Why we built this

Somewhere between “we’re engaged!” and the big day, every couple hits the same wall of oddly specific math. How many bottles of wine for 120 people? What do you tip a DJ? What does one more table of guests actually cost? When do invitations really need to go in the mail? The answers exist — caterers, planners and bartenders use the same rules of thumb every weekend — but online they’re buried in long articles, locked behind email sign-ups, or scattered across a dozen tabs.

Wedding Budget Tools puts those working numbers into eight fast, free calculators. No accounts, no downloads, no “enter your email to see results.” Type your numbers, get your answer, print it or copy it into a text to your caterer, and get back to the fun parts of planning.

How the numbers are made

Each tool is built on the standard planning ratios used across the U.S. wedding industry — things like two drinks per guest for the first hour, 4.5 square feet of dance floor per dancer, one slice of cake per adult minus the dessert-skippers, and mailing invitations eight weeks out. Where costs are involved (like our state-by-state guest cost estimates), we use published wedding-cost data as a baseline and let you adjust the inputs to match your local prices.

They’re planning estimates, not quotes — your vendors always get the final word. But they’ll get you remarkably close, and they’ll make sure the quote you do get doesn’t surprise you.

The tools

• Wedding Alcohol Calculator — how much to buy, with a costed shopping list
• Vendor Tip Calculator — exact gratuities and a cash-envelope checklist
• Guest List Cost Calculator — what each guest costs in your state
• Day-Of Timeline Generator — your whole day, minute by minute
• Food & Cake Calculator — catering quantities that come out right
• Invitation & RSVP Timeline — every stationery deadline, on your calendar
• Seating & Rentals Calculator — tables, linens and the right-size dance floor
• Who Pays for What? — family contributions turned into a clear plan

How the site stays free

The site is supported by advertising, which lets us keep every tool free with no sign-ups or paywalls. Ads never change the math.

Get in touch

Spotted a number that seems off? Have an idea for a calculator we should build next? We’d genuinely like to hear it — see the Contact page.