Will the wedding go over budget?
The final guest count, the per-head cost, the "miscellaneous" line: none are fixed until the day. This template runs them all as ranges and shows what the event might actually cost, and the odds you go over the number you had in mind.
Words on this sheet
- Venue: The place an event is held. A venue line is what hiring it costs, usually a fixed amount whatever the turnout.
Life Intermediate Monte Carlo Pro engine
After you install, this is the model to open.
Will the Event Go Over Budget?
- In your spreadsheet, click the Sortia icon in the strip of icons down the right-hand edge. No strip? Click the arrow at the bottom-right to open it. You can also use Extensions, then Sortia, then Open Sortia.
- Click Start from a template and put that name in the search box.
- Pick the card with that name and click Load this template. It arrives on a new tab with real numbers already in it.
This one runs on a Pro engine, and every free install includes five full-quality runs on your own numbers, shared across all five Pro engines rather than five for each. After that, Pro is $199/year.
The answer
Total cost across thousands of scenarios:
- P5 (lean)
- $17.4K
- Median
- $20.9K
- P95 (splurge)
- $24.9K
- Over a $20K budget
- 65%
If your budget was $20,000, there is a 65% chance you go over. The honest number to plan around is the P80, about $23,000, with a realistic ceiling near $25,000. Better to know that now than the week of. Change the fixed costs and ranges to match your own plan.
The model
Total cost is the fixed venue plus guests × per-guest cost plus everything else. Guest count, per-guest cost, and the miscellaneous line are all uncertain.
| Venue (fixed) | $5,000 |
| Guests | 80 – 120 – 150 (uncertain) |
| Cost per guest | $60 – $85 – $120 (uncertain) |
| Other (flowers, photo…) | $3K – $5K – $9K (uncertain) |
| Total cost | simulated |
Once it is in your sheet
- The model arrives with real numbers in it and runs as it stands, so you can press the button first and understand it second.
- Change the numbers to yours. The sheet marks which cells are inputs and which hold formulas, and most labels carry a note explaining the row.
- Press the run button at the bottom of the panel. It is labeled for the tool you are in, and the result lands on its own tab, with a written reading of it beside the figures.
Never used Google Sheets? Start here goes the whole way, in seven steps, and assumes nothing.
Next question
- Will we actually be ready when the guests arrive?Finish Before the Party?
- How many more visits with your parents are left?How Many Visits With Your Parents Are Left?
- How should you actually spend your 168 hours a week?Design Your 168-Hour Week
- Will a weekend like this cover its costs?Should You Book the Stall?
- You added up the likely costs. Is that enough?Will the Trip Blow the Budget?
- Should you counter the offer, or just take it?Job Offer: Counter or Accept?
Every model like this one, and the method behind them: Monte Carlo simulation.