Wedding Budget Apps: 100-Guest Budgets in £, $, €

A wedding for 100 guests costs about £22,510 in the UK, according to Bridebook's 2026 UK Wedding Report. In the US, The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study puts the average cost per guest at $292, which comes to $29,200 for 100 people. In Ireland, weddingsonline's 2025 survey found an average spend of €34,392 for 154 guests, or roughly €22,300 for 100 if you scale it down.

Those three numbers are the starting point for this guide. Below we break each one into the lines you'll actually pay for, then compare the wedding budget apps and spreadsheets that track them, including what is free and what isn't.

TL;DR:

• 100 guests: about £22,510 in the UK (Bridebook 2026), $29,200 in the US (The Knot 2026, $292 a guest) and €22,300 in Ireland (scaled from weddingsonline's 2025 average).
• The venue and the food are the biggest line everywhere. In the UK they take 51% of the budget.
• Guest count isn't linear. Bridebook's 50-guest wedding still costs £15,162, two thirds of the 100-guest figure.
• Add 10 to 15% for things you haven't priced yet. Half of Irish couples in the 2025 survey went over budget.
• Any budget app works if both of you use it. Pick one that tracks what you've paid, not only what you plan to spend.

What a 100-guest wedding costs in £, $ and €

Bridebook publishes a 100-guest figure directly. For the US and Ireland we multiplied the average cost per guest by 100, which is a rough guide rather than a quote: a lot of a wedding (the photographer, the outfits, the band) costs the same whether 60 people come or 160.

Bridebook's own range shows how far from linear it is. Its 2026 report estimates £15,162 for 50 guests, £21,791 for 70, £22,510 for 100 and £26,000 for 120 or more. Halving the guest list saved about a third, not half.

A UK budget for 100 guests

Bridebook's 2026 split of the average budget, applied to its £22,510 estimate for 100 guests. Figures are rounded to the nearest £10.

For individual suppliers, Bridebook's averages are £6,040 for the venue without catering, £5,406 for reception catering, £2,002 for evening catering, £1,484 for a photographer and £1,532 for the dress. If you have evening guests, that evening catering line is the one to watch.

A US budget for 100 guests

The Knot's 2026 study gives averages per vendor rather than a percentage split. If you hired each at the average, with catering for 100:

That adds up to $36,800, more than the $29,200 you get from the per-guest average. The gap is expected: not every couple hires a videographer, rents furniture or pays for lighting, and averages per vendor only count the couples who bought that thing. Use the line items as a menu and cross off what you don't need.

An Irish budget for 100 guests

weddingsonline's 2025 survey lists the average meal at €93 a guest. For 100 guests:

That's €18,985 before venue hire, outfits for anyone but the bride, rings and the smaller lines, which is why the scaled €22,300 is a floor rather than a ceiling. The survey also gives €3,095 for engagement rings and €2,018 for a wedding planner, if you use one. Hotels hosted 59% of the weddings in the survey.

For a wedding in Greece, our Greece wedding cost guide has the euro figures for a destination wedding.

Leave room for what you haven't priced

In weddingsonline's 2025 survey, 51% of couples went over budget, and 78% of them spent more than €5,000 over what they'd intended. The usual culprits are lines nobody quoted for at the start: service charges, alterations, transport, the evening food, postage for the invitations.

Put a contingency line of 10 to 15% in the budget on day one. On a £22,510 wedding that's £2,250 to £3,380.

Pro tip: Track three columns, not one: what you planned to spend, what you've agreed to spend, and what you've actually paid. Most budget overruns hide in the gap between the second and third.

Wedding budget apps, compared

Any of these will hold the numbers above. The differences are in how much setup they need and whether both of you will keep using them. Product names and features change, so check each provider's current site.

Some couples use a personal finance app for the wedding. That works if you're disciplined about one-off categories, but you lose wedding-specific templates and the link between a payment and the vendor it went to.

Free versus paid

The big wedding platforms generally keep basic budget tracking free and charge for other things, such as stationery or website extras. Check the current split on each provider's pricing page before you build a system around it.

Spreadsheets cost nothing, which is most of their appeal. You get a blank sheet and do all the work. If you'd rather start from something, our guide to wedding budget spreadsheets has a layout to copy.

What to compare before you commit

1. Paid versus planned. Can you record a deposit and a balance against the same supplier, and see what's still owed?
2. Sharing. Can your partner edit the same budget at the same time, or do you send a file back and forth?
3. Currency. If you're paying in pounds or dollars, does the app show your currency? Some, ours included, show euros in places.
4. Vendors. Can you keep the quote, the contact details and the payment dates next to the supplier's name?
5. Export. If you change tools in six months, can you take the numbers with you?

How WhiteClover's Planning Hub handles a budget

The Planning Hub is a set of shared documents inside your WhiteClover account, and one of its templates is a budget. It's free, with no trial and no card.

The Budget Planning template starts with a table: category, budget, actual, paid and remaining. The remaining column works itself out, and the totals for each column add up as you type. Underneath sit a vendor table with each supplier's quote, phone, email and status, and a payment schedule for deposits and final payments. You can rename anything and add rows for the lines in the tables above.

You and your partner can edit the same document at the same time, and earlier versions are kept, so a mistaken delete can be undone. Because it sits in the same account as your guest list and wedding website, you can check the budget against the replies coming in without switching apps.

One limit to know about: the budget summary shows amounts with a euro sign. If you're budgeting in pounds or dollars, the sums are still right, but you'll read the symbol as your own currency for now.

Picking a budget tool you'll actually keep using

A wedding budget falls apart when it lives in three places: a spreadsheet one of you made in month one, a notes app, and the bank statement. The surveys above say the average 100-guest wedding runs from about £22,500 to about $29,000, and half of couples spend more than they meant to. The app matters less than having one place both of you trust.

If you want the budget next to your vendors, your guest list and your wedding website, open the Planning Hub and start from the Budget Planning template. It's part of the free WhiteClover account.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a wedding for 100 guests cost?

About £22,510 in the UK, according to Bridebook's 2026 UK Wedding Report. In the US, The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study puts the average at $292 a guest, about $29,200 for 100. In Ireland, scaling weddingsonline's 2025 survey average gives about €22,300.

What is the best wedding budget app?

The one both of you will open every week. Wedding platforms like The Knot, Zola and Bridebook are quick to set up, spreadsheets give you full control, and all-in-one planners such as WhiteClover keep the budget next to your vendors and guest list. Check that it tracks what you've paid, not only what you plan to spend.

Is a wedding budget app better than a spreadsheet?

An app is faster to set up and comes with wedding categories already in it. A spreadsheet is better if you want your own formulas and layout. Some couples use both: an app day to day and an export for the big decisions.

How much contingency should a wedding budget have?

Plan for 10 to 15% of the total. In weddingsonline's 2025 survey, 51% of Irish couples went over budget, most of them by more than €5,000.

Does cutting the guest list halve the cost?

No. Bridebook's 2026 estimates put a 50-guest UK wedding at £15,162 and a 100-guest one at £22,510, so halving the guests saved about a third. The photographer, outfits and music cost the same either way.

Recommended

• Wedding planning hub: budget tracker and vendor management
• Step by step wedding budget creation made simple
• Managing a wedding budget in spreadsheets
• How to avoid unexpected wedding planning costs
• 7 essential types of wedding planning tools