How to Create a Wedding Budget in the UK: Step-by-Step Guide + Budget Tool

You’re planning a wedding! But first, you need to figure out your wedding budget. Planning your wedding budget is not the most fun part of planning a wedding, we’ll admit (unless you’re lucky enough to have an enormous wedding budget!).

But we have good news - with a little planning and the right wedding budget tools, we can help you create a wedding budget that works for you, without stress, overspending or uncertainty.

This guide will give you the latest 2025 wedding cost data, a realistic wedding budget breakdown and plenty of expert tips to help you save. It’s written by Zoe Burke, leading UK wedding expert and Editor of Hitched, so you know you’re in good hands.

Hitched, and the materials and information it contains, are not intended to and do not constitute financial or tax advice and should not be used as such. You should always consult with your financial and tax advisors about your specific circumstances.  

• How much does a wedding cost?
• Wedding budget breakdown by category
• How to make a wedding budget
• How to have a wedding on a budget
• Budget friendly wedding inspiration
• Wedding budget advice & FAQs

How much does a wedding cost in the UK?

According to Hitched’s annual report on the average cost of a wedding, a UK wedding costs £23,250 - up 12% from the previous year. If you’re just sitting down to plan out your wedding budget, this number might feel daunting - but remember, your budget can be as big or as small as you want it to be.

This wedding budget breakdown will help you to prioritise and plan like a pro.

Wedding Budget Breakdown by Category

Here’s a typical UK wedding budget breakdown, showing where couples spend their wedding budget. Use this as your starting point, and adjust it according to your priorities:

• Expert tip: Create your own personalised wedding budget using our free wedding budget tool - it automatically calculates percentages and tracks your spend as you go.

Five Simple Steps to Create Your Wedding Budget

Knowing where to begin is the first step when it comes to creating a wedding budget - this step by step breakdown will help you get started.

1. Decide Your Total Spend

Talk openly with your partner (and anyone else who is contributing financially - our guide to who pays for what in a wedding can help you) about what you’re comfortable spending. This will give you a clear total budget.

2. Prioritise What Matters Most

Here’s a secret - you don’t have to spend £20,000 to have a great wedding, and you don’t have to have all the ‘traditional’ components of a wedding either.

Decide what’s most important to you both - an amazing wedding venue? Incredible photography? Unique entertainment? Rank your top three priorities together so you can allocate your funds accordingly.

3. Allocate by Percentage

You can use the table above as a starting point, or create a wedding planning spreadsheet, but tweak your percentages based on your priorities.

4. Track Your Budget

Keep track of your wedding budget, to avoid costs spiralling. You can track your wedding budget via our free wedding planning app, or through the wedding planning tools section of our site. It’s all free and all linked together, for easy planning on the go.

5. Review and Adjust Regularly

Wedding budgets have a habit of changing and evolving - make sure you check yours regularly and keep tracking it to avoid any surprises as you get closer to your big day.

We have a guide to the wedding costs couples forget to budget for to help you be even more budget-savvy.

How to Have a Wedding on a Budget

You can absolutely save money without sacrificing style when it comes to having an affordable wedding. Here are our top 10 ways to cut costs, followed by some of our guides to more affordable wedding options.

• Book off-peak: choose a weekday or a winter wedding to save as much as 50%
• DIY decor: if you’re creative, consider DIY-ing some elements - but practise first and be realistic!
• Trim your guest list: keeping your wedding guest list small cuts costs - on average, each wedding guest costs couples £261!
• Hire new talent: if particular vendors are beyond your budget, look for new and emerging talent - always review their portfolio and check reviews and testimonials
• Simplify your catering: see if you can skip a course, or go for sharing platters or a wedding food truck
• Borrow accessories: make your veil or jewellery your ‘something borrowed’
• Repurpose your flowers: reuse your wedding party bouquets as centrepieces - this is a common wedding budget hack
• Cut the table drinks: don’t provide three kinds of wine on your tables - you could always put a smaller sum behind the bar for wine and beer
• Go digital: use PDF save the dates, and direct guests to your wedding website
• Honeymoon fund: ask your guests for honeymoon contributions instead of gifts to ease your overall spend

We have plenty of affordable wedding vendors and amazing deals on Hitched - just check out the below:

• Cheap wedding venues across the UK
• The best wedding packages (including packages under £2,000)
• The hottest wedding deals for Hitched couples
• Affordable wedding photography packages

Budget Friendly Wedding Inspiration

Looking for cheap options for your wedding? Here’s our best advice…

Budget Wedding Venues

There are so many affordable wedding venues on Hitched - you can use the link in our selection of guides above to find our editorial team’s top picks, or browse our wedding venue section and filter by price.

