Free tool · Couples
Guest count planner for every ceremony
Mehndi, nikkah, anand karaj, baraat, walima, reception: each one has its own guest list. Add the numbers from both families and see the total for each ceremony.
Venues and caterers will ask for one number first: your largest ceremony. Add your guests for each event, split by each family's side, and the planner gives you that figure along with a total per event. Nothing is saved and there's no sign-up.
Free toolNo account needed
Largest ceremony
305Reception
Total guest places
490
Ceremonies
2
Total guest places across all ceremonies: the same person at two events counts twice.
These are example numbers. Change them to yours, remove a ceremony, or add the ones you are having.
Mehndi
160 adults · 25 children
185
Mehndi guests by side Side Adults Children Share Bride's side 51% Groom's side 38% Shared (friends, colleagues) 11% Reception
260 adults · 45 children
305
Reception guests by side Side Adults Children Share Bride's side 43% Groom's side 43% Shared (friends, colleagues) 15%
Add a ceremony
Totals only. Nothing is saved. Invitations and RSVPs are coming to the app.
Three steps
How it works
Add your ceremonies
Pick from mehndi, nikkah, anand karaj, Hindu wedding ceremonies, baraat, walima, sangeet, reception, or add your own. Each gets its own row.
Add numbers from each side
For each ceremony, add adults and children for the bride's side, the groom's side and shared guests such as friends and colleagues.
Read your totals
You see the total for each ceremony, adults and children separately, your largest ceremony, and the total guest places across all events.
The reason
Why count per ceremony
A South Asian wedding is rarely one guest list. The nikkah might be close family at the mosque, the mehndi a few hundred at home or in a hall, and the walima or reception the biggest event of all. A Sikh family may have an anand karaj at the gurdwara in the morning and a reception that evening. Each of these needs its own number for the venue, the caterer and the decorator.
Counting per ceremony also stops a common mix-up: adding every event together and booking a hall for a crowd that will never be in one room. The planner shows your largest single ceremony separately from the total places across events for that reason.
Practical tips
Getting both families to agree
- Ask each side for numbers per ceremony, not one overall figure.
- Agree a date by which each side gives final numbers, well before the caterer needs them.
- Keep children as a separate count, and ask each caterer how they price them.
- Leave a little room for guests who bring someone extra, and agree who decides.
Using the totals
What to do with your numbers
- Your largest ceremony decides which halls can fit you. Share it with venues first, with adults and children given separately.
- Each ceremony's total goes to the caterer for that event. If the same caterer covers several days, give them one number per day, not one number for the week.
- The total places across all events is useful for budgeting food and favours, but it is not the number of different people coming. Someone at the mehndi and the walima counts twice.
- The side-by-side split helps each family see its share, which makes it easier to agree changes if a hall has a lower limit than you hoped.
When you are ready to invite people, the app will hold the named list, send invitations and collect RSVPs per ceremony.
Related tool
Next: what will the food cost?
Once you know your numbers per ceremony, carry them into the catering cost calculator to see a price range for each event. For a guide to typical numbers, read how many guests come to an Asian wedding.
Big numbers change the venue search: read choosing a venue for 500 guests, then put your totals into the wedding budget planner.
Questions
Ask each family for their numbers per ceremony, not one overall list. Smaller events such as the nikkah or a family mehndi often have fewer guests than the walima or reception. Count adults and children separately, so you can ask each caterer and venue how they price children.
Usually the number for the event they are hosting. For your largest ceremony, that is the figure that decides which halls can fit you, so get it agreed early.
Yes, for seats and space. For food, ask each caterer how they price children, and give them adults and children as separate numbers.
Not on this page. It gives you totals only. Invitations, RSVPs and a guest list per ceremony are coming to the Nodus app.
Yes. There is no sign-up and nothing is saved. Nodus is free for couples, forever.
Keep going
Where next
- Free toolAsian wedding catering cost calculatorWork out your wedding catering cost: price per head × guests × ceremonies, with reference ranges from published UK prices. Free, no sign-up.
- JournalHow many guests at an Asian weddingUK Asian weddings often have several hundred guests at the main event, far above the UK average. See norms by ceremony and a simple way to estimate yours.
- JournalChoosing a wedding venue for 500 guestsHow to choose a UK wedding venue for 500 guests: seated capacity, kitchens and outside caterers, parking, finish times, licensing and multi-day hire.
Also useful: South Asian wedding budget planner · South Asian wedding checklist · Free tools for South Asian weddings