Built on 2026 US wedding cost data

What will your wedding actually cost?

Move the slider. That number is what a wedding your size really runs in the US right now, before anyone tries to sell you anything.

Build my full budget See the planner

Free, no sign-up, about 60 seconds.

A traditional wedding, average US town

$33,600

120 guests, about $280 a head. Add roughly $4,032 for the costs that show up later.

Guests120

10400

Most wedding sites show you the dream. This one shows you the bill.

Wedding media makes money when you spend more. We don't sell venues, flowers or photography, so the numbers here have nothing to protect.

$33,000

The average US wedding

Across the country in 2026. Your city, your season and your guest list move this number more than any single vendor choice.

$3,300

Arrives after you've signed

Service charges, gratuities, alterations, the marriage licence, vendor overtime. Roughly 12% that no venue quote mentions up front.

84%

Of couples go over budget

Almost always because the first number they planned around came from a brochure instead of from data.

Build your real budget

Four steps. We handle the maths and the line items everyone forgets.

Where are you starting?

Pick whichever you actually know right now.

Guest count120

Just the two of us1,000

Your wedding style

This sets the baseline fixed cost and the cost per head.

Where is the wedding?

Location swings the total more than almost any other choice.

What matters most to you?

Choose up to three. We shift more of the budget toward them.

Nothing chosen yet. The split stays at the national average.

Your realistic total

$0Per guest

$0Likely all-in

What the sticker price leaves out

Expect around $0 more in service charges, gratuities, alterations, the licence and vendor overtime. That gap is why your likely all-in figure sits above the headline number.

Where the money goes

◆ marks a priority you chose, weighted higher.

The guest list is your biggest lever

Keep a buffer

Set aside roughly $0 on top, about 8%. It is the difference between a surprise and a crisis in the final month.

Modelled on The Knot Real Weddings Study and the Zola Wedding Cost Index (2026), plus national vendor pricing averages. Your real costs vary by vendor, season and guest list.