How to set a wedding budget without guessing

Start with the money, not with a number you heard

A cost figure you hear from relatives or on social media may have nothing to do with your city, your guest list or your savings. Start instead with what is actually available: savings set aside, what each family will contribute, and any amount you are willing to commit from future income.

Write down who is contributing what, and whether each contribution is fixed or "up to" a limit. A budget that everyone has agreed to out loud is easier to stick to than one that lives in one person’s head.

Split it neutrally first

Put the total into the ShubhList budget planner and press "Split equally". Every category starts with the same share. That is not advice: it is a neutral starting line, so that every later change is a decision you made rather than a default someone else set.

Now go through the categories one at a time and ask: is this more or less important to us than an average category? Move money from the categories you care less about to the ones you care more about. The planner keeps the running total, so you can see at once if you have promised more than you have.

Decide your three priorities

Try to name the two or three things your family will not compromise on: perhaps the food, the photographs, or bringing every grandparent and cousin. Name them early. When a quote comes in high later, you will already know whether to cut that category or protect it.

• Write your priorities at the top of the plan and share them with both families.
• For each priority, note what "good enough" looks like as well as the ideal.
• For each non-priority, note the simplest acceptable version.

Keep a contingency buffer

Prices change between the first quote and the final bill: guest numbers grow, an extra hour is needed, or transport costs more than planned. The planner includes a "Contingency buffer" row for this. How large to make it is your call; a buffer you never touch simply comes back to you at the end.

Think per head

Food, favours and some decor costs grow with the number of guests. The per-head helper in the planner multiplies your guest count for each event by a per-head price from your quotes. Changing the guest list by twenty people is easier to judge when you can see what it does to the total.

Use only prices from quotes you actually have. If you do not have a quote yet, leave the row blank rather than guessing.

Track what is committed, not just what is planned

Each category has a "Committed" column. Fill it in when you sign a contract or pay an advance. The gap between planned and committed shows how much freedom you still have. When committed passes planned in any row, the planner flags it so you can rebalance from another category.

• Ask every vendor for a written, itemised quote and whether taxes are included.
• Record the payment schedule from each contract in your timeline.
• Keep receipts for every payment, including cash.

Save and share

The planner saves in your browser only. Use "Download CSV" to open the plan in a spreadsheet and share it with family, or "Print" for a paper copy. See privacy for what is stored and how to clear it.