Marriage is an exciting part of any relationship but as soon as you start considering tying the knot, wedding debt will be an issue over your shoulders. The expenses would not be a problem if you are considering a small wedding. However, even small weddings usually make a sizeable dent in your budget and whatever savings you might have in the bank.
Getting married is a big step and there are a lot of things to consider. Planning for the wedding will take time, the actual wedding itself has to be perfect, and your lives after marriage will never be the same again. Even with that, each part has a lot of items you need to consider. Marriage is a new phase in your life and it brings about a lot of changes.
Wedding debt is starting to gain traction because, for most people, the cost of tying the knot keeps going up. The Washington Post shares that couples borrow an average of $16,000 for wedding expenses. One of the biggest reasons for the rise in popularity of wedding loans is that it usually offered at a lower rate compared to using credit cards.
This means that couples get to have their dream wedding without worrying about the high-interest rates of card companies. In the past, couples who wanted to have their dream wedding would find themselves charging expenses on their credit cards and figuring out the payments after. This is the reason why some couples prefer to take out wedding loans. If you are considering getting one, here are a few things you can do to help you manage it well.
Plan the wedding early to prepare your finances
One of the best ways to avoid or at the very least, manage wedding debt is to plan your special day as early as you can. Planning can be an exciting part in itself if you give yourself enough time to go through it. The most important part of wedding preparation is the date. You need to make sure that you decide and agree on your wedding date. Once you do, everything else will follow.
With the date in mind, you can now start planning for everything else. You can look for the venue where you want to hold your wedding, start booking other suppliers such as food, sounds, lights, flowers, and even your photographer and videographer on the date you have decided. The earlier you do it, the lower your stress level will be in trying to book the suppliers you really want.
One advantage you have when booking suppliers early is that they might agree to a discount or reduced rates. This can mean savings on your end while they get the assurance of a client in the future. You do have to keep an eye on your cash flow because early bookings usually mean a downpayment on your part. This is to assure them that you will not back out.
Agree on the people you will both invite
Wedding debt can be caused by a number of things and one of them is inviting too many people for your wedding. This can be a problem when the two of you cannot decide on a number and you just invite everyone you want. You can end up with a very costly wedding surrounded by people where half of which you do not know or haven’t met.
One approach you can do is to agree first on the number of guests you want to have and what you can afford. Once you have that number down, create a separate guest list and start comparing. You can either split the number of guests down the middle so you get to invite the same number of people or you can make some compromises.
It is easier if you have the same group of friends but even then, you need to know your priorities. Who are the people that need to be there on the list? You can work your way down from that. Keep in mind that your wedding ceremony is an important part of your life and as such, you need to share it with people that matter. Your goal is to make sure that you recognize everyone in the room when you look around.
Be as transparent as possible with your partner
Wedding debt can come from unexpected expenses and at times, it can be one of your trying to pull a fast one on the other and adding a thing or two expense item for the wedding. It might be as simple as changing the flowers, adding one more item for the menu, or even shouldering a few more people’s round trip flights for the wedding.
There is nothing wrong with making changes in your wedding preparations. However, the crucial component of that is to make sure you talk about it as a couple. You need to both agree to changes you make because even the smallest change will have an effect on your total cost. That is why before you make any changes, be sure to talk and agree about it first.
Constantly communicate with your suppliers
Wedding debt can also happen when there are unexpected expenses you did not prepare for. You could be forced to charge it on your card or even take out another loan just to cover the expenses. One way to get around this is to make sure that you are always communicating with all your suppliers to ensure that your costs have not changed.
If it is important that you maintain an open line of communication between you and your partner, the same is through with your suppliers. Checking up on them to know if everything is on schedule or if need to make changes before your big day will not only help you keep your costs down but help you manage stress as well.
Small changes can be a bit of a headache when you find out about it too close to your wedding day. You could already be focused on something else and when a part of your preparations you believed is all set now has some changes, it can stress you out. If it is too close to your wedding day, it might even make you put some things on hold to attend to unexpected problems putting you behind schedule.
Identify areas you can DIY
Once you plan something ahead of time, you have the chance to DIY some of the areas in your marriage preparations. You might have the opportunity to create your invitations by hand to personalize it and save on costs. If you have a lot of time and you have a green thumb, you can grow your own flowers you can use for your wedding day.
Planning ahead gives you the time to put everything together without the need for an events organizer early on. You can opt for one to help run the wedding on the day itself since everything is already set. This can save you time and money along the way. At the end of the day, the more items in your wedding you get to do on your own, the more personal and intimate the ceremony becomes.
Wedding debt is gaining traction but there are ways for you to lower that need or manage the amount in such a way that your repayment is not a big headache. You do not want your marriage to start off with financial challenges so you need to keep an eye on your wedding expenses.
