Build a Bottom-Up Wedding Budget
Estimate a wedding budget bottom-up by category, unit driver, assumption, and contingency.
A couple wants a 160-guest downtown wedding for $75,000 and asks whether full-service catering, open bar, live band, lush florals, and full planning can fit. Bottom-up estimating rolls category-level assumptions into a total and exposes tradeoffs early. The common trap is starting from the client's target number and squeezing categories until the spreadsheet says yes, even when vendor reality says no. List cost categories Catering, bar, venue, rentals, floral, photo, entertainment, stationery, beauty, transportation, planning fee, tax, gratuity, and contingency. Categories keep expensive omissions visible. If a category is unknown, it still needs a placeholder rather than disappearing. Assign drivers…
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