Wildwood · Wedding resources
Wedding Vendor
Budget Calculator
Divide your wedding budget among your venue, catering, photography, film, flowers, music and other vendors. Enter your budget and guest count, choose the services you need, and see suggested spending targets in dollars and percentages.
Calculate my vendor budget Free to use · No sign-up · US dollars01 / The starting point
Start with your budget and guest count.
Enter the total you want to spend on your wedding day. Set aside room for other purchases and a contingency reserve before dividing the remaining budget among vendors. Confirm each spending target with local quotes.
02 / Make it yours
Choose your wedding vendors.
Check the vendors you plan to hire. Leave a service unchecked if you’re skipping it or doing it yourself. Account for DIY supplies under other wedding expenses.
If a service is included in your venue package, keep it checked and choose “Included in venue package.” Its allowance moves into the venue row, so it is counted once.
03 / Leave a little room
Other expenses and your wedding contingency.
Get quotes that include tax, staffing, service charges, delivery and any gratuities you plan to pay. A 10% reserve does not guarantee these costs are covered. Engagement rings, honeymoons and separate wedding-weekend events need their own budgets.
A thoughtful starting point
How we calculate
your vendor budget.
Venue, food and the cost of hosting your guests usually take the largest share. The Knot’s current broad breakdown puts venue and rentals at 29%, with food, cake and drinks at another 24%. Source: The Knot.
Your wedding budget percentages change with the vendors you select, your guest count and the amounts you set aside. The model uses planning weights informed by national surveys and published vendor prices, not measured market averages. Its US baseline includes California context; local quotes, package inclusions and service scope come first.
Read the research & budget methodology ↗How much of my wedding budget should I spend on vendors?
Start with your spending limit and leave room for other purchases and uncertainty. The default plan sets aside 10% for other expenses and 10% for contingency, leaving 80% available for vendors. An imported regional estimate keeps its existing reserve. You can change these amounts; there is no universal wedding budget percentage. Your selections and guest count shape the suggested targets, which need to be checked against local quotes.
Does a coordinator mean full wedding planning?
No. This tool budgets for wedding-day or month-of coordination. With a total wedding budget below $20,000, do not expect this allocation to provide full planning. Even above $20,000, full planning needs its own quote and a larger allocation. A venue coordinator may only manage the venue’s responsibilities.
Why does guest count change my wedding budget breakdown?
Meals, drinks and many rentals grow with the guest list. Photography, entertainment and coordination usually have a base cost. The model adjusts their relative shares; it does not treat every vendor as a per-person charge. Reducing guests may not reduce a venue or caterer’s minimum.
What if a vendor quote is higher than my budget target?
Use the written quote to revise your plan. Consider a smaller guest list, simpler service, fewer optional vendors or more room from your unassigned budget. The estimator distributes a budget you choose; it cannot guarantee that a full vendor team is available for that amount.
How do I budget for an all-inclusive wedding venue?
For services confirmed in your venue package, keep the vendor checked and choose “Included in venue package.” We combine those allowances under venue so they are counted once. If catering includes cake or bar service, treat the combined allowances as one catering package budget when comparing the quote; don’t pay them a second time. Confirm exactly which services are included.
Do vendor budgets include taxes, service charges and tips?
Fit known taxes, staffing, delivery, service charges and planned tips inside each vendor’s target. Confirm those items in written quotes. The separate contingency reserve leaves room for uncertainty; it does not guarantee that additional fees are covered.
Next, put the day in order.
Give your vendors a timeline with room for the moments that matter.
Vendor costs explained · Reviewed September 2026
How much should you spend on wedding vendors?
Start with a total you can comfortably spend, then price the services that matter to you. These answers pair published US spending references with a clearly labeled example from our budget calculator. If you are still deciding your total, use the wedding cost estimator for your location and guest count first.
How to read the examples. Our example uses $35,000, 100 guests, the default vendor selections, 10% for other wedding expenses and 10% for contingency. That leaves $28,000 for vendors. The examples below are fixed illustrations; your live result above changes with your selections. A spending target is an allocation of your money, not an average bill or a promise that a vendor will accept it.
How much should I spend on a florist?
The Knot reports an average of $2,800 for wedding flowers among its surveyed 2025 weddings. That covers a mix of bouquets, wedding-party flowers and centerpieces, rather than one bridal bouquet. The amount and complexity of the arrangements affect what your florist can provide. The Knot’s flower cost study, May 6, 2026.
Our default example allocates $2,409 (6.9% of the whole budget) to a florist. Treat that as a starting allowance: list your personal flowers, ceremony arrangements and reception tables, then ask for a quote including delivery, installation and removal. If flowers are a priority, make more room for them. If you choose DIY flowers or no hired florist, uncheck the category and keep any supplies in your other expenses.
How much do wedding hair and makeup artists cost?
The Knot’s reported average is $300 for the bride’s wedding-day hair and makeup combined, typically excluding trials and gratuity. It reports $210 combined per wedding-party member. These are different scopes; $300 is not a budget for everyone getting ready. The Knot’s beauty cost study, May 7, 2026.
