Wedding Reception Cost Calculator
Add your venue, catering, drinks and fees to see the full reception total and what one more guest adds.
FreeNo sign-up needed.
No. 01What it adds up
Catering, venue and fees in one total
Start with Guests, then fill in what your quotes say. Food per person and Drinks per person are multiplied by your headcount, which makes this a quick way to work out catering costs. The Venue fee, Rentals, Cake and Staffing are flat amounts.
Three percentages go on top: Service charge, Sales tax and Gratuity. A checkbox, Tax applies to the service charge, lets you match your contract.
You get the Total reception cost, the cost Per guest, what Each extra guest adds, and a line for every part of the total.
No. 02How it works
Work out your reception in four steps
No. 01
Enter the headcount
Type your Guests. Change it later to see how a longer or shorter list moves the total.
No. 02
Add per-person and flat costs
Fill in the per-person amounts, then any flat costs from your quotes. Leave a field empty if it does not apply.
No. 03
Add the percentages
Type the percentages from your contract and tick or untick the tax option to match how your venue handles it.
No. 04
Read the result
Check the total, cost per guest and extra-guest figure. Press Copy as text to paste it into a message, or Reset to start again.
No. 03Compare
Reception costs next to the other tools
Each one answers a different question about the same day.
Wedding Budget Calculator
Divides one overall total across every category. Use it before you have quotes, then enter the reception figure under Catering & bar.
Wedding Flower Cost Calculator
Prices flowers item by item, with its own tax toggle. Flowers are not part of this total.
Wedding Seating Chart Maker
Turns your guest count into tables, so the headcount you enter here matches the room.
No. 04Tips
Getting a reception quote that adds up
No. 01
Ask what each percentage covers
A fee or gratuity may cover only the meal, or more than that. Get it in writing before you compare quotes.
No. 02
Check how tax is applied
Tax rules vary by state and venue, and some places tax the service charge. Use the checkbox to match your contract.
No. 03
Use the per-guest numbers
The cost of each extra guest tells you what a bigger or smaller guest list really does to the total.
No. 04
Compare like with like
Enter the same lines for each venue or caterer, so a lower headline price is not hiding a fee somewhere else.
No. 05Related
Keep planning
More tools couples use next.
- Free
No. 01
Wedding Budget Calculator
Enter your total, adjust the split, track actual spending and see what each category gets, down to cost per guest.
Planning & BudgetOpen - Free
No. 02
Wedding Flower Cost Calculator
Price every bouquet, centerpiece and arch, then see your itemized floral total and how it compares to your budget.
Planning & BudgetOpen - Free
No. 03
Wedding Seating Chart Maker
Add your guests and tables, seat people by tap or drag, see a floor plan, and print or download the chart. Free, no sign-up, and everything stays in your browser.
Planning & BudgetOpen - Free
No. 04
Wedding Day Timeline Generator
Enter your ceremony time and a few choices, and get an ordered schedule you can edit, print and share.
Planning & BudgetOpen
No. 06Questions
Good questions
About the wedding reception cost calculator.
Is the wedding reception cost calculator free?
Yes. It is free, needs no sign-up, and the total updates as you type.
Can I use it to work out catering costs?
Yes. Enter the per-person amounts and it multiplies them by your guests, then adds the percentages you give it. It does not price a menu, so use your caterer's figures.
Which lines does each percentage apply to?
Service charge and gratuity apply to the meal and drinks. Sales tax covers those plus rentals and, by default, the service charge; untick the checkbox if your venue does not tax it. The rest are flat amounts.
What does each extra guest add?
It is one more person's share of the meal, plus the percentages that go with it. Flat items such as the venue fee do not change.
Does it know what a reception costs where I live?
No. It only adds up the numbers you enter, so use the quotes you have been given. Fill example loads placeholder numbers, marked as starting assumptions; replace them with your own.
Is anything I enter saved or sent?
No. The total is worked out in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server or stored, so copy the result if you want to keep it.