The Wedding Math

Find out what your wedding actually costs.

Every free wedding budget tool earns a commission when you book a vendor. This one doesn't — so it's built to make the number go down.

Drag it. This is the real math.
120guests
4090140190220
What it actually costs$39,992
Each extra guest$173
Cut 20 guests−$3,458
Tick every cut you'd actually live with and this drops to $23,162.
Get the sheet — $29

Google Sheets and Excel. Yours forever. Refunded if it doesn't save you more than it cost.

Not ready to pay? Take the free one-page version — no email, no account.

01 — The line nobody budgets for

Your caterer quotes $95 a head. That is not what you pay.

Underneath the per-head number sits a service charge, usually 18 to 22%. Then sales tax on top — and in most states the tax applies to the service charge too. Call it 24% on food, bar and rentals.

Catering — food$9,360
Bar & beverages$3,360
Rentals — tables, chairs, linens$1,980
Flowers & cake$2,810
Service charge, tax & tips+ $4,202
Everything else$18,280
120 guests, all in$39,992

It isn't hidden. It's in the contract. It's just that almost no free budget template has a line for it — so people build a plan that's four thousand dollars short before choosing a single thing.

02 — Twenty-five cuts

Everyone tells you what to cut. Nobody tells you what it costs you.

So every cut in this sheet says both. In plain language. You rule out the ones that matter to you and it does the math on the rest.

Close the bar an hour before the end$360 Nothing. The last hour of an open bar is where the regrets live.
Marry on a Friday or Sunday$1,400 Some out-of-town guests won't travel for a Sunday. Expect 5–10% more declines.
Skip videography entirely$1,600 This is the real one. Some couples regret it; more never open the file. Decide honestly.
Skip favors completely$420 Nothing. Venues bin the leftovers after every single wedding.

Four of twenty-five. The other twenty-one are in the sheet, priced at your guest count.

03 — What you get

Six tabs and a one-page guide.

The Cost Engine tab. Every cost is a cell — type a real quote over the average (like the $2,400 flower quote above) and the whole budget recalculates.

Cost EngineAll 16 categories, editable. Swap national averages for real quotes as they come in.
Cut List25 cuts, what each saves at your headcount, what each actually costs you.
Guest List300 rows. RSVPs, meal counts, table assignments, live totals.
SeatingCapacity checker across 20 tables. Flags anyone you haven't seated.
PaymentsDeposits, balances, due dates, and what's owed in the next 30 days.
Price DataNational ranges by category, so you know when a quote is out of line.
Start HereOne page. Three steps. You're running in ninety seconds.
04 — The price

Twenty-nine dollars.

$29 one time, against the $3,458 that twenty fewer guests saves you
  • ✓Works in Google Sheets and Excel. Both files included.
  • ✓Yours forever. No subscription, no account, no upsell.
  • ✓Every cost is a cell you can overwrite with your real quote.
  • ✓If it doesn't save you more than $29, email me and I'll refund it. No form.
Get the sheet — $29

Made by one person, not a vendor network. I'm Gev — I built this because the free tools are funded by the vendors they point you to. Stuck, skeptical, or want that refund? theweddingmath@gmail.com

05 — Before you buy

The questions people actually ask.

Does it really work in Google Sheets?

Yes. Upload to Drive, then File > Save as Google Sheets. Every formula is written to survive the conversion — no functions that break on the way over. An Excel file is in the download too.

Can I change the numbers?

All of them. It ships loaded with US national averages so it's useful the minute you open it, and every single cost is a cell you overwrite as real quotes arrive.

I'm not in the US.

The math works anywhere. The defaults don't. Replace them with local quotes and the engine is just as accurate — but be honest with yourself about whether that's worth $29 to you.

My wedding is small.

It handles any headcount, but the guest-count engine earns its keep somewhere between 60 and 200 people. Under about 40, most of the savings are already gone.

What if it doesn't save me anything?

Then it shouldn't cost you anything. Email theweddingmath@gmail.com and I'll refund the $29. No form, no argument.

What happens after I pay?

An email with two files — the spreadsheet and a one-page start guide. No account to make, nothing to install. Most people are typing in their guest count within two minutes.

06 — Straight answer

What this is not.

  • Not a wedding planner. It won't pick your venue or tell you what's in style.
  • Not affiliated with any vendor, venue or booking site. Nobody pays me to point you anywhere.
  • Not a checklist or a timeline. There are good free ones — this does the part they don't.
  • Not magic. It's a spreadsheet with the arithmetic done properly and the tradeoffs written down.
07 — Not ready

Then take the free one.

One tab, the same engine underneath. Put in your guest count and it gives you your real all-in total and your real cost per guest. No email, no account, no card.

Your all-in totalincluded
Cost per extra guestincluded
All 16 cost categoriesincluded
Service charge & tax lineincluded
The 25-cut listpaid only
Guest list · seating · paymentspaid only
Open the free calculator

Opens in Google Sheets and saves a copy to your own Drive. Nothing to sign up for.

Nobody's telling you to have a cheap wedding.

Just an informed one. Find your number first, then decide what it's worth.

Get the sheet — $29
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