Budget tool · Free to use
Cake cutting and corkage fee calculator for weddings
Enter the cake-cutting and corkage fees from your contract, the servings and bottles, and any service charge and tax on them, and see the total. Add the prices you were quoted to compare bringing your own with buying the venue’s.
How much will cake cutting and corkage cost?
Multiply the cake-cutting fee per serving by your servings and add any flat fee. Multiply the corkage fee by the bottles you bring. Then add any service charge and sales tax your contract applies to those fees. To decide whether bringing your own is worth it, set that against the venue’s own price with the same charges.
Your entries are kept in this browser so they are here when you come back. Clear entries removes them from this browser. They are not uploaded unless you add them to your planner. This calculator uses USD and does not read your contract.
The calculation, in plain sight
- Cake-cutting fee = fee per serving × servings + any flat fee.
- Corkage = fee per bottle × bottles.
- On each fee apart: service charge = service rate × the fee, and tax = tax rate × the fee (plus its service charge when you say that is taxed), each rounded once to the nearest cent.
- All in = each fee + its service charge + its tax; both fees together = the two added.
- Comparison, if entered: bring your own = what you pay elsewhere + that side’s fee all in; from the venue = venue price × servings or bottles, with the same service charge and tax. Difference = venue − bring your own.
How this is calculated, beside the other free tools
Illustrative example — not a customer result
For the labeled example, take 120 servings at a $2.50 cake-cutting fee, $300, and 30 bottles at $20 corkage, $600. With a 20% service charge and 8% tax on the fees and their service charge, cake cutting comes to $388.80 and corkage to $777.60, $1,166.40 together. A $600 cake from a baker plus its fee is $988.80, against $933.12 for the venue’s dessert at $6 a serving with the same charges. Wine bought for $450 plus corkage is $1,227.60, against $1,555.20 for the venue’s wine at $40 a bottle.
Where this model stops
Whether you may bring a cake or wine at all, what the fee covers, and whether a service charge or tax applies to it are set by your venue and contract. The calculator does not decide any of them. Ask the venue in writing, and check whether outside food or drink needs its own insurance or a licensed server.
The comparison applies the same service charge and tax to the venue’s prices as to the fees, and takes what you pay elsewhere as a total you enter. It does not count delivery, a cake stand, glassware or staff time for opening bottles unless you add them to an amount. For a whole menu priced ++, use the ++ pricing calculator. The result is arithmetic on your inputs, not a quote.
Common questions
How do you calculate a cake-cutting fee?
Multiply the fee per serving in your contract by the number of servings it is charged on, and add any flat fee. Then add the service charge and tax if your contract applies them to the fee. Enter those figures here to see the total.
How do you calculate corkage for a wedding?
Multiply the corkage fee per bottle by the number of bottles you bring, then add any service charge and tax your contract applies to it. Ask the venue whether it counts bottles opened or bottles brought, and write the answer down.
Is it cheaper to bring your own cake or wine?
It depends on the prices you are quoted. Enter what your baker or wine shop charges and the venue’s own prices, and the calculator sets both side by side with the fee and the same charges, so you can see which costs less for your wedding.
Do service charge and tax apply to these fees?
Your contract says whether they do. Enter 0 for a rate the contract does not add to the fees. For whether a fee is taxable where you are, ask the venue in writing, or a qualified tax professional licensed in that state.
Do the example figures reflect real fees or prices?
No. The example figures are invented illustrations, not research about fees, prices or tax rates. Replace them with the figures in your own contract and quotes.