Free NYC Wedding Budget Spreadsheet (With Real Price Ranges)

Based on published vendor pricing in the Blu List NYC wedding directory. Last updated June 2026.

Most NYC wedding budget spreadsheets are built on national averages that have nothing to do with what vendors here actually charge. This one isn't. Every range below comes from published prices in our database — the same numbers you'd see if you browsed our NYC vendor directory yourself.

Download the spreadsheet, plug in your guest count and priorities, and you'll have a working budget in under an hour.

The Short Answer

A full-service NYC wedding — venue, catering, photography, florals, music, hair/makeup, officiant, stationery, cake, transportation — runs $45,000 to $130,000+ for 100 guests. The median in our database lands around $68,000. You can do it for less if you cut the right things. You'll spend more if you don't.

The spreadsheet below gives you the category-by-category breakdown so you're not guessing.

The Spreadsheet: NYC Wedding Budget by Category

Copy this into Google Sheets or Excel. Adjust the "Your Budget" column as you go.

Category	Budget Tier	Mid Tier	Luxury Tier	% of Total (Mid)
Venue + Catering	$8,000–$15,000	$18,000–$35,000	$45,000–$100,000+	42%
Photography	$3,500–$4,500	$5,000–$8,000	$9,000–$20,000+	10%
Videography	$2,000–$3,500	$4,000–$7,000	$8,000–$18,000	6%
Florals + Décor	$2,500–$5,000	$6,000–$12,000	$15,000–$40,000+	9%
DJ / Band	$2,000–$3,500	$4,500–$8,000	$10,000–$25,000+	7%
Hair + Makeup	$800–$1,500	$2,000–$4,000	$5,000–$10,000	4%
Officiant	$500–$800	$900–$1,500	$1,800–$3,500	2%
Cake / Desserts	$600–$1,200	$1,500–$3,000	$3,500–$8,000	3%
Stationery	$400–$800	$1,000–$2,500	$3,000–$7,000	2%
Transportation	$600–$1,200	$1,500–$3,000	$3,500–$8,000	2%
Rehearsal Dinner	$2,000–$4,000	$5,000–$10,000	$12,000–$25,000	8%
Rings	$1,500–$4,000	$5,000–$15,000	$20,000–$60,000+	5%
Buffer (10%)	—	—	—	10%
TOTAL (100 guests)	~$25,000–$42,000	~$55,000–$110,000	$135,000+

Venue + catering is combined because most NYC venues bundle food and beverage minimums. Splitting them is theoretical — your contract won't.

How NYC Wedding Costs Actually Break Down

Venue and catering dominates every other line item, usually by a factor of four. If you're trying to control your total number, that's the lever. Everything else is secondary.

Here's how couples typically allocate mid-tier budgets in NYC, based on patterns in our vendor database:

The 42% rule. Venue and catering reliably consumes the largest share. A 100-person Saturday wedding at a Brooklyn event space runs $18,000–$35,000 all-in with food and open bar. Manhattan venues push that to $30,000–$60,000+ before florals arrive.

Photography and videography together. Most couples spend $7,000–$15,000 combined. Booking both from the same studio sometimes saves 10–15%. Separate vendors give you more creative flexibility.

Florals are elastic. More than any other category, florals scale unpredictably. A modest centerpiece budget of $4,000 can become $15,000 once you add ceremony arch, cocktail hour arrangements, bridal party, and compulsory greenery your florist insists on. Get itemized quotes.

The hidden categories. Rehearsal dinner, hair and makeup for the full bridal party, and transportation are routinely underbudgeted. A six-person bridal party with hair and makeup in Manhattan costs $1,800–$3,500 before the bride's services are added.

What Drives the Price Up in NYC Specifically

NYC pricing is not New Jersey pricing. It's not even Westchester pricing. Several factors are baked into every vendor contract here.

Saturday premium: Most NYC venues charge 20–35% more for Saturday than Friday or Sunday. A venue that costs $22,000 on a Friday runs $28,000–$30,000 on a Saturday.
Union labor: Venues in Midtown Manhattan often require union staff. This is non-negotiable and adds $2,000–$8,000 to your catering line.
Minimum spends: Food and beverage minimums at mid-tier Manhattan venues run $18,000–$40,000 for 100 guests. This isn't the total cost — it's the floor.
Service charges: NYC venues typically add a 22–25% service charge on top of the per-person food and beverage rate. A quoted "$150 per person" often lands at $185–$190 per person by the time the contract is signed.
Vendor meals: Most NYC venues charge $65–$95 per vendor meal. With 8–12 vendors on-site, that's $520–$1,140 you didn't budget for.
Parking and travel: NYC-based vendors who travel to Westchester or New Jersey often charge $100–$300 in travel fees. NYC vendors traveling within the five boroughs typically don't — but confirm.
Coat check and security: Many NYC venues require staffed coat check ($300–$600) and licensed security ($400–$900) for events over 75 guests.

Three Realistic Budget Scenarios

Scenario 1: $40,000 — Intentional and Edited

This is achievable in NYC if you make deliberate trade-offs. It's not a "budget wedding" — it's a prioritized one.

Venue + catering: Brooklyn loft or Queens event hall, Friday or Sunday, 60–75 guests. Expect $14,000–$18,000 with a buffet or family-style dinner and house bar.
Photography: A second-year associate shooter from a reputable studio, or a newer independent photographer with a strong portfolio. Budget $3,200–$4,200.
No videography or a short-form highlight reel only at $1,800–$2,500.
Florals: Locally sourced, minimal arrangements, no ceremony arch. $2,500–$3,500.
DJ: A working DJ with 3–5 years of NYC wedding experience. $2,200–$3,200.
Everything else: Bare-bones but covered. Hair and makeup for two, courthouse or park ceremony with an officiant, grocery store cake supplemented by a dessert bar.

