Your wedding budget, clear from the first peso.
Real categories, every payment tracked, and typical ranges for Mexico.
Your first budget shouldn’t be built blind. OPHIRA gives you somewhere to start: categories with typical ranges for Mexico and three layers per line — planned, committed, and paid — with a total that’s always current, so you decide with information, not guesswork.
- Typical ranges per category — the same ones inside the tool
- Every expense with what’s paid and what’s outstanding, in MXN
- A contingency line of its own: set aside 10–15% for what quotes leave out
Free for the two of you · No credit card · Your numbers stay private
The problem
Nobody tells you what things cost — and without context you can’t decide.
Quotes arrive with no frame of reference: is $85,000 MXN for a venue reasonable, or excessive? The industry runs on opaque pricing, so first budgets get built on guesswork — and a guessed budget isn’t a plan: it’s a list of fears with numbers attached.
OPHIRA supplies the missing reference point: every category shows the share of the total that line usually takes at weddings in Mexico, with your real numbers on top. It’s not magic — it’s context. And with context, every quote becomes a decision instead of a surprise.
Planned, committed, paid
Three layers per line, in MXN: what you intend to spend, what you’ve agreed to, and what’s already gone out. You always know how firm each number is.
Typical ranges
Every category shows the share of the total it usually takes at weddings in Mexico — so you can tell at a glance whether you’re in the normal range.
A contingency line of its own
Our recommendation: set aside 10–15% for the IVA (Mexico’s 16% sales tax), tips, and the extras that always show up.
How it works
From a rough number to a plan in pesos.
Start from an honest number
Tell us roughly what you’re planning to spend — an estimate is fine. OPHIRA sets up your categories: catering, venue, photo and video, music, and the rest of the lines a wedding in Mexico actually has.
How much are you planning to spend?
A rough number is enough to start.
Log things as they happen
Every "yes" turns plan into commitment: the accepted quote, the deposit, each payment. The category shows what’s covered and what’s left — in time to rebalance the rest, not weeks later.
Catering
Compare against the market
Every category carries its typical range for Mexico. If catering is taking more than usual, you see it in time — and decide with a clear head.
Catering · 35% of your total
Typical range in Mexico: 30–40%
Ranges guide — they never flag an error.
Typical ranges
How does a wedding budget break down in Mexico?
These are the main typical ranges OPHIRA shows inside the tool: the share of the total budget each line usually takes at weddings in Mexico. On a sample budget of $180,000 MXN, catering runs $54,000 to $72,000 — that’s how to read them. They’re not rules. They’re context for the quotes in front of you.
Each bar marks the minimum–maximum share of the total budget.
The biggest line — and it moves directly with your guest list.
Many Mexican venues include catering. When the two are quoted together, plan on 45–55%.
One of the few things that outlast the wedding; worth protecting from last-minute cuts.
Renting instead of buying can cut this line almost in half.
Check what decor your venue already includes before booking a florist.
A DJ covers the party; a live band can triple the cost.
A day-of coordinator costs far less than full planning.
Often covered by padrinos (see below); a slice runs $50–$150 MXN per guest.
Priced per person; some caterers already include it in their package.
Priced by the hour or by set, not as a percentage; padrinos often cover it.
Digital invitations cut this line without making the day feel cheap.
Not an expense — help. Whatever they cover comes off the category it belongs to.
The cushion that absorbs the IVA missing from quotes, tips, and the extras that always appear.
Inside OPHIRA, every category shows its range next to your real numbers — and ranges guide, they never flag an error for going over, because your budget is allowed to be lopsided on purpose. Reviewed for 2026.
What’s included
A budget you’ll actually use.
Categories with context
The real lines of a wedding in Mexico, each with its typical range in view.
Paid and outstanding
Every expense tracks its payments: you know what’s covered and what’s still coming.
Expenses linked to vendors
Booked the photographer? Their expense links to their record — notes and payments in one place.
A total that stays current
Every expense and every payment update what’s committed, paid, and outstanding — no formulas on your side.
Guidance, not scolding
Ranges accompany your decisions: OPHIRA never flags an error for stepping outside a reference.
