Budżet ślubny: jak go ustalić i dobrze podzielić

To set a wedding budget, start from the total you can pay without borrowing — what you have saved, what you can still put aside before the day and any gift already promised — keep 10% of it aside as a buffer, and divide the rest by your number of guests to see what each place at the table can cost. As a starting wedding budget breakdown, about half goes on the venue, food and drink, 10 to 15% on photography, and the rest on music, flowers, outfits, rings and the small things; move the shares to suit your priorities, but keep the total.

How to budget for a wedding: start from what you can pay

Most budgets go wrong at the first step, because they start from what a wedding "should" cost. Start from your own numbers and add up three things:

1. What you have saved and are willing to spend on the wedding, after keeping your usual emergency savings.
2. What you can put aside each month until the day, times the months left — €600 a month for ten months is €6,000 only if every month works.
3. Gifts that are promised, with an amount and a date. "We'll help" is not a number yet; ask kindly what it means, and whether it comes with wishes — a longer guest list, a church, a particular venue.

Leave out loans, the overdraft and the envelopes you hope guests will bring: a wedding paid off over years costs more than its price, and most bills fall due before the day, not after it.

Then agree what sits inside the total. Couples count the rings and the honeymoon differently, and forget outfits, hair and makeup because they buy them themselves. Write down what is in and what is out.

Divide by your guests: the cost per guest

Your total divided by your number of guests is the most useful number in wedding planning: it tells you, before a single visit, which venues and menus are realistic. With €18,000 to spend and 75 guests, every guest can cost €240, all in — and if roughly half of that goes on the venue, food and drink, the line for those is €120 a head.

Not every cost grows with the list, though. Split them in two:

• Per guest: menu, drinks, cake, a chair and its linen, the favour, part of an invitation.
• Fixed: the photographer, the music, the outfits, the rings, the ceremony. They cost about the same for 50 guests as for 100.

That is why cutting ten guests saves less than ten times your per-guest figure: it saves ten menus, ten drinks packages and ten slices of cake. If those come to €108 a head, ten fewer guests save €1,080 — still the biggest single lever you have, and the reason your guest list comes before the venue.

Wedding budget breakdown: a typical split by category

Take the buffer off first (see below), then split what is left. As a starting point for a celebration with a ceremony, dinner and a party — a guide, not a law:

• Venue, food, drink and cake: 40–55%. Hire, menu, drinks, service staff, cake.
• Photography and video: 10–15%.
• Music and entertainment: 5–10%. DJ or band, music for the ceremony, a photo booth.
• Flowers and decoration: 5–10%. Bouquet, ceremony, tables, and any hire the venue does not include.
• Outfits, hair and makeup: 8–12%. Dress, suit, shoes, alterations, styling.
• Rings: 3–6%.
• Stationery, favours and small items: 2–5%.
• Ceremony, paperwork and transport: 2–5%. Registry office, celebrant, certificates, cars.

The split bends with the wedding you want:

• A small wedding: fixed costs weigh more. With 30 guests, a full-day photographer can take a fifth of the budget, and that is fine.
• An all-inclusive venue: when the menu price covers furniture, linen, staff, cake and an open bar, the first line rises towards 55% and decoration shrinks.
• Music first: if a live band matters most, give it 12% and take the difference from flowers or favours — on paper, before you book.

For euro ranges per category, see what a wedding costs in Germany and what a wedding costs in Portugal. Prices move with the region, season, weekday, guest count and hours.

Keep 10% aside before you split

The buffer is the line that saves all the others. Set aside 10% of your total before you divide anything — 15% if the wedding is more than a year away, abroad, or full of things you have never bought before. It is there for what no quote includes:

• three guests who were a "maybe" and come after all — three more menus;
• an extra hour of music while the dance floor is still full, often €100–200;
• alterations, a second pair of shoes, a veil;
• meals for the photographer and the DJ, who work through dinner;
• postage, tips, a taxi home.

A worked example: €20,000 and 75 guests

Lena and Jonas marry in ten months. They have €11,000 saved, can put aside €600 a month (€6,000 by the day) and Jonas's parents have promised €3,000 by the spring. Total: €20,000. They keep €2,000 as a buffer, which leaves €18,000 for 75 guests — €240 each.

Their split of the €18,000:

• Venue, food, drink and cake (50%): €9,000
• Photography (12%): €2,160
• Music (7%): €1,260
• Flowers and decoration (7%): €1,260
• Outfits, hair and makeup (11%): €1,980
• Rings (6%): €1,080
• Stationery and small items (4%): €720
• Ceremony, paperwork and transport (3%): €540

Then the venue they love sends its quote: €2,500 hire for a Saturday, plus a €70 menu, a €32 drinks package and €6 of cake per guest. That is €108 a head, €8,100 for 75 guests and €10,600 with the hire — €1,600 over their first line. Three ways to close the gap:

1. The same venue on a Friday, where the hire is €1,800: €9,900, still €900 over.
2. Saturday with 65 guests instead of 75: €9,520, still €520 over.
3. A Friday, and a €55 buffet instead of the €70 menu: €8,775 — €225 under.

