Most wedding budget templates have two columns: item and price. Two columns cannot run a budget, because a wedding is not paid in one go and you do not know the final price on the day you start.
This one has the columns you actually need, and the summary already worked out.
Download it
- Wedding budget template (.xlsx) — 24 categories filled in, the balance due calculated, and a summary sheet.
Free, no sign-up and no email. It is a direct link to the file. Inside there is a short "How to use it" sheet.
It opens the same in Excel, Google Sheets and Apple Numbers. The amounts carry no currency symbol, so it works in dollars, pounds or euros.
What is in it
A Budget sheet with these columns:
- Category and item — filled in with the 24 usual lines, from venue hire to contingency. Delete the ones that do not apply.
- Vendor — so you are not searching your inbox for who quoted what.
- Budgeted — what you planned when you started.
- Actual cost — what it ended up costing.
- Deposit paid — what you have already handed over.
- Balance due — calculated for you: actual cost minus deposit paid.
- Payment date and notes.
And a Summary sheet that works out the total budgeted, the actual cost so far, the variance between them, deposits paid, balance still to pay and cost per guest.
The three columns most templates leave out
1. Budgeted and actual, side by side
It is the difference between keeping a budget and keeping a list of expenses. If you only write down what you pay, you discover you are over once everything is booked. With both columns, the variance warns you while there are still vendors to choose and something can still move.
2. Deposit paid
A wedding is paid in instalments: a deposit to book, sometimes a second payment, the rest in the final weeks. What the wedding costs and what you still have to pay are two different numbers, and the second is the one that tells you whether next month works. The template calculates it.
3. Cost per guest
It is on the summary sheet, and it is the number that actually helps you decide. Nearly every large cost — catering, bar, favours, transport — moves with the headcount. Once you see what each seat costs, the conversation about who to invite changes tone.
A note on average wedding costs
You will not find a table here of what a wedding costs on average. The figures in circulation vary enormously by source, country, region and year, and most come from companies with an interest in how big they look. We have no figure of our own we could stand behind, so we would rather not give one than give a wrong one.
What does work: get three quotes for every large line before you fill in the budgeted column. Your own market, on your own date, is worth more than any national average.
When the spreadsheet stops being enough
For the money, it never does. A spreadsheet is the right tool for a budget and you do not need anything else.
Where it falls short is RSVPs. Tracking by hand who is coming, what each guest eats and who has an allergy means copying messages into a sheet for weeks. That part can collect itself: our online guest list fills in from what guests answer, and you can download it as a CSV for the caterer. It is a different problem and a different tool.
If you want the guest list as a spreadsheet too, it is in our free wedding guest list template, built the same way and also free.
Frequently asked questions
What categories should a wedding budget include?
The ones already in the template: venue and reception, ceremony, attire, vendors such as photography, video, music and flowers, stationery, guest costs like transport and accommodation, and a contingency line. The list matters less than giving every line a budgeted and an actual figure.
Why track budgeted and actual cost separately?
Because the variance is the only number that warns you in time. If you only record what you pay, you find out you are over budget once everything is booked. With both columns you see the gap while there are still vendors left to choose.
What is the deposit paid column for?
Weddings are paid in instalments: a deposit to book, and the rest as the date gets closer. Without that column you cannot see how much money is still ahead of you, which is a different number from what the wedding costs. The template works out the balance due by itself.
Does it calculate the cost per guest?
Yes. Enter your number of guests on the summary sheet and it appears. It is the number that helps most with decisions, because almost every large cost moves with the headcount.
Do I have to sign up or leave my email to download it?
No. It is a direct link to the file. We do not ask for an email, there is no form and there is no newsletter behind it.
Which currency does the template use?
None: the amounts are plain numbers with two decimals, so it works the same in dollars, pounds or euros. If you want a symbol, apply your own currency format to the columns.
The template is free to use however you like, including if you are a planner and pass it on to your couples. If something is missing, write to support@wedding30s.com.