The constraint at this budget is guest count. At 75 people, a $40,000 budget is manageable. At 120 people, it isn't.

Scenario 2: $75,000 — The NYC Median

This is where most of our database searches land. It buys a real wedding at a real venue without the compromises that define the $40k tier.

Venue + catering: A mid-tier Brooklyn event space, Tribeca loft, or waterfront venue in Queens. Saturday is possible. 100 guests with a plated dinner and open bar, all-in at $28,000–$38,000.
Photography: An established NYC photographer with 200+ weddings and consistent portfolio work. $5,500–$7,500.
Videography: A dedicated videographer, full-day coverage, edited film in 8–12 weeks. $3,500–$5,500.
Florals: Designed centerpieces, ceremony florals, bridal party flowers. A mid-tier NYC florist will deliver this for $7,000–$10,000.
DJ: A seasoned NYC wedding DJ with real references and their own quality sound system. $4,500–$6,500. Browse all NYC wedding DJs
Planner / Day-of coordinator: Often skipped, always regretted. A day-of coordinator in NYC runs $1,500–$3,500. At $75k, this belongs in your budget.
Buffer: Keep $5,000–$7,500 unallocated. NYC weddings find ways to spend it.

Scenario 3: $130,000+ — Full-Service, No Compromises

At this budget, you're accessing a different tier of vendor entirely — not just more expensive versions of the same thing.

Venue + catering: A Manhattan hotel ballroom, waterfront venue, or historic private club. Saturday, 120–150 guests, plated multi-course dinner, premium open bar. $55,000–$85,000.
Photography + videography: A lead photographer with editorial credits and a dedicated second shooter, paired with a cinematic videography team. $18,000–$28,000 combined.
Florals: A full-service NYC floral designer with installation capabilities. Expect $20,000–$35,000 for a designed event.
Band: A 6–10 piece live band is standard at this tier. NYC wedding bands run $12,000–$22,000. Browse NYC wedding bands
Full planner: Not day-of coordination — a full-service planner who manages vendor selection, contracts, timelines, and logistics from engagement to exit. $8,000–$18,000 in NYC.
Everything else: Hair and makeup team on-site, custom stationery suite, luxury transportation, rehearsal dinner for 40, custom cake. Adds another $15,000–$25,000.

How to Use This Spreadsheet Without Losing Your Mind

Start with venue. Before you finalize any other number, know your venue cost. Everything else is calibrated against it. Use our NYC wedding venue directory to pull real pricing before you visit a single space.
Lock in guest count before you lock in budget. Per-person costs in NYC run $175–$450+ depending on venue and catering tier. Adding 20 guests at $250/head is $5,000. It will blow your spreadsheet if you're not anchored.
Get itemized quotes, not package prices. Package prices obscure what's included. Ask every vendor to break down their pricing line by line. This is especially critical for florists and caterers.
Build the 10% buffer in from day one. Not as a line item you'll delete later. As a real number in the total. NYC weddings have unexpected costs: a broken rental item, a last-minute vendor change, a family member who RSVP'd "no" and showed up. The buffer absorbs it.
Use the Wedding Budget Calculator to stress-test your numbers before signing any contracts. Adjust guest count, tier, and day of week and watch how fast the total moves.
Track actuals alongside estimates. Add a "Quoted," "Contracted," and "Final Invoice" column to each row. The gap between quoted and final is where couples get surprised.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's a realistic wedding budget for 100 guests in NYC?

For 100 guests with a plated dinner, open bar, photography, and a DJ on a Saturday, budget $65,000–$90,000. The wide range comes from venue choice — a Brooklyn loft versus a Midtown hotel ballroom can swing $25,000 on that line alone. If you're flexible on day of week and borough, the lower end is achievable. If you're set on Manhattan on a Saturday, plan for the higher end.

Can I have a wedding in NYC for under $30,000?

Yes, but it requires real constraints: 50 guests or fewer, a weekday or Sunday date, a non-traditional venue (restaurant buyout, community space, rooftop), minimal florals, and a DJ rather than a band. It also means doing more coordination yourself or relying on a friend. It's a real wedding. It just doesn't look like the ones in the magazines.

What NYC wedding costs do couples most often underestimate?

Three consistently show up in underbudgeted spreadsheets: (1) the service charge added to venue and catering minimums — typically 22–25% on top of the per-person rate; (2) bridal party hair and makeup, which can hit $2,500–$4,500 for a group of five; and (3) the rehearsal dinner, which is treated as an afterthought until you're trying to book a private dining room for 30 people in Manhattan two months out.

Is it cheaper to get married in Brooklyn or Queens versus Manhattan?

Generally, yes. Brooklyn venues run 15–30% less than comparable Manhattan spaces. Queens runs lower still, particularly for venues in Long Island City and Astoria. The gap closes on high-demand Saturdays in peak season (May–June, September–October). If your priority is cost control, a Friday or Sunday in Brooklyn or Queens is where the math works most favorably.

How far in advance do NYC couples typically book vendors?

Top-tier photographers and bands book 14–18 months out. Mid-tier vendors book 10–14 months out. Budget vendors can often be booked 6–8 months in advance, but availability in peak months shrinks fast. If your date is a Saturday in September or October, treat every vendor search as urgent regardless of how far out you are.

All price ranges sourced from published vendor listings in the Blu List NYC wedding directory, June 2026. Related reading: Average Cost of a Wedding in NYC (2026) · How Much Does a Wedding DJ Cost in NYC? · Browse all NYC wedding vendors