SeatChartBaseWedding budget spreadsheet
A wedding budget spreadsheet should show where a total actually goes — venue, food, photo, flowers — not a single scary average from a headline. Enter your total, tweak the default percentages (dated US planning defaults), read dollar amounts per category, export CSV to Excel or Sheets.
Reception budget
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Seating tools help you arrange guests — not a venue floor-plan CAD service or a wedding planner contract.
When to use — and when not to
When to use
You have a total (savings + family help + the number you can stand); you want category caps before booking; you need a sheet to share with a parent who thinks flowers are whatever's left.
When not to
You need a signed venue contract line item — use their quote. You want seating, not money → seating tools. You are hunting average wedding cost journalism → skim, then come back with your number.
Assumptions
Defaults as of 2026-07. Percentages editable; aim for 100%. Tax, tip, and travel for guests are not fully modeled unless you park them in Other. Estimate only.
Worked examples
Input: $30,000 total; defaults (35% venue → $10,500; 28% catering → $8,400; …).
Output: category table summing to $30,000.
If venue quotes $14k, raise venue % or total — do not pretend the default still fits.
Input: $12,000 micro-wedding; slash venue to 20%, raise catering to 40%.
Output: rebalanced dollars.
Defaults are starting points for a typical reception shape, not law.
How it works
dollars_i = total_budget × percent_i optional: per_guest = total_budget / guest_count export rows: category, percent, dollars
- Enter total_budget.
- For each category: dollars = total × percent (after you set percents).
- Optional: per_guest = total / guest_count.
- Export rows as CSV (category, percent, dollars).
- Override any percent when your real quote teaches you better.
Common traps
- Averages lie by region. NYC and a backyard do not share a spreadsheet soul.
- Percentages that ignore tips will blow the week of the wedding — keep Other as buffer.
- Spreadsheet ≠ approval. Family can view the CSV and still argue.
- Do not mix currency. Pick dollars and stay there.
Compare
Related on this site: Wedding budget calculator · Wedding budget planner · Wedding guest list.
FAQ
Fix a total, split it into categories with percentages, export the table, replace defaults with real quotes as they arrive.