Your wedding venue is probably going to be the biggest chunk of your wedding budget, so if you’re looking to save money on your wedding venue, consider:

• Booking off-peak - lots of venues reduce their prices for weekday or out-of-season weddings
• Having a twilight wedding - getting married later in the day can significantly reduce your costs
• Opting for a late minute booking - many wedding venues offer reduced rates on their ‘late availability’ dates. If you don’t mind planning a quick wedding, this could be for you
• Marrying at a registry office - registry office weddings are on the rise, and they’re a cheaper option for wedding ceremonies

Budget Wedding Dresses

A wedding dress doesn’t have to cost thousands of pounds. Here are a few different ways to save on your wedding outfits:

• Shop on the high street - you can get plenty of cheap wedding dresses on the high street. They won’t have the same quality or attention to detail as a made-to-order one, but they’re good for those working to a budget
• Rent your wedding dress - wedding dress rentals are big business! Rent a dress, if you can bear to say goodbye to it after the big day
• Consider pre-loved - it’s better for the environment, after all. Lots of nearlyweds choose to sell their wedding dresses after the big day
• Shop sample sales - lots of bridal boutiques host sample sales, where you can pick up a dress off-the-rack in their shops for a reduced price

Hitched tip: Be honest about your budget when you go wedding dress shopping - it will save you a lot of heartache! Your dress shop can show you dresses that are within budget, or give you advice on where to go to suit your spend.

Budget Wedding Flowers

Wedding flowers can cost a lot of money - and for good reason! Lots of flowers have to be especially grown and imported, and your florist will always have to over-order in case some blooms arrive broken or refuse to open.

Here are a few ways to reduce your spend on wedding flowers:

• Opt for seasonal blooms - choosing seasonal wedding flowers means your florist won’t need to important your flowers and it will cut costs
• Double up - use your bouquets in your decor too, to get more for you money
• Go green - greenery is cheaper than flowers and still looks gorgeous - use greenery as filler to reduce the amount of flowers you need

We asked the experts about how to get cheap wedding flowers, and they had the best advice.

Budget Wedding Rings

From wondering how much to spend on an engagement ring, to shopping for your actual wedding bands, your wedding rings can often be overlooked in the budget.

If you want to spend less on your wedding rings, here’s how to do it:

• Lab grown - lab-grown diamonds or diamond alternatives like moissanite are just as sparkly, conflict free and cheaper to buy!
• Go vintage - opt for an antique with a whole history behind it - it’ll be cheaper as it’s pre-loved
• Consider different metals - you don’t have to go for solid gold, and it’s not always the most practical choice.

Budget Wedding Cakes

When you factor in the workload and the cost of ingredients, it’s no wonder wedding cakes are expensive. If you’re looking for a cheap wedding cake, here’s our advice:

• Go small - a simple, single tiered wedding cake will be cheaper than a three-tiered extravaganza, for obvious reasons
• Have a sheet cake - sheet cakes are an emerging wedding trend - no tiers, a simple rectangle shape and minimal decorations. They’re chic and cheap!
• Get naked - not you, obviously! But opting for a rustic naked wedding cake can be a cheaper option as your cake maker doesn’t need to spend as much time on the decor

FAQs About Wedding Budgets

Want to know more about wedding budgets? Wedding expert and Editor of Hitched Zoe Burke shares her best advice:

What is the average UK wedding budget?

The average cost of a wedding is currently £23,250 - but you can keep your costs down with wedding deals and careful choices.

How much should I spend on a wedding venue?

You should typically spend around 40-50% of your wedding budget on your venue, if it’s including catering too. You can get wedding package deals from as little as £2,000!

If you have your heart set on a particular venue and it feels like a stretch for your budget, consider cutting your guest list, choosing an off-peak date or marrying later in the day.

How do I cut wedding costs without compromising?

Focus on what matters to you the most, and don’t get caught up in thinking you have to have everything. Be flexible with your dates too - that can make a huge difference.

What’s a good wedding budget for 100 guests?

I would expect you to spend about £25,000 - £30,000 on a full day wedding for 100 guests, based on the 2025 averages. But there are always ways to reduce this number, depending on your location, chosen wedding style and the time of year.

Next Steps in Your Wedding Planning

Keep your wedding planning on track by doing the following:

• Check out our ultimate guide to wedding planning
• Bookmark our wedding planning checklist
• Download our free wedding planning app
• Build your free wedding website

And if you’re tempted to lie about your wedding in order to reduce your costs, well, here’s our guide on why that is never a good idea.