Budgeting a multi-event wedding
One total is not a budget for a wedding with five functions. A South Asian wedding budget has to answer two questions at once: what does the whole thing cost, and what does each event cost — because the reception is booked with one venue and one caterer, the sangeet with another, and the family paying for the walima is not the family paying for the mehndi. This calculator holds both views from the same lines.
Guest counts per event
Mehndi 80, sangeet 250, ceremony 400, reception 500 is a normal shape. Each event carries its own count, and per-guest lines are calculated at that count. Catering is published per 100 guests in GigSona's figures and multiplied; per-plate rates fall as numbers rise, so a large event usually lands under a straight multiplication. Change a count and only the lines that depend on it change — a photographer does not get more expensive because ten more cousins are coming.
Fixed, per guest, per hour, per event
Every line has a basis, and the basis is what makes the budget react correctly:
Per guest — catering. The largest variable line, and the only one where headcount really drives the price.
Fixed — photography, videography, DJ, decor, hair and makeup, transportation, invitations. Priced by the day, the package or the build, not by the plate.
Per event — venue, officiant. Each event has its own; the calculator never assumes one venue for the week.
Per hour — overtime, extra bar hours, a second dhol appearance. Your rate times your hours.
Shared package — one vendor across several events, counted once and split for planning.
Custom — anything else, in your own words with your own basis.
Shared packages, never double-counted
Most families book one photographer, one decorator and often one planner across the week. A budget that lists the $9,000 photography package under each of four events shows $36,000; a budget that lists it once cannot say what the reception's share is. The calculator does both correctly: the package exists once with one total, and its allocation across events is a planning split that always sums to the total — split evenly by default, or by hand. Remove an event and its share is redistributed. Replace the estimate with a real quote and the split follows the new total.
Estimated, planned, quoted, booked, paid, remaining
These are different things and the calculator keeps them apart. An estimate is a sourced range, never a quote. Planned is your number. Quoted, committed (accepted quotes and confirmed bookings), paid and remaining come from your GigSona account's real quotes, bookings and payments — computed on the server, never in the browser, so the figures cannot be edited into something untrue. A vendor being paid by GigSona is never labelled as money to you, and an accepted quote is never labelled paid until it is.
Costs couples forget
Gratuities and overtime — the venue's overtime rate, the limousine's overtime, tips for catering staff and the beauty team.
Milni, shagun and mithai — gifts exchanged between families, and boxes of sweets by the family rather than by the guest. Rarely small.
Outfits for the family, not just the couple — several looks each for parents and siblings, plus tailoring on arrival.
The marriage licence and the legal signing — an Ontario licence is $155; a religious officiant may charge separately to solemnise the legal marriage, or you may need a civil officiant.
Postage, favours, dandiya sticks, head coverings at the gurdwara door, the emergency kit — individually small, together a line.
Sales tax — most quotes exclude it. Thirteen percent on a $60,000 wedding is $7,800.
Region and currency
Everything is in Canadian dollars. Sample figures exist for the Greater Toronto Area — GigSona's own 2026 ranges, set from vendors in this market. For Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg and the rest of Canada, GigSona has not yet sourced local figures it can stand behind, so the calculator shows the GTA range as a labelled reference and asks for your own amounts. As GigSona's booked quotes accumulate outside the GTA, those regions will get real figures with a stated sample size and date.
Taxes and gratuities
Sales tax defaults to your region's rate on taxable lines, gratuities default to zero on the lines where they are customary, and contingency defaults to five percent of the working total. All three are editable, all three are separate lines, and none of it is tax advice — your vendors' invoices and your accountant control.
Methodology and last updated
The figures below are the ones the calculator draws on: GigSona's first-party Greater Toronto Area ranges for 2026, last reviewed 2026-08-11, with the scope of each range stated. Ranges exclude HST and gratuity unless noted. Final quotes control.
- One day, ceremony and reception, around 200 guests
- $35,000 to $85,000
- Two days — mehndi, sangeet, ceremony and reception, around 300 guests
- $50,000 to $120,000
- Multi-day, weekend-long, 350+ guests
- $150,000 to $250,000
The spread inside each row is wider than couples expect, and that is the honest picture: two weddings with the same guest count and the same number of events can differ by double, depending on venue, how much is custom, and how much of the catering is plated.
Figures describe the Greater Toronto Area, 2026. GigSona — figures from vendors across the Greater Toronto Area, 2026. What a vendor actually quotes you depends on the type of event, how big it is, and exactly what you need — treat these as a starting point for a conversation, not a price list.
From a line to a real vendor
Every vendor line links to its category on GigSona, filtered to the event's city — caterers, photographers and videographers, decor and mandap, DJs, dhol and live music, hair, makeup and mehndi, officiants, planners, transportation, invitations. Request quotes from your plan; when one is accepted, that line shows the real figure and the estimate steps aside.
Related guides and tools
South Asian wedding budget calculator — common questions
How much does a South Asian wedding cost in Canada?
For the Greater Toronto Area in 2026, GigSona's own figures put a one-day ceremony and reception for around 200 guests at roughly $35,000 to $85,000, a two-day mehndi, sangeet, ceremony and reception for around 300 at $50,000 to $120,000, and a weekend-long wedding for 350 or more at $150,000 to $250,000. The spread is real: two weddings with the same guest count can differ by double depending on venue, how much is custom, and how much of the catering is plated. See the cost guide for the full breakdown.
Why does the calculator ask for a guest count per event?
Because catering is the one line that really scales with headcount, and the mehndi's 80 guests are not the reception's 500. Per-guest lines multiply by each event's count; fixed lines — a DJ, a photographer — cost about the same either way. Change one event's count and only that event's per-guest lines move.
What is a shared package?
One vendor covering several events for one price — a $9,000 photography package across four events, a decorator across the whole week, a planner for all of it. The calculator holds it once, counts it once, and splits it across events for planning so each event's total is meaningful. The splits always add up to the package total, to the cent.
Are the figures accurate for Vancouver, Calgary or Montreal?
GigSona does not have sourced figures for those cities yet, so the calculator does not pretend to. Outside the GTA you see the GTA range as a labelled reference and enter your own quotes. Publishing a made-up local average would be worse than saying the data is not there.
Do the estimates include tax and gratuities?
No. Ranges exclude sales tax and gratuities, the way vendor quotes usually do. Tax, gratuities and a contingency are separate lines with editable rates, defaulted for your region as planning assumptions. This is not tax advice; your vendors' invoices control.
What is the difference between estimated, planned, quoted, committed and paid?
Estimated is GigSona's range for the line. Planned is the amount you set. Quoted is what vendors have quoted you on GigSona. Committed is accepted quotes and confirmed bookings. Paid is what has actually been charged. Remaining is committed minus paid. An estimate is never presented as a quote, and an accepted quote is never presented as paid.
Do I need an account?
No. The full calculation runs in your browser without one. A free account keeps the budget, and your real GigSona quotes and bookings replace the estimates on the matching lines.
Want the tasks behind these numbers? Open the checklist — it already knows your events.