Guide
Wedding budget breakdown.
We don't quote a national number, because the national number isn't your number. What matters is how your total splits — the percentages below scale to any budget from small to large.
Where the money goes
- Venue + catering — 45%. The single biggest bucket for almost every wedding. Site fee, food, bar, rentals, service, gratuities.
- Photography + video — 12%. The one thing you'll still have in twenty years. Worth the line.
- Flowers + decor — 9%. Bouquets, ceremony pieces, centerpieces, install and strike.
- Buffer — 9%. Something will cost more than quoted. This is the honest cushion.
- Attire — 8%. Both partners, alterations, shoes, accessories.
- Music — 7%. DJ or band, plus a ceremony musician if the venue is bare.
- Stationery — 3%. Save-the-dates, invites, day-of paper, postage.
- Rings — 3%. Two bands. The engagement ring is usually already handled.
- Hair + beauty — 2%. Trials, day-of hair, day-of makeup.
- Transport + lodging — 2%. Getting-ready hotel, guest shuttle if remote.
How to read the split
These are common starting percentages, not rules. If your venue is a park pavilion, venue and catering drop and flowers might rise. If you're eloping, everything but attire, photography, and rings goes near zero. The point of the split is to give you a starting shape you can then edit for your specific wedding.
Use the calculator
Head to the budget calculator, enter your total, and the tool re-balances the second you nudge any line. Nothing sent to a server — it saves in your browser.
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