What this planner works out
This planner adds venue hire, catering scaled by guest numbers, and other fixed costs into a single event budget.
It is a first-pass figure. The value is in seeing how much the total moves with the guest count before anything is booked.
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Before you commit to anything
- Get the venue's full cost, including any minimum spend, corkage, staffing and cleaning charges.
- Food per guest should include drinks unless you are costing those separately.
- Decor and other covers everything fixed — flowers, hire, music, stationery, photography.
- Add a contingency of at least 10%. Events overrun their budgets more reliably than almost any other kind of spending.
Catering, drinks, seating, table hire, favours and often the venue itself all scale with numbers. Cutting a guest list by ten people typically saves more than any amount of negotiating on individual items, which is why the list is the first thing to settle and the last thing to expand.
How this calculator works
Fixed costs plus a per-guest element:
Total = venue + (food per guest × guests) + other costsThe planner covers the main headings. A full event budget usually also carries deposits with different payment dates, which matters for cash flow even when it does not change the total.
Worked example: thirty guests
Using the default figures — £150 venue, £12 per guest for 30 guests, £100 of other costs:
- Catering: £360
- Total: £610, about £20.33 a head
Add ten more guests and the total rises to £730 — £120 for ten people, or exactly the catering rate. Add a 10% contingency and the realistic figure is £671 for thirty. Both adjustments are worth making before setting a budget rather than after discovering it.
Common mistakes
- Missing the venue's additional charges. Minimum spend, corkage and staffing are frequently separate.
- Omitting drinks from the per-guest figure. They can rival the food cost.
- Budgeting without a contingency. 10% is a minimum.
- Letting the guest list grow after the budget is set. It is the largest single driver.
- Ignoring payment timing. Deposits fall due long before the event.
Frequently asked questions
How much contingency should I allow?
At least 10%, and 15 to 20% for anything complex or far in advance. Events accumulate small unbudgeted costs — extra hire, transport, replacements, tips — and prices quoted a year ahead frequently rise. A contingency that goes unspent is a better outcome than one that was never there.
What is usually forgotten?
Transport and parking, service charges and tips, stationery and postage, hire of things assumed to be included such as linen and glassware, and the cost of getting everything to and from the venue. Individually small, collectively often 10% of the budget.
Should I pay a deposit by card?
Where the amount is over £100 and under £30,000, paying by credit card gives protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which makes the card provider jointly liable if the supplier fails to deliver. For event suppliers booked far in advance, that protection is worth having even at a small fee.
How do I compare venues fairly?
On total cost at your actual guest number, not on hire fee. A venue with a high fee and cheap catering can beat a cheap venue with expensive mandatory catering, and only the combined figure reveals it. Ask each venue to quote the full cost for the same number and format.
Is what I enter stored?
No. Figures are processed in your browser and never transmitted or retained.
Related tools
References
- MoneyHelper — budgeting for large one-off costs
- Financial Conduct Authority — Section 75 protection on credit card payments
Sources are checked at publication and can change — how I choose and check references.