Diya & Dot

Indian Wedding Budget Calculator शादी बजट कैलकुलेटर

See how your shaadi budget splits across every function, from roka to reception (or mangni to walima), and what it means per plate in your city. In lakhs, or in US$ if you are planning from abroad.

1. Your wedding

StyleSimple, mid or premium spends.
Show amounts inFor NRI families: US$ at your own rate.

2. Functions and guests फंक्शन और मेहमान

Tick the functions you are planning and set the guests for each one. Hosting only your side? Untick the functions the other family pays for (often the reception or walima).

Optional: jewellery, shagun, change the split

Split by category (%)

The starting split follows your style and comes from wedding surveys (see "How it works"). Change any number; the total should be 100. Bar & drinks starts at 0: add a share if you serve drinks.

3. Your budget split

Estimate only, for planning. Real quotes depend on dates, vendors and your choices. Nothing you type leaves this device; it is saved only in this browser.

Coming soon: Shaadi Sheet

A Google Sheets and Excel planner that keeps the budget per function from this page, a guest list with RSVPs and veg / Jain / non-veg counts for each function, a shagun register, vendor payments and a checklist in one place.

See what's inside

How the calculator works

  1. Plates first. Many Indian venues quote one per-plate price for the hall and the food together. We multiply the guests at each function by a typical venue + food rate for your city, style and menu. Lighter meals count for less: a haldi lunch is about half a wedding dinner, a mehendi about two-thirds.
  2. The rest follows the usual split. In wedding budgets, venue and food together are about 45% of the total for a mid-range wedding (55% for a simple one, 40% for a premium one), so the typical cost is that plate bill divided by the share.
  3. Your own budget, if you type one, is split by the same percentages, and we show what it leaves per plate. That is the quickest reality check: if your budget leaves ₹900 a plate where ₹1,700 is typical, trim guests or functions before you book anything.
  4. Per function: venue, food, decor, photos, music, drinks and makeup are shared out by each function's guests and meal; outfits, invites, gifts, travel, guest stay, rituals and the buffer sit under "Whole wedding".

A typical split of a mid-range Indian wedding budget

CategoryShare₹20 L₹40 L
Venue15%36
Catering30%612
Decor & flowers11%2.24.4
Photo & video8%1.63.2
DJ, band & dhol4%0.81.6
Bar & drinks0%00
Makeup & mehendi artists4%0.81.6
Outfits8%1.63.2
Invites2%0.40.8
Gifts & return gifts3%0.61.2
Transport & baraat2%0.40.8
Guest stay4%0.81.6
Rituals & officiant1%0.20.4
Buffer (unexpected)8%1.63.2
Total100%2040

Amounts in ₹ lakh.

Typical venue + food rates per plate (2026, before GST)

WhereSimpleMidPremium
Metro price level (Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune)₹1,100₹1,700₹3,500
Tier-2 price level (Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Indore)₹750₹1,100₹2,000
Smaller city or town₹500₹750₹1,200
Destination wedding (resort)₹2,500₹3,500₹6,000

Venue and food together per plate (the way many banquets quote), veg, one full meal, before GST and service charge (often 15-25% more). Non-veg adds about ₹200-800. Built from catering rates plus a venue share; destination rates are our estimate.

Sources: WedMeGood Annual Wedding Industry Report 2025-26; WeddingWire India Newly Wed Survey 2024-25; WedPlan, Indian wedding budget breakdown (Jul 2026); RecipeScaler, wedding catering cost per plate in India (Aug 2026); Velvet Knot, wedding cost per plate India. Function shares and meal weights are our own estimates; change them in the calculator.

Questions

How much does an average Indian wedding cost in 2026?

Surveys put the average at about ₹30-40 lakh. WedMeGood's 2025-26 report says ₹39.5 lakh (₹58 lakh for destination weddings) and WeddingWire India's 2024-25 survey says ₹29.6 lakh. Both survey couples who plan through wedding portals, so they lean towards bigger weddings; many families spend far less. Your own cost depends mostly on guests, functions and the per-plate rate, which is what this calculator works out.

How should I split my wedding budget?

A common starting point: venue and catering together about 45%, decor and flowers 11%, photo and video 8%, outfits 8%, DJ and band 4%, makeup and mehendi artists 4%, guest stay 4%, gifts 3%, invites 2%, transport 2%, rituals 1% and a buffer of 8%. Jewellery is kept separate. You can change every percentage in the calculator.

What is a normal per-plate cost for a wedding in India?

For venue and food together, veg, before GST: about ₹1,100 / ₹1,700 / ₹3,500 in a metro city, ₹750 / ₹1,100 / ₹2,000 in a tier-2 city and ₹500 / ₹750 / ₹1,200 in a smaller town (simple / mid / premium). GST and service charge often add 15-25%, and non-veg adds about ₹200-800 a plate.

How do I split the budget across functions?

Share it by the guests at each function and how heavy the meal is. The wedding day and reception take the biggest share; a haldi lunch for close family costs a fraction of a sangeet dinner. The calculator does this for you and lets you set the guests for each function.

Should we count shagun in the budget?

Not to pay vendors. Shagun arrives on the day, after most advances and instalments are due. The calculator can show your net cost after expected shagun, but plan your payments without it.

Do you save or see my numbers?

No. The calculator runs in your browser and saves your numbers only on your own device. Nothing is sent to us. We count page visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which uses no cookies.

We are planning from abroad. Can I see the numbers in US dollars?

Yes. Choose US$ under 'Show amounts in' and type the exchange rate your bank gives you. The budget box then takes dollars too.

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