Over the past decade, wedding costs have soared, with the average American wedding now costing near $30,000. That means for every budget bride out there, someone else is spending $50,000 or more. Yikes! Even scarier, more than half of all couples will spend more than they budgeted in the first place. Additionally, fewer parents are paying for these weddings -- so you may have to pay for your own share of the billion-dollar bridal industry.If you don't have $30,000 just burning a hole in your pocket, but you can't possibly imagine your big day without that ice sculpture, chocolate fountain, designer dress, enormous diamond, and seven course reception dinner, then a wedding loan may seem like a logical option for you.
Wedding loans are available, just like car loans, from various banks and online lenders. But do you really want one? The interest rates advertised as "low" seem to start around 8% (not low), and there may be closing costs or other fees as with other types of loans. Taking out a wedding loan can help you pay for your dream wedding, but did you ever dream you'd still be paying it off years down the road? The wedding is just one day. Do you know how many days you could live off $30,000?
Financial trouble is one of the leading causes of divorce in the US. Before you set your sights on a wedding you really can't afford, make sure you and your future spouse are taking an honest look at your finances and goals for the future. My guess is that if you're considering a wedding loan, your financial priorities could use some reorganizing.
What's in a name?
Dress of the day: Anastasia by Maggie Sottero
Unusual wedding cakes from Dragons and Daffodils
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nov 29th 2007 @ 10:30PM
BonnySwan said...
Wow. That seems like a terrible idea...that's part of the reason my fiancé and I are waiting as long as we are to get married, because we want to pay for the wedding ourselves and we don't want to (gah) take out a loan to do so. (And we don't want to bite into our house-down-payment, either.)
I would say that everyone should take a close look at that kind of loan and say to themself "Wouldn't I rather be $30k closer to owning a house eventually?" Even in today's real estate market, you're going to buy *eventually,* and your money could be doing such better things than paying for melty ice sculptures...although I think that's the crux of the problem right there: how do we define "better"? It's different for everyone. So that's just my $0.02.
Reply