What Are the 4 Ways You Can Pay For Your Wedding?
4 Ways To Finance Your Wedding
How to get help paying for a wedding?
Ahhh, the burning question so many couples ask when planning their wedding.
How much does the average couple spend on their wedding? According to The Knot, in 2016, couples spent $35,329! And the average cost of a wedding in the Albany, NY area ranges between $36,000 - $39,000.
Why are weddings get more and more expensive? What can you do to help control the costs of your wedding? And how can you get help paying for your wedding?
In this article, we are going to explore these questions and help you have the wedding of your dreams!
why have weddings become so expensive?
There are several reasons behind the rising cost of weddings, but there is one reason in particular that may surprise you!
Since I'm a wedding photographer, let's look at it from a photographer's perspective. Don't worry, I won't bore you to death with all the details, but it's important to understand that cameras, flashes, computers, editing software, etc., continue to get better and better every year.
But, that also means they are getting more and more expensive every year.
That's the short and sweet reason from part of rising expenses. Now for the part that might surprise you! One of the leading causes of rising wedding costs and it has nothing to do with equipment, insurance costs or inflation.
Personalization!
Personalization? What do you mean, personalization?
Many couples getting married today are creating highly-personalized wedding experiences. And when you try to personalize all the details that go into planning a wedding, it's gets expensive quick!
If you follow my blog articles, you know how I feel about sites like Pinterest. I think they can be great, but they are often cause couples to get off track with their wedding budget.
Let me explain.
Your trying to figure out the perfect centerpieces for your wedding. You think to yourself, I know, I'll use Pinterest (or a similar site) to find my inspiration. Much of what you find will be beautiful! It fits your taste perfectly and it's the elegant option you've been looking for.
But the option you love is also extravagant!
Before you know it, you're personalizing every detail and your wedding expenses are growing by the minute!
personalize your wedding without breaking the bank
Before you sit down to plan a single wedding detail, have a plan. Without a plan, expenses can get out of control in a heartbeat!
If you have a huge wedding budget, then personalize everything under the sun. But, if your budget is a little tighter, pick 2-5 details that are really important to you and personalize them.
It will take a little more time and energy, but when it comes to weddings, you can usually find a "knock off" of the more expensive details. And the best part? You can find them at a fraction of the cost!
[Wedding Personalization Ideas To Avoid Excessive Spending]
How To Get Help Paying For A Wedding
When it comes to financing your wedding, there are a limited number of available resources. Let's take a look at 4 options to help you with the financing of your wedding!
1. $$$ In The Bank
Traditionally speaking, weddings were paid for by the parents. However, due to the rising costs, it has become increasingly more difficult for this to happen. Now, many couples are finding they too are taking on a lot of the financial burden. Hopefully, if getting married has been on your radar, you've been setting money aside in anticipation.
So, the first place you need to look is your own savings. How much money do you have in savings right now that you can dedicate to wedding expenses?
2. Money You Can Save
On average, couples will spend between 12-18 months planning their wedding. And most final payments for your wedding expenses (venue, photographer, DJ, etc.) are due 1-2 weeks prior to the wedding day. That means you have from now until 1-2 weeks before your wedding day to save money.
It will likely require you to make sacrifices for the next year - less dinners out or less money towards entertainment, but these sacrifices are only temporary, and well worth it!
3. Parent Contributions
This is often the most difficult step for couples. Approaching the parents to ask for wedding money.
I highly recommend that you research your "true wedding costs" before approaching your parents. The fact is, most couples underestimate their wedding expenses by 40%! If you estimate your wedding costs to be $20,000 and your parents give you $10,000, what happens in 6 months when you suddenly realize your real wedding costs are $28,000?
This can get pretty awkward and now it's panic time, because who is going to pay the additional $8,000?
It's virtually impossible to predict your wedding costs down to the dollar. But, if you can get it to within $1,000 - $2,000, it's going to make life a lot less stressful.
4. Personal Loan
Over 50% of couples will take out a personal loan to pay for their wedding. Unfortunately, borrowing money has become common place to pay for weddings.
If you find yourself having to take out a loan for your wedding, obviously your first goal is to borrow as little money as possible. Ideally, keep the amount your borrow to less than $5,000. This may not be possible for everyone, so be sure to research banks and credit unions to ensure you get the best repayment terms possible.
trending finance options
Okay, so we've covered the 4 ways couples can find money to help pay for their wedding. There are 2 more ways we are starting to see more and more, but I have to be honest, they're both risky.
Home Equity Loan
Many couples getting married today already own a home together. We are seeing more and more couples taking out a home equity loan to finance their wedding.
This is very risky because what if you really need to take out a home equity for repairs to your home? Unfortunately, you never know when you might need a lot of money to make repairs to your home. If you finance a $50,000 wedding, you might find yourself in a very difficult situation, especially if you can no longer repay the loan amount.
Social Funding
Social funding apps - like "Go Fund Me" - have become increasingly popular. It essentially started out as a way to help people in financial trouble due to illness, fire, etc. As it's progressed, it's now become a way to request money for things we can't afford.
For example, many couples have set up a Go Fund Me page for their dream honeymoon or brides have set one up for their dream wedding dress.
The other fallout from this approach comes from the people donating money. If your friend donates $500 towards your honeymoon or wedding, dress and doesn't get an invitation to your wedding, how do you think that one is going to go over? Situations like this are happening more than you might think.
In the end, it becomes a moral question. Should we be asking for money just because we want the more expensive option now?