Image via The Curries
When planning your dream wedding in the UK, you’ve likely encountered numerous blog posts stating the average cost hovers around £17K. However, this figure can be somewhat misleading. While a small DIY wedding or a modest, no-frills ceremony might fit this budget, a more elaborate affair with a stunning venue, comprehensive planning, and stylish touches will naturally require a larger investment. In our experience, a 100 guests UK weddings cost around 30-50K on average.
Essential Elements for Your Wedding Budget Calculator:
Venue hire
Wedding Attire
Rings
Photographer
Videographer
Catering (calculate it at £100 per guest, minimum)
Beverages (calculate it at two drinks per guest for every hour)
Transport
Accommodation
Production (lighting, rigging, set design)
Floristry
Decor & Props
Stationery & Signage
Entertainment
Cake
Officiant
Wedding planner
Many couples reach out to us for wedding planning and styling assistance, but often, their budget expectations are unrealistic. It’s disheartening to inform them that their dream wedding might exceed their financial plans.
Quick Guide to Calculating Your Wedding Costs
To help you estimate your wedding expenses, especially in the South of England, here’s a simple method:
Simplified Wedding Budget Breakdown
Assume an average straightforward wedding costs £30K for 100 guests. This translates to approximately £300 per guest for the wedding day alone. Naturally, your budget will increase with the number of guests. This figure excludes wedding attire, accommodation (if you’re marrying out of town or abroad), and your honeymoon. It purely reflects the cost of the wedding day at your chosen venue.
Factors Influencing Your Wedding Budget
Several elements can significantly impact your overall wedding budget, including the calibre of your:
Wedding Venue
Caterers
Number of wedding guests
Floristry
Photographer
Videographer
Production and Set Design
Decor and Props
Entertainment
Wedding Planner / Stylist
These factors vary widely based on the venue’s prestige, the skill and reputation of your wedding vendors - the level of production and set design required, and the quality of your tableware and furniture, the complexity and size of your floral arrangements, etc. Additional costs may include the team members needed for multiple venue setups (ceremony and reception) and overall staffing needs.
Understanding Wedding Planner Costs in the UK
Engaging a wedding planner for organising, designing, and coordinating your wedding will be an additional expense on top of your overall budget. Most wedding planners have a minimum spend requirement and typically charge around 10-15% of your total budget. It’s wise to research and compare prices to find a planner that fits not your financial plan but one that aligns with your aesthetics and vision. But, if you're shopping around to simply find the cheapest planner, this could lead to false investment and major disappointment, so choose wisely!
Discover Whole Lotta Love’s Unique Wedding Planning Services
If you’ve found your way to our blog, you’re likely drawn to our vibrant, retro-inspired luxe aesthetic. We specialise in design-led, luxe modern weddings, with colour as our signature, putting our unique twist on the traditional template and making your wedding stand out from the rest. Here’s a glimpse of the packages we offer:
Wedding Day Coordination
Perfect for couples who have their planning and styling sorted, can't stretch the budget to having a planner on board from the beginning, but need help with on-the-day coordination. Available as a stand-alone package for London and surrounding areas or an add-on to our other packages. Prices depend on wedding size and complexity, including travel and accommodation expenses.
Wedding Design and Styling
For those with logistics under control but needing assistance in bringing their vision to life. We will work with you on bringing your vision to life with our extensive design know hows, supplier recommendations, briefing and managing. Note, we do not handle planning, logistics, or on-the-day wedding coordination within this package but this can be added on as extra.
Full Wedding Planning and Design
This comprehensive package covers everything from venue searches, logistics and planning, to supplier recommendations, sourcing, negotiations, briefing and the complete works on designing a one of a kind celebration. We oversee all aspects, leading all the way - providing peace of mind, saving you precious time, stress, and money, and ensuring your wedding is even better than you imagined.
How We Calculate Our Prices
Every wedding is unique, with varying complexities and requirements. Our costs are calculated based on these factors and our time working on your wedding. We offer complimentary discovery calls and proposals to ensure we are the perfect match for your special day. Your investment would come to 10-15% on top of your budget with the minimum starting price on all our packages. On average, this figure can come to anything from 6-15K for full planning.
Is Hiring a Wedding Panner Worth it?
Absolutely. But don't just take our word for it.
This is what one of our most resent couples, Rosie and Mike said:
"We had THE BEST experience working with Zuza and her amazing team for our wedding this spring. Whole Lotta Love made a Whole Lotta Impact ! Our decor was stunning, the day ran smoothly, our vendors where supported and the venue well organised all because of the amazing Zuza. It was hands down THE best investment we made in our wedding and we are so grateful for the kindness, skill, creativity and vision that Zuza brought to our big day. So many people said it was the best wedding they had ever been to and we have the amazing Whole Lotta Love to thank for that."
Ready to start planning your dream wedding? Book a no-obligation discovery call with us today and let's bring your vision to life!
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