How the free tools calculate

Wedding venue cost calculator

Compare the rental, guest charges, minimum spend and quoted extras in one transparent estimate.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. Guest subtotal = guest count × food-and-beverage price per guest.
2. Food and beverage = the larger of that subtotal and the minimum you entered.
3. Service charge = your percentage × the base you select, rounded once to the nearest cent.
4. Estimate = rental + food and beverage + service charge + separate tax + extras.
5. Remaining against the estimate = estimate − payments entered, floored at zero.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding payment calendar

Turn the payment dates you enter into a downloadable calendar and spreadsheet, with no account required.

How the file is built

1. Each row you enter becomes one all-day event on its date, ending the next day, so a due date cannot shift across time zones.
2. Each event has its own identifier, so importing the file adds one event per row.
3. The title is the label you typed and the amount in USD; the note says the date and amount were entered by you.
4. No alarm is set. Your calendar may apply its own default, so check the notifications after importing.
5. The file is a snapshot. It does not update when your plans change; edit the events, or import a new file and remove the old events.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding RSVP deadline calculator

Work back from your wedding date and your caterer’s final-count deadline to an RSVP date and a date to send invitations.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. Final-count date = the date you enter, or the wedding date − the number of days before the wedding.
2. RSVP date = final-count date − your follow-up days.
3. Invitations in guests’ hands by = RSVP date − (weeks to reply × 7) days.
4. Send invitations by = that date − days in the mail (0 when left blank).

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Service charge calculator for weddings: service charge and tax

See how a service charge and sales tax change a catering or venue total depending on the base each one is calculated on.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. Lines = food + beverage + any other lines you enter.
2. Service charge = service rate × its base (food and beverage, all lines, or all lines plus tax), rounded once to the nearest cent, with half a cent rounding up.
3. Sales tax = tax rate × its base (the lines, or the lines plus the service charge), rounded once to the nearest cent. When the service charge is on a taxed total, the tax is calculated first, on the lines.
4. Separate gratuity, if entered = gratuity rate × its base, rounded once to the nearest cent. It is not taxed in this calculation.
5. Total = lines + service charge + sales tax + gratuity.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding cancellation cost calculator

Enter the cancellation schedule from your contract and the payments you have made to see what would be at stake on a given date.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. Days before the wedding = wedding date − notice date, in calendar days. The wedding day itself is day 0.
2. An “at least N days” tier applies when the days before the wedding are N or more. When several are met, the one with the largest N applies.
3. A “within N days” tier applies when the days before the wedding are N or fewer. When several are met, the one with the smallest N applies.
4. Amount kept = the fixed amount; or the contract total × the percentage, rounded once to the nearest cent; or the payments dated on or before the notice date; or the full contract total.
5. If the amount kept is more than the payments made, the difference is the additional amount the schedule says would be owed. If it is less, the calculator shows the difference between payments made and the amount kept, which the schedule alone does not promise to return.
6. A tier’s last day = wedding date − the fewest days before the wedding that the tier covers. The next tier starts the day after.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding table and chair calculator

Turn a guest count and table size into the tables, chairs and linens to order, and compare them with what the venue includes.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. Guests = adults + children.
2. Guests at guest tables = guests − head table seats.
3. Guest tables = guests at guest tables ÷ seats per table, rounded up.
4. Head table = 1 if head table seats is above 0, otherwise 0.
5. Vendor tables = vendors ÷ seats per table, rounded up.
6. Total tables = guest tables + head table + vendor tables + tables for other uses.
7. Reception chairs = guests + vendors.
8. Chairs for seating = reception chairs + ceremony chairs. If the ceremony chairs are moved to the reception, it is the larger of the two instead.
9. Total chairs = chairs for seating + extra chairs.
10. Linens = total tables × linens per table.
11. To rent = needed − venue includes, floored at zero. Included beyond need = venue includes − needed, floored at zero.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding planning checklist by month

Enter your wedding date to get a dated, month-by-month checklist that fits the time you have, with calendar and spreadsheet downloads.

