The service charge is the line that moves a wedding budget the most and gets explained the least. Ask these before you sign, not after. Every one of them has cost somebody real money.
These are not the same thing, and the contract often does not say which it is. A service charge is usually a house fee that does not go to the staff. If it is a house fee, ask whether you are still expected to tip on top — that is a second number nobody quotes you.
Food only, or food plus bar plus rentals? The difference at 120 guests is thousands of dollars. Ask for it in writing, line by line.
In many states a venue may legally charge tax on top of the service charge. Tax on a fee is not intuitive and it is rarely explained, so ask which order they apply.
The number on the first proposal is almost always the before number. Ask them to restate it as the all-in per-head figure you will actually be invoiced.
If the charge does not count toward the minimum, your real floor is higher than the number they gave you.
Ask whether there is a guaranteed minimum headcount, and what the last date is to reduce it. Many contracts lock the count 7 to 14 days out and bill you for no-shows.
Cake cutting, corkage, bar setup, coat check, overtime, vendor meals. Each is small. Together they are not.
This is the single most useful question on this list. A real invoice shows you every line the proposal left out. A venue that will not show you one, redacted, is telling you something.
Every question above exists because the service charge compounds on the part of your budget that scales with guests. The calculator does that math on your own numbers.
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