Local quotes can be higher. As one San Diego example, Blush & Adore’s 2026 list prices bridal hair and makeup at $700, the preview at $350, and on-location travel at $50 per artist, with additional travel fees outside San Diego. Blush & Adore’s published pricing. Our example sets aside $602 (1.7% of the whole budget). Count each person receiving hair, makeup or both, add trials and travel, and check the artist’s minimum booking before relying on that allowance.
How much should I budget for a wedding venue?
The Knot reports a $12,900 average reception venue cost for 2025 weddings, but that figure often includes more than the space. Its respondents reported rentals in 74% of venue packages and catering in 41%. A package price and a room-rental price should not be compared as if they buy the same thing. The Knot’s venue cost study, May 6, 2026.
Our example allocates $6,624 (18.9% of the whole budget) to the venue before any services are bundled into it. Add included catering, drinks or rentals using the calculator’s venue-package controls so they remain funded once. Compare the complete venue-and-hospitality bill, including minimum spend, hours of access and fees, before deciding how much room remains for other vendors.
How much does wedding catering cost per person?
A historical national reference is $80 per person, reported by The Knot for 2024 weddings in its March 27, 2025 catering guide. Multiplying that reference by 100 guests gives $8,000; it is not a current local quote or a minimum price. Packages can include drinks, staffing or rentals, so check the scope. The Knot’s catering cost guide.
Our 100-guest example allocates $6,925 to catering, or $69.25 per guest, with bar and rentals initially separate. A target below the published reference calls for a realistic meal quote; it does not make that meal available. Include vendor meals, service fees and tax in your comparison. A smaller guest list or simpler service may help, while a caterer’s minimum can limit the savings.
How much should I spend on a wedding photographer?
The Knot reports $3,000 as the average wedding photography spend for 2025 weddings.Coverage hours, photographer count, location and deliverables all affect the package. That national figure does not tell you what a particular photographer charges. The Knot’s photography cost study, May 8, 2026.
Our example targets $2,409 (6.9% of the whole budget). Compare quotes for the same moments: getting ready, ceremony, portraits and reception. Ask whether the collection includes a second photographer, an engagement session, edited files and an album. Photography is usually purchased as coverage; dividing its fee by your guest count will not reveal the price of adding a guest. If preserving the day is a priority, adjust other optional spending to support the coverage you want.
How much does a wedding videographer cost?
The Knot reports an average of $2,300 for wedding videography for 2025 weddings.The filming team, coverage and editing scope influence the bill; a short highlight and a collection with full ceremony and speeches are different products. The Knot’s videography cost study, May 11, 2026.
Our example allocates $1,806 (5.2% of the whole budget) to video. Ask which finished films you receive, whether vows and speeches are recorded, how many hours are covered, and what extra edits cost. If you book photography and video together, compare the complete collection against both allowances and count the package once. You can uncheck videography if you do not plan to hire it; the calculator keeps the unused amount unassigned unless you choose redistribution.
How much does a wedding planner or coordinator cost?
Compare the scope first. The Knot’s 2025 wedding data reports $1,600 for day-of coordination, $2,400 for month-of coordination and $3,800 for full-service planning. Full planning extends into earlier decisions such as vendor sourcing, the budget and design. The Knot’s planning cost study, May 13, 2026.
For a California provider example, Thousand Oaks-based Sage + Slate lists month-of coordination from $1,450 and full planning from $4,500. Those are that provider’s starting prices, not market minimums. Sage + Slate’s service comparison. Our example targets $1,505 (4.3% of the whole budget) for coordination. With a wedding budget below $20,000, this allowance does not provide full planning.It remains a wedding-day or month-of allowance above that threshold, too. Get a separate full-planning quote if you need broader help.
How much does a wedding DJ cost compared with a live band?
The Knot reports $1,800 for a wedding DJ and $4,500 for a live reception band in its 2025 wedding data. Performance length, musician count, sound equipment and travel change the quote. These are separate hiring choices, so adding both averages would describe a different music plan. The Knot’s DJ and band comparison, May 6, 2026.
Our default example selects a DJ, with $1,204 (3.4% of the whole budget), and leaves the live band unchecked. Switch your selections to explore a band, or select both if you intend to hire both. Confirm who handles ceremony audio, announcements, cocktail hour and breaks. A quote that includes those services may be more useful than a lower headline fee that leaves them to another vendor.
Where these answers come from. The Knot’s 2026 study covers 10,474 US couples married in 2025; the catering article above uses its earlier 2024 cohort. These marketplace surveys are useful context, not a census of every wedding. Zola’s separate 2026 First Look report surveyed more than 11,500 couples planning 2026 weddings, so its figures describe another population. We do not add independent vendor averages together or turn them into mandatory percentages. Our vendor budget research and method explains the evidence, package overlaps and adjustable allocation model. Vendor pages were checked September 9, 2026.