Track your budget

Each line has three figures.

Planned is what you expect to spend on it.

Committed is the figure on the quote or contract. A line with nothing committed shows Not yet and counts as still to book.

Paid is the money that has actually gone out. Once what you've paid reaches the committed figure, the line is paid in full.

If a committed figure is higher than what you planned, it shows in red as over plan.

The page heading gives your totals, for example "£18,400 committed of £22,000 planned". Under it is how much you've paid so far, how much is still to pay on what's booked, how much is still to book, and how many lines are over plan.

The Paid of committed bar shows how much of what's booked has been paid. If you've set a target, the line below says how far the plan sits under it, or how far over it.

Every line lists your costs with columns for Planned, Committed and Paid, and a total at the bottom.

Each cost goes in one category: Venue, Catering, Photography, Flowers, Music, Attire, Transport, Stationery, Rings, Honeymoon or Miscellaneous.

Costs are grouped by category, each with its own subtotal. Select a category's name to fold it away. To see one category, choose it from the category menu, which starts at All categories.

Use Find a cost to search, and the sort menu to order lines by Your order, Name A–Z, Highest cost, Most still to pay or Due soonest.

Give a cost a Due date and the line shows when it's due, for example "Due 12 Mar 2027". If the date has passed and the line isn't paid in full, it shows Overdue since the date, in red.

Sort by Due soonest to see what's coming up.

Once any cost has a due date, the bottom of the Budget page shows Payment reminders: on, with a switch. Reminders are on unless you turn them off.

PlanHitch emails you once about each payment: when it's a week from its due date, or, if the date has already passed, while it's up to a fortnight overdue. If you change the due date, you can get a reminder for the new date.

Once a line is paid in full, there are no more reminders for it.

Reminders go to the couple on the wedding, at verified email addresses. They don't go to collaborators, guests or suppliers. Payments due around the same time come in one email, with what's still to pay on each and a link to your budget.

Turn the switch off and no payment emails are sent. Due dates still show on the page, with anything overdue marked.

When you add a vendor with a Price, PlanHitch adds a budget line for them, with the price as the Planned figure, in the category that matches the vendor. If you change the vendor's price later, the line's Planned figure changes with it.

When you add or mark a venue as booked, PlanHitch adds a Venue line for it if there isn't one. If the deposit is the only figure it has, the line is named after the venue with "(deposit)" after it.

The quote check tells you whether one supplier's price looks fair for your area. It's free. You're offered it when you first set up your wedding. Home also shows Or get a first answer: check a quote, until you've made a start on at least two of your guests, venues and budget.

Choose What's it for, enter the Amount quoted (£) and choose Where the wedding is. You can add Guests, Supplier and What's included. Select Check this quote. If you have the quote as a PDF of up to 1.5MB, select Read a PDF quote to fill the form in from it.

The answer is Fair, High, Low or No figures yet, with the usual range for that kind of supplier in your region and where the figures come from. Where PlanHitch has no figures it trusts, it says so rather than guessing.

To put the quote in your budget, select the add button under the answer. If the quote is from a vendor or venue you've already added, PlanHitch asks "Is this quote from one you've already added?", so the figure goes on their line rather than a new one. The amount goes in as the Planned figure.

On Premium and Unlimited, Check it against similar weddings sits below your costs. Select Review my budget. The planner reads every line and compares it with what couples usually pay.

You get a Budget health score, What to do, a Line by line rating of Overpriced, Fair or Good deal, and how each category compares with what couples usually pay. Select Refresh after you change the budget. You can run it up to 10 times an hour.

To compare with your area, set your Region in Settings first.

There isn't an export button on the Budget page. To download your budget, go to Settings and, next to Your data, select Export. Then select Request a copy. You get one JSON file of everything PlanHitch holds about you, including your budget, and an email when it's ready. The download link expires after 30 days.

Free holds up to 20 budget lines, Premium up to 100, and Unlimited has no fixed cap. When you reach the limit, PlanHitch says "Budget item limit reached. Upgrade your plan to add more."

If a collaborator's role doesn't let them edit the budget, they can see the page but not add or change costs.