They choose the third and move the €225 to photography, for one more hour of coverage; the total has not moved by a euro. That is what the split is for: it does not decide for you, but it tells you the day a quote arrives that something has to give, and lets you choose what.

When the money is due: deposits, balances and the day

A budget can fit in total and still fail in one month, because wedding money does not leave evenly. A common pattern:

• A deposit when you book: often a fifth to a half of the price, sometimes not refundable — the contract says which.
• Things you buy: the dress when ordered or across the fittings, the rings when ordered.
• The balance: for most suppliers a few weeks before the day, or on the day.
• The venue and the caterer: after the final headcount, often one to two weeks before; drinks by consumption afterwards.

For Lena and Jonas, the deposits are €2,500 for the venue, €700 for the photographer, €400 for the DJ and €300 for the florist; with the dress, suit, rings, stationery and ceremony costs they pay €7,790 before the last month. Then come the balances — venue €6,275, photographer €1,685, florist €960, DJ €860 — and hair and makeup at €430: €10,210 in four weeks, more than half of everything. By then €8,610 of their savings is left; the last €600 and the parents' €3,000 bring it to €12,210, and after the final payments €2,000 remains — exactly the buffer.

So plan the dates, not only the amounts, and ask for promised gifts before the last month, not in an envelope on the night. Ask every supplier in writing how much the deposit is, whether it is refundable, when the rest is due and how they take it — more in questions to ask wedding suppliers.

When you reserve on Eventadore, a booking fee is held on your card and charged only when the supplier says yes. It is already inside the price, never on top, so booking here costs the same as booking the supplier directly. The deposit and the rest go to the supplier directly, and Your money plan in your Planning lists every payment still to come, in order: the fees, each deposit with its date, and what you pay on the day. Step by step in how paying works.

Track planned against actual

A budget you look at once is a wish. Keep one list with four columns for every line: planned, quoted (all in), paid so far, and due (the next date and amount). Three habits keep it honest:

1. Update when you sign, not when you pay. A signed contract is money spent.
2. Write every quote all in: travel, overtime, staff, and VAT if the price was net.
3. When one line goes over, another goes down — and you decide which, together.

The Budget in your Planning does much of this for you. You type the total you want to spend under Set a budget; you never type the suppliers' prices, because it adds them up from your Planning at the price fixed when you added each one. Committed is what you have booked, In play is what is still in your cart or waiting for an answer, and Left is your budget minus both; when the two together pass your total, the card says Over budget. Keep what you buy elsewhere, such as the dress and the rings, on a short list beside it.

The costs that are easy to forget

Overspending is rarely one big mistake; it is a dozen small lines nobody wrote down. Ask about each before you sign:

• Service staff, when an outside caterer bills them separately, often by the hour.
• Corkage or a cake fee, if you bring your own wine or cake.
• Overtime for the music, the photographer, the staff and the venue after midnight.
• Travel and an overnight stay for suppliers who come from further away.
• Furniture, linen and tableware the venue does not include, and the cleaning afterwards.
• VAT, if a quote is net.
• Postage for the invitations, and tips on the day.
• Your own room for the wedding night, childcare in the evening, a shuttle for guests.

Some of this disappears when the price you see is the price for your day. In the Eventadore search, enter your date and number of guests and each card shows what that day costs, all in, travel included; without them you see a price range. The price is locked the moment you add a supplier to your Planning — nobody renegotiates it later; the supplier only says whether they are free. Start with venues for your date.

Frequently asked questions

How much should a wedding cost per guest?

There is no right figure: take what you can pay, keep 10% aside and divide the rest by your guests. As a rough guide for 2026, a full day with a ceremony, dinner and a party in Germany or Portugal often comes to around €150–300 per guest all in — less in the countryside and off-season, more in cities and on summer Saturdays.

What percentage of a wedding budget goes on the venue and food?

Usually the largest share: 40 to 55% for the venue, food, drink and cake together — more when the venue's price includes furniture, staff and an open bar. It is also the line that moves most with your guest count.

How much of a buffer should a wedding budget have?

10% of the total, set aside before you split anything; 15% if you are planning more than a year ahead or abroad. It covers what no quote includes, from late guests to overtime and tips.

When do you pay wedding suppliers?

Usually a deposit when you book — often a fifth to a half of the price — and the rest a few weeks before the day or on the day. On Eventadore only the booking fee goes through us, charged when the supplier says yes and already inside the price; the deposit and the rest go to the supplier directly.

Can you count on cash gifts to pay for the wedding?

Not for the bills. Most deposits and balances fall due before or on the day, and nobody knows in advance what guests will give. Plan without them; if they come, they refill the buffer or pay for the honeymoon.

How do you stop a wedding budget from creeping up?

Agree one rule together: nothing goes up unless something else goes down, and you write down which. Compare quotes all in, and keep the buffer for surprises, not upgrades.