Rehearsal Dinner Budget Planner

The rehearsal dinner is the wedding’s smaller, trickier sibling: one host (usually a parent) with one cap, a guest list a tenth of the wedding’s size, and a restaurant bill that is quoted per head — right up until the tax, the gratuity and the room fee arrive. This planner prices the whole night the way the bill actually lands.

Set the host’s cap and the guest count (24 in the sample — counted party by party on the Host & Guests tab, with a check that the counted guests match the count the costing uses). Price the menu, the drinks package and the dessert bar per head, each against its own per-guest guide. In the sample the food & drink subtotal is $2,532 — and the drinks package, $816 against a $720 guide, is flagged OVER ITS GUIDE in writing, before anyone signs the restaurant contract.

Then the lines no per-head quote mentions: sales tax ($329.16 at the EXAMPLE rate) and gratuity ($455.76 at the EXAMPLE rate) on the subtotal, plus $627 of flat extras — the private room fee, table flowers, printed menus, valet parking. Dinner total: $3,943.92. Under the host’s $4,000 cap by $56.08 — close enough that one more guest or a drinks upgrade breaks it, and the sheet says so. The headline number everyone asks about is printed too: $164.33 per guest.

The tax and gratuity rates are EXAMPLE settings on the Start Here tab — tax is set by your jurisdiction and large-party gratuity by your venue. Verify and replace both; the sheet uses whatever rates you set.

What it does for you:
– Costs menu, drinks and dessert per head against YOUR guest count and per-guest guides
– Flags the line that creeps — the drinks package over its guide, on its own row
– Adds tax and gratuity at YOUR example rates, plus the flat extras per-head quotes hide
– Judges the total against the HOST’s cap, not the wedding budget
– Prints the per-guest headline number ($164.33 in the sample)
– Cross-checks the guest list count against the costing count — they must MATCH
– Adds a planning expense log, zero-based monthly budget, dashboard and 12-month summary

What’s inside (.xlsx, works in Excel AND Google Sheets):
– Start Here — setup steps, host cap, guest count, EXAMPLE tax and gratuity rates, dinner date
– Dinner Costs — 3 per-head lines with statuses, tax & gratuity, 4 flat extras, the host’s bottom line
– Host & Guests — 5 parties counted by side, with the count check
– Expense Log, Monthly Budget, Dashboard, Monthly Summary

Instant download. Type only in the yellow cells — formula cells are locked (password: sheetdaily, disclosed on the Start Here tab so you can unlock if you ever need to). Sample dinner is pre-filled so you can see exactly how it works; clear the yellow cells and type your own. Planning tool only — restaurant minimums, room fees and gratuity policies are your venue’s contract terms; confirm them in writing.