wedding budget spreadsheet with eighteen categories and columns for estimated, quoted and actual costs. Use the suggested shares as starting allowances, then replace them with your own figures. Download the CSV for Google Sheets or Excel, or print the PDF.
| Category | Sample share | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Venue & catering | 38–45% | The site fee, food, service staff, and usually the bar, the single line most venue quotes bundle together. |
| Photography | 8–10% | Coverage on the day, editing, and the digital gallery; albums and prints are usually priced separately. |
| Videography | 4–6% | A highlight film and a full-ceremony edit; drone coverage and raw footage cost extra. |
| Attire | 5–7% | Dress or suit, alterations, shoes, and accessories for the couple, the wedding party usually pays for their own. |
| Flowers & décor | 7–9% | Bouquets, boutonnières, ceremony arrangements, centerpieces, and the installation labor that quietly doubles the stem cost. |
| Music & entertainment | 5–8% | The reception band or DJ, plus ceremony and cocktail-hour musicians if they are booked separately. |
| Stationery | 2–3% | Save-the-dates, invitations, postage, and the day-of paper, programs, menus, escort and place cards. |
| Transport | 1–2% | The getaway car and any guest shuttles between ceremony, reception, and hotels. |
| Hair & makeup | 1–2% | The trial plus day-of services for the couple; wedding-party services are often paid by the party themselves. |
| Favors & gifts | 1–2% | Guest favors or welcome bags, plus thank-you gifts for parents and the wedding party. |
| Rentals | 3–5% | Tables, chairs, linens, tableware, lighting, and tenting wherever the venue supplies none of it. |
| Cake & desserts | 1–2% | The cake and any dessert table; many caterers add a per-slice cutting fee for cakes brought in from outside. |
| Officiant | 0.5–1% | The officiant’s fee or church donation, plus any required pre-marriage sessions. |
| Rings | 2–3% | Both wedding bands, resizing and engraving are usually included in the quote, insurance is not. |
| Accommodation | 1–3% | The wedding-night room and any getting-ready suites you book yourselves, as opposed to guest room blocks. |
| Insurance | 0.5–1% | Liability and cancellation cover, many venues require proof of liability before load-in. |
| Contingency | 5–8% | Unallocated on purpose. The overruns land here instead of on a credit card in the final month. |
| Miscellaneous | 1–2% | The marriage license, vendor meals, tips not attached to other lines, and the things no list predicts. |
Shares are typical US figures from modeled estimates, not booking data, your split will drift with destination, season, and guest count. The downloadable spreadsheet adds estimated, quoted, actual, and deposit columns per category.
Open the free wedding budget calculator to enter your details and adjust the result as you plan.
Put your first allowance in Estimated, the written supplier price in Quoted and the final cost in Actual. Ask what each quote includes, including tax, service charges, setup, delivery and overtime. Compare the full cost before you book.
The category shares are planning examples, not measured booking averages. They do not add up to a fixed 100% budget. Adjust them around your priorities and set aside a contingency you can afford.
Check the smaller expenses as well as the main bookings. These can include attire alterations, postage, supplier meals, collection fees and tips. Add rows where you need them and record payment deadlines alongside the amounts.
Template questions
- How do I make a wedding budget spreadsheet?
- Set your total budget, list your expense categories and give each one an estimated allowance. Add quoted and actual costs as you book and pay suppliers. Track deposits, remaining balances and due dates, and check the total after each change.
- What percentage of a wedding budget should go to the venue?
- There is no fixed percentage. This template uses 38–45% for venue and catering as a starting example, not a booking average. Check whether your venue quote includes food, drinks, furniture and staffing before comparing it with another option.
- What is a realistic wedding budget?
- A realistic budget is one you can fund, based on your guest count, location and plans. Start with written venue and catering quotes, then add suppliers, attire, travel and other costs you will cover. National averages cannot tell you what your wedding will cost.
- What do couples forget to budget for?
- Check taxes, service charges, delivery, setup, overtime, alterations, postage, supplier meals and ceremony paperwork. Ask suppliers which fees are already included so you do not count them twice.
- Is this budget template free, and do I need an account?
- Yes. Download the CSV or PDF without an account or email address. You can also use the free calculator at aisle.wedding/tools/budget-calculator to build an editable budget from your destination and guest count.
Track estimated and actual wedding costs in Aisle so both of you can see the same budget.