Put in your guest count, where and when, and see the total split by category. Built on Bridebook's 2026 figures, with every guess of ours labelled as one.
| Venue hireBased on Bridebook's venue average | £6,100 |
| Food and drinkBased on Bridebook's day and evening catering | £7,480 |
| Photography and videoBased on Bridebook's guide, 10 to 12% | £2,290 |
| Outfits, hair and make-upBased on Bridebook's guide, 8 to 10% | £1,870 |
| Flowers and décorBased on Bridebook's guide, 7 to 8% | £1,560 |
| EntertainmentBased on Bridebook's guide, 7% | £1,460 |
| Wedding rings and stationeryBased on Bridebook's guide, 3 to 5% | £830 |
| TransportBased on Bridebook's guide, 2 to 3% | £520 |
| Ceremony feesBased on Bridebook's guide, 2 to 3% | £520 |
What this does not include: the engagement ring, the honeymoon, hen and stag dos, or anything your guests pay for themselves. Bridebook's and Hitched's averages leave out the ring and the honeymoon too, so compare like with like. Wedding rings are included.
Region and the category amounts come from Bridebook's 2026 figures. Time of year, day of the week, and treating everything except food and drink as a fixed cost are our own estimates, not published data.
The total is half the story. The other half is when each payment falls due.
Plan it month by monthThe starting point is Bridebook's 2026 UK average of £20,604, for a wedding of about 74 guests. We split that into categories using Bridebook's own averages for the venue (£6,040) and for catering (£5,406 for the day and £2,002 for the evening), and the middle of the ranges in Bridebook's budget guide for everything else. Those averages are each taken among the couples who paid for that thing, so they add up to more than the headline figure. We scale them back down to £20,604. That scaling is our step, not Bridebook's.
Food and drink grows with your guest count. Everything else stays put, which is a simplification: a much bigger wedding usually needs a bigger venue too. Hitched found that weddings with more than 100 guests averaged £35,591, against £21,990 across all weddings, so if your list is long, treat our total as the floor.
Region uses Bridebook's regional averages, from £17,342 in the North West to £26,986 in London. Time of year and day of the week are our own estimates. Bridebook does publish averages by month (£23,809 for June against £11,000 for January), but winter weddings also tend to be smaller, so that gap is not a price difference you can apply to your own list.
Bridebook's 2026 UK Wedding Report puts it at £20,604, from a survey of 7,000 couples. Hitched's 2026 report puts it at £21,990, from 2,020 couples who married in 2025. Both leave out the engagement ring and the honeymoon.
Around £272 to £278 a guest on average (Hitched and Bridebook, 2026). That is the total divided by the guest count, so it overstates what one extra guest adds. Your real cost of one more guest is mostly food and drink, which this calculator shows on its own line.
Yes. Bridebook's 2026 London average is £26,986, 31% above its UK figure. Hitched puts London at £24,622, 12% above its own national average. The two reports survey different couples, so pick one and compare within it.
Usually, because venues price their quiet dates lower. We could not find a published figure for how much less, so the season and day settings here are our own estimates and say so. Ask your shortlisted venues for their off-peak prices and use those instead.
The calculator starts from Bridebook's £20,604 for 74 guests and then adjusts for your region, date and guest count. If you are comparing against a figure that includes the engagement ring or honeymoon, add those to ours first.