Private by design
Your numbers belong to the two of you. Never shared with vendors or anyone else without your permission.
In confidence
Your numbers aren’t a lead.
OPHIRA isn’t a directory or an auction: no counters, no manufactured scarcity, no guilt emails. Your budget exists to decide your wedding — not to put a price on you.
Your information is never sold
We don’t sell or rent your information. Your numbers belong to the two of you, in your private space.
Nobody sponsors the guidance
We don’t charge vendors to be recommended or ranked: the typical ranges stand on their own, with no one paying to sit behind them.
Your breakdown stays out of sight
Vendors don’t see your budget or your list. If you request a quote, only the brief you choose travels — and requesting one costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Your guest list decides the biggest number.
Catering is priced per person: ten more guests, or ten fewer, moves the budget more than almost any other decision. Get the list right and half the budget falls into place.
Guides for mastering your budget
How much does a wedding in Mexico cost in 2026? (in Spanish)
A real line-by-line breakdown, with 2026 figures.
Read the guidePlanning a wedding on a small budget (in Spanish)
Where to cut without it showing — and where not to.
Read the guideWhat’s actually worth spending on (in Spanish)
The layer the percentage pie never prices.
Read the guideWhere do the typical ranges come from? (in Spanish)
The methodology behind the percentages — and why they never scold you.
Read the guideCommon questions
How do I build my wedding budget?
Start from the total you can spend without uncomfortable debt, even as an estimate. Split it across the real lines — catering, venue, photo and video, music — using typical ranges like the ones above, and adjust as real quotes arrive. In OPHIRA the categories are already waiting, each with its range; you put in the amounts and the total updates itself. One habit that helps: review the numbers together for ten minutes once a week — it’s easier to rebalance a fresh number than a month-old one.
Do these ranges tell me what my wedding will cost?
No — they tell you how it splits. The total depends on how many guests, which city, and which vendors. For peso figures, line by line with 2026 data, there’s our guide "How much does a wedding in Mexico cost?" — in Spanish. This page is for reading the quotes already in front of you.
Where does most of a wedding budget go?
Food and venue. Catering usually takes 30–40% of the total and is priced per person; the venue, 15–25% — and when the venue includes catering, the two together run 45–55%. That makes the guest list the strongest lever in the budget.
Which costs get forgotten most often?
The IVA some quotes leave out, tips, dress alterations, transportation, and the little things that pile up in the final month. That’s why a 10–15% contingency cushion from day one isn’t pessimism — it’s breathing room.
What are padrinos, and do they belong in the budget?
Padrinos are wedding sponsors — a Mexican tradition where close family or friends cover a full line: the cake, the mariachi, the rings. They enter the budget as help, not expense: whatever they cover comes off the matching category, so nothing gets paid twice.
Looking for a wedding budget template or calculator?
A template gives you empty columns and a calculator a generic total; the hard part is the middle — knowing whether each quote is reasonable. OPHIRA does both jobs: the structure with its typical ranges, and the math done for you. Log expenses and payments, and what’s committed, paid, and outstanding recalculates on its own.
What does a budget for a 100-guest wedding look like?
Start from catering, which is priced per person: at $900 MXN per guest, 100 people come to $90,000 — and if catering should sit around 30–40% of the total, your full budget points to $225,000–$300,000 MXN. That’s how the table above works: from the per-person price to the total, not the other way around.
Is the budget tool free?
Yes: free for the two of you, no credit card, no limited version. OPHIRA is paid for by vendors — they pay to connect with you, and only when you request quotes. If someone else joins to help with the wedding — your mom, a planner — that extra seat is paid. Your numbers live in your private space and are never shared without your permission.
Is the app itself in English?
Not yet. This page is, but the app, the emails, and the help articles are still in Spanish — we're translating them. We'd rather tell you now than have you find out after signing up.
Still have a question? Visit the Help Center (in Spanish)
Stop guessing.
Start deciding.
Set up your space and build your budget on real numbers from weddings in Mexico — with planned, committed, and paid always in view. Your first honest figure is minutes away.
Create my budget for freeFree for the two of you · No credit card · Your numbers stay private