Most wedding budget calculators online are built for the "average" American wedding — six figures of guests, a ballroom, a $34,000+ budget. If you're eloping, having a courthouse ceremony, or hosting something under 75 guests, that math doesn't transfer. The category percentages are wrong, the guest list templates are built for 200 people, and there's rarely a line item for a marriage license or a backyard tent rental.

This site is a small, focused tool built for the other kind of wedding: the small one. The calculator, the guides, and the free checklist are all calibrated specifically for weddings and elopements under 75 guests, using a category model designed from scratch for that size — not a big-wedding average scaled down.

Who built this

This site is operated by Archie November, and is a companion to the spreadsheet template shop, including the Small Wedding & Elopement Budget Planner this calculator is built alongside.

An honest note on AI assistance

This site — its code, copy, calculator logic, and the checklist PDF — was built with the assistance of AI tools, working from a defined structure and directly cited sources. That's stated here plainly rather than hidden. What that means in practice:

  • The calculator's category percentages and cost model are a designed planning tool, clearly labeled as an estimate — not a claimed industry statistic.
  • Any specific statistic quoted on this site (for example, average U.S. wedding cost, or marriage license fee ranges) is attributed to its original source with a link, and was checked against that source before publishing.
  • No testimonials, reviews, or user quotes appear anywhere on this site. If you don't see any, that's intentional — none have been fabricated, and none will be added until they're real.

What this site isn't

It isn't financial advice, legal advice, or a substitute for talking to actual wedding vendors, a county clerk, or (if your budget involves it) a financial planner. Every number on this site is an estimate to help you plan a conversation, not a guarantee of what you'll actually pay.

For more on data handling, see the Privacy page.