Wedding budget planner
A wedding budget planner that tracks what is actually still due
Free to startNo credit cardInvite family anytime
Most wedding budget spreadsheets track two numbers: estimated and actual. That works right up to the point where you have paid a 30% advance to six vendors. “Actual” then understates what you owe by lakhs, and the category still looks under control.
The four figures
Why four numbers instead of two
| Figure | What it means | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | What you decided to spend here | Am I planning within my means? |
| Allocated | Total of the quotes you have committed to | Have I already promised more than I budgeted? |
| Paid | What has actually left your account | How much have I spent so far? |
| Outstanding | Allocated minus paid | What do I still owe, and when is it due? |
Allocated crossing budget is the early warning. Outstanding is the number that matters in the last month, when four vendors want their balance in the same week.
What it does
Categories, vendors and payments in one ledger
Category budgets
Venue, catering, decor, photography, attire, jewellery, music, travel — plus any category you add.
Vendor and venue budgets
Set an amount per vendor inside a category; the category total is computed from them, not typed twice.
Payment schedules
Advance, milestone and balance payments with due dates, and a running outstanding figure per vendor.
Shared, but scoped
Give a parent or planner access to money only if you want to. Everything else can be shared without it.
Overrun visibility
Charts that show which categories are over budget while there is still time to negotiate.
Exports and print
A payment schedule you can print or export for whoever is actually writing the cheques.
Getting started
A workable way to set the first budget
- Fix the guest count first. Catering and venue scale almost linearly with it, and together they are usually the largest share of an Indian wedding budget.
- Split the total across categories before you talk to any vendor, so quotes get compared against a number instead of anchoring you.
- Keep a contingency line of roughly 10% untouched. Something always arrives late and costs more.
- Record every quote as allocated the moment you commit, not when you pay — that is the figure that protects you.
- Log each payment with its date, so the outstanding balance is always current.
On category percentages: the split varies enormously by region, city and how many functions you host, so we do not publish a single “correct” breakdown. The budget calculator starts from a common planning split and lets you edit every percentage, and the cost guide explains which levers actually move the total.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is the difference between budget, allocated, paid and outstanding?
Budget is what you decided to spend on a category. Allocated is the total of the vendor quotes you have actually committed to inside it. Paid is what has left your account. Outstanding is allocated minus paid — the money you still owe. Keeping the four apart is what stops a category from looking healthy while three balance payments are still due.
Can I set a budget per category and per vendor?
Yes. You set a total for the wedding, budgets per category such as venue, catering, decor or photography, and amounts against each vendor or venue inside those categories. The parent totals are computed from the children, so they cannot disagree.
Does it track vendor advances and balance payments?
Yes. Each vendor carries its payment schedule — advance, milestone payments and final balance — with due dates and how much is still outstanding.
Is the budget in rupees?
Yes, amounts are in rupees and display in Indian digit grouping, so ₹2,50,000 reads the way you would write it.
Can I hide the budget from other family members?
Yes. People you invite are given access section by section. Someone helping with the guest list or the events never has to see what the wedding costs.
Keep reading
Know what you owe, not just what you have spent.
Set category budgets, record vendor commitments, and log payments as they go out. It takes about ten minutes to set up.
Start planning freeAlready have an account? Sign in