Personal Loans for a Wedding?
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Are you newly engaged and considering a personal loan to pay for your wedding? Here are 10 reasons you should wait.
Weddings can be incredibly expensive, there’s no doubt about that and I think until you begin planning one it can be hard to imagine just how expensive. Pop the ‘W’ word in front of anything and prices can double or even triple.
Weddings can, of course, be done on a tight budget – but I can also see why people want to have their dream day as many of going into wedding planning hoping it’ll be the only time we do it. However, taking out personal loans for a wedding is not the answer.
10 Reasons You Should NOT Use Personal Loans For A Wedding
1. Saving up Vs Personal Loans For A Wedding
In the rose-tinted post-engagement glow it can be hard to imagine getting married in several years time. However, booking weddings two, or even three years in advance is becoming more and more common as couples choose to save up rather than using personal loans for a wedding.
We live in a culture where we live for the now and sites like Instagram play a huge part in the type of lifestyle we covet.
But getting into debt to impress friends and family is never going to be worth it – especially when the money spent on just one day could leave you saddled with debt for many years to come.
Plus, there’s all that interest you’ll be paying to think about. All the extra money could be spent on something fun and worthy like a honeymoon or towards a house deposit.
When you’re spending money that you’ve worked hard for and saved yourself you’re far more likely to be sensible with it and really account for every penny than you are if you suddenly have £20k in the bank to play with!
2. Where do you see yourself in five years time?
The average personal loans for a wedding last around five years. If you plan a wedding for a years time, that’s four years after your wedding you’ll finally finish paying for it. That’s a long time. I got married two and a half years ago and already that seems like a lifetime – we’ve both changed careers and had a baby since then.
Looking at things in the long term is never easy – but if you plan to start a family then it’s worth thinking about the impact that could have on your ability to pay back a loan. Maternity pay isn’t great and then there are choices to be made about going back to work vs paying for childcare and so on. If you’ve always been used to having two incomes the sudden drop in pay can be quite a shock.
If you’re not already living together or planning to buy a house having large outstanding personal loans could have a huge impact on whether or not you are able to get accepted for a mortgage.
3. What if you were made redundant?
Although we all like to think our jobs our wonderfully secure, that isn’t always the case and both my partner and myself have been made redundant in the past. This is another drop in income that should be considered when applying for personal loans. Think about the consequences if you were suddenly unable to afford your wedding loan payments. This could lead to additional interest and fees and in turn further debt. It’s a cycle that can be difficult to get out of – is it really worth it for just one day?
4. Ask For Wedding Help Instead of Gifts
The days of the bride’s parents paying for the entire wedding are long gone and with the average U.K wedding now costing well in excess of 2£0k I can see why! That said, giving plenty of notice of your impending nuptials may give both sets of parents time to save and make a financial contribution should they wish to do so.
You could also ask for friends and family to help with the wedding in lieu of a traditional wedding gift – we had a family member make our wedding cake and friends and family help with the catering to save on costs.
5. Consider What Else that money could be spent on
Say for example you decide on a £15k loan for your wedding – it’s worth thinking about what that money could get you. For a lot of people that’s more than a year’s wages and then there’s the interest on top of that as well. £15k could buy a brand new car – not something I wholly recommend doing – but in terms of use, the car would fair much, much better.
6. What if the Worst Should Happen?
A post about weddings and I’m going to mention the ‘D’ word. While it might be the last thing on your mind at the moment, the sad truth is that 1 in 3 marriages in the U.K now ends in Divorce. If that were to happen a year or two into your marriage (and I sincerely hope it doesn’t!) you could be left paying for a wedding and a divorce bill at the same time.
7. Consider the Impact It Could Have on a Mortgage
This was already briefly covered above but having personal loans for a wedding could affect your ability to get a mortgage in the future.
While lenders do seem to be becoming a little less strict than they have been in recent years there are still lots of criteria they look at, including your credit rating. If you default on your wedding loan at any point during its term this could make things really difficult when applying for a mortgage.
8. Try a 0% Interest Credit Card Instead
If you do have savings for your wedding but are concerned about last-minute or unexpected costs, a 0% credit card could be the answer. Make sure the credit card is paid off in full before the 0% interest period is up if you do end up needing to spend on it to avoid getting into debt. Money Saving Expert has a list of the best currently on the market.
9. Do You Have An Emergency Fund?
Having an emergency fund is a really important part of managing finances successfully as negates the need to rely on loans and credit cards when unexpected expenses pop up.
If you don’t have an emergency fund it and you do choose to take out loans for a wedding, something which is not a necessity, it’s worth thinking about how you’d then fund a genuine emergency such as a sudden house move or needing to buy a new vehicle without incurring even more debt.
10. Whose Responsibility is the Debt?
It’s worth making very clear from the start who is responsible for the debt unless it’s in both parties names. Even then it’s worth making sure everyone knows how much they will be paying towards the repayments each month.
Debt can often cause huge problems in relationships – if the debt is large and one person is paying for it on their own and struggling while the other is always out having fun it could certainly cause tensions – not a great start to married life.
Personally, I would never advise getting into debt for the sake of your wedding. It is possible to have an amazing wedding on a budget and if you have to take the time to save up for it, you’ll appreciate it all the more.
Some quick tips for getting your wedding for less so you don’t need to rely on a personal loan for a wedding.
- Midweek and Sunday weddings cost considerably less. With plenty of notice, your loved ones should be able to book the day off of work to attend. See this post for how to choose the perfect wedding venue.
- There are loads of ways to your dress for less – from buying second hand and hitting the sales. See this post: How to get your dream dress for less.
- Bridesmaids dresses don’t have to be bridesmaids dresses – mine came from Tesco and were £22.50 each.
- Shake things up with a non-traditional wedding breakfast – no one actually needs three courses – try an afternoon tea, picnic or trendy food van.
I really don’t understand why people want to spend lots of money on a wedding, especially if they don’t actually have that much cash or savings and need to borrow. Money is better spent on the marriage rather than the wedding.