Why does a brand-new plan already show 11%?

The budget-position input opens on "I have no idea what weddings cost", which is a real, workable answer rather than a blank. One of nine inputs answered rounds to 11%. Nothing has been assumed on your behalf.

What does 70% readiness mean?

Roughly six or seven of nine inputs are answered. In practice that means location, guest count, budget position, protected priorities, and a recommendation are all on record - the point at which sending vendor inquiries stops wasting your time.

Does a higher readiness score mean a better wedding plan?

No. The score counts answered inputs. It makes no judgement about whether the answers are good ones, and a fully answered plan built on an unrealistic guest count will score 100%.

The rubric

The planning readiness score

Q: Are the inputs weighted differently?

No. All nine carry equal weight. Weighting them would require asserting that one input matters more for every couple, which contradicts the constraint-first method the score belongs to.

The planning readiness score is a percentage measuring how many of 9 constraint-first planning inputs a couple has answered. Each input carries equal weight, so every answered input moves the score by about 11 percentage points. It measures completeness of inputs, not the quality of the plan.

How it is calculated

Count the answered inputs, divide by 9, multiply by 100, round to the nearest whole number. There is no other term in the formula. Every input carries the same weight — about 11 points — because weighting them would mean asserting that one input matters more for every couple, and that is exactly the assertion constraint-first planning refuses to make.

The score is computed in your browser from values you typed. Nothing is sent anywhere, and no input is inferred on your behalf.

The 9 scored inputs

Input	What it asks	Counts when you have answered	Weight
Constraint mode chosen	Are your requirements hard, flexible, or still being discovered?	constraintMode	11%
Location named	Where, roughly, is this happening?	locations	11%
Guest count entered	How many people are you actually feeding and seating?	guestCount	11%
Budget position set	Do you have a target number, or are you still unsure?	budgetTarget or budgetMode	11%
Design language started	What should it feel like, or what colours are you drawn to?	ownVibeWords or colorsLoved	11%
Priorities protected	What are you unwilling to cut?	priorities	11%
Recommendation run	Have you put one real question through the Recommendation Studio?	recommendationResult	11%
Venue type shortlisted	Have you shortlisted at least one venue shape?	selectedVenueIds	11%
Vendor categories selected	Which vendor roles are you actually hiring?	selectedVendorCategories	11%

Constraint mode chosen. Every later tradeoff is scored against this. Without it the planner cannot tell a preference from a requirement.

Location named. Location sets travel cost, season risk, vendor supply, and whether a rain plan is a line item or an afterthought.

Guest count entered. Guest count is the multiplier on nearly every quote you will receive. Nothing below it can be estimated without it.

Budget position set. Saying "unknown" out loud counts. An unstated budget and an admitted-unknown budget are different planning states, and only one of them can be worked with.

Design language started. Vendors quote against a described look. Without one you get generic packages and compare them badly.

Priorities protected. When the budget is short, this is the list that decides what survives. Deciding it under pressure is how couples regret cuts.

Recommendation run. The recommendation is where your constraints get read back to you, including the conflicts you did not notice you had entered.

Venue type shortlisted. A shortlist of one is still a shortlist. It converts an open search into a comparison you can finish.

Vendor categories selected. The vendor list is the inquiry list. Until it exists there is nobody to send questions to.

What each number means

0–22% · Blank. Nothing is decided yet. A new plan opens at 11% because admitting the budget is unknown already counts as a stated position.

23–44% · Sketched. You have a place and a size. Enough to reject obviously wrong venues, not enough to price anything.

45–66% · Costed. Location, count, budget position, and what you refuse to cut are all on record. Quotes can now be compared against something.

67–88% · Actionable. A recommendation has been run against your real constraints and a shortlist exists. This is the point where sending inquiries stops wasting your time.

89–100% · Complete. Every input the planner scores has been answered. Completeness of inputs, not a verdict on the plan.

What the score is not

It is not a quality judgement. A plan built on an unrealistic guest count will happily reach 100%.
It is not a prediction. It says nothing about whether the wedding will come in on budget.
It is not a progress bar for the wedding. Answering all nine inputs is the start of vendor conversations, not the end of planning.
It is not comparable between couples. Two plans at 55% can be at completely different stages, because the inputs they answered are different.

See your own score

The planner shows your readiness score, which inputs are still unanswered, and what answering each one would change. Free, no account, and everything stays in your browser.

Open the free wedding planner →