The layout, in plain sight

1. The full layout places the steps across 52 weeks, from agreeing the budget 52 weeks before the wedding to the vendor handoff one week before, with a closeout step two weeks after.
2. Available time, A, is the number of days from the date you start planning to the wedding.
3. With 364 days or more, a step keeps its place in the layout.
4. With less, a step in the final eight weeks (56 days) keeps its place, and a step placed d days before the wedding moves to 56 + (d − 56) × (A − 56) ÷ (364 − 56) days before, rounded to the nearest day.
5. With less than sixteen weeks (112 days), the final stretch becomes half of A: a step in it moves to d × (A ÷ 2) ÷ 56 days before, and an earlier step moves to A ÷ 2 + (d − 56) × (A ÷ 2) ÷ (364 − 56) days before, both rounded to the nearest day.
6. The order does not change, so a step does not land before a step it waits on. Steps after the wedding keep their place.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding quote comparison sheet

Put two or three vendor quotes on the same guest count, with the service charge and tax on the bases they state, and compare the totals.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. Per-guest line = price per guest × the shared guest count.
2. Lines = base price + per-guest line + other flat fees.
3. Service charge = service rate × its base (the per-guest line only; the lines; or the lines plus tax), rounded once to the nearest cent, with half a cent rounding up.
4. Sales tax = tax rate × its base (the lines, or the lines plus the service charge), rounded once to the nearest cent. When the service charge is on a taxed total, the tax is calculated first.
5. Total = lines + service charge + sales tax. Total per guest = total ÷ guest count, rounded to the cent. Balance after the deposit = total − deposit.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding day timeline builder

Work back from the ceremony to when getting ready starts, and forward to the end of the evening, with the golden hour marked.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. Leave for the ceremony = ceremony time − travel minutes.
2. First look starts = leaving time − the first look’s minutes, when there is one.
3. Getting ready takes = rounds × minutes each, where rounds = people ÷ artists, rounded up.
4. Getting ready starts = the first look (or leaving) − that time, unless you give the time the artists start. Then it finishes at your start + that time, and a finish after the next block is asked about.
5. After the ceremony: its end = start + its length, then cocktail hour, dinner and the toasts in the order you choose, then the rest of the evening to your end time.
6. Toasts from word counts = the words ÷ 130 a minute, rounded up to the minute. That pace is an assumption.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding sunset and golden hour times

Sunrise, sunset and both golden hours at your venue on up to five dates, in the venue’s own time, with a calendar file.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. The sun’s position for the date comes from NOAA’s solar equations: its declination and the equation of time.
2. Sunrise and sunset are when the sun’s center is 0.833 degrees below the horizon, which allows for the air bending the light and the size of the sun.
3. The evening golden hour runs from the sun at six degrees up to sunset; the morning one from sunrise to six degrees up. First and last light are the sun at six degrees below.
4. Each time is turned into the venue’s own clock with its time zone, including daylight saving time on that date.

Source: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory: solar calculation details

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding speech and toast timer

Time a toast, a speech or your vows at your own pace, compare two drafts, practice with a stopwatch and print cue cards.

The calculation, in plain sight

1. Words = the words in your draft. A / you type to mark a pause is not a word.
2. Speaking time = words ÷ your pace × 60 seconds.
3. Pauses = the number of / marks × the seconds you set for each.
4. Total = speaking time + pauses, to the nearest second.
5. Against your aim = total − aim. At your pace, that difference is about (difference ÷ 60) × pace words.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool

Wedding invitation wording

Wording for the way your wedding is hosted, set out three or four ways, with a matching save-the-date, reception card and reply card.

How the layouts are built

1. Hosts first: the people hosting, then the request, then your two names, the date, the time and the place.
2. Names first: your two names, then “together with” the hosts, then the request and the rest.
3. Short: your names, the date and time, and the place, in about four lines.
4. Hosts last, when parents are hosting: your names and the day first, and the hosts at the foot.

The worked example, and where the tool stops · Open the tool