Financing the wedding

[sarah_n_brian2006]

I am possibly thinking abouut financing my wedding, has anyone tryed this, or doing this? Or heck have any experience in this stuff? I only have a car loan, and not sure how to go about getting a loan for the wedding. Help!

 

[JandJ]

O.K. flame suit firmly on


I was in debt up over my eyeballs when I met my DH. He is a saver and has always lived by a budget. When he proposed we knew exactly how much we had to spend on a wedding (we're over 30 and have been out on our own for years, so asking our parents to pay for our wedding was just inappropriate at this point). We were able to stay under budget even with our honeymoon because we were very honest with ourselves. If we didn't have the cash we didn't do it. Plain and simple.

The marriage is the MOST important thing not the way you say "I do." I was lucky to get the wedding of my dreams but I also realized what was really important - marrying the most wonderful man in the world, not the few hours of the one day it took to make it legal. If you can have a smaller wedding now (an Intimate or even a non-Disney wedding) and then save up money for a big reception or vow renewal down the road, I would have to recommend that. I just know from experience that being in debt totally sucks and it takes years and years to get out of it. I'm now on a strict budget and it's worked out so great - being out of debt is the best feeling! Please, from this total stranger, just take the time to think long and hard before you go into deep debt for one day out of your lives.

 

[kennancat]

Check out wedding channel or the knot – I remember seeing banner ads all over those for financing weddings. That being said, I have to agree with JandJ – make sure that you’re really thinking this through before you decide to do it. I think a big part is how much are you looking to finance and how long it will take you to pay it back. If you’re looking to finance the last $2K because your sick grandmother can’t make it and you want to hire a videographer to make a video so she can see it and it’ll only take you a couple of months to pay it back, I say go for it. On the other hand, if you’re looking to finance $20K so that you can invite every person you know, that’s when I think it’s probably time to consider cutting back on either the guest list or the per-head cost. That kind of debt adds a lot of stress, especially when you’re just starting out. I remember one of my husband’s co-workers announcing that he’d just made the last payment on his wedding – 18 months after the divorce. Good luck in whatever you decide!

 

[JonetteA]

I will let you know that I am having a really hard time with this post. Sarah, I don't pretend to be sage or wise, but think this through carefully before you do it. I too know a guy that had a Disney wedding and 3-4 years after the wedding...and the divorce is still paying the wedding off. I don't know if you plan to do a custom or an intimate, but remember that the hardest strain on a marriage is financial. Also, don't just think of it as a base price with Disney. They don't finalize their prices until 6 months from your date, and prices do increase. Also, you are looking at at least 1-2k more for hair and makeup, gifts, dress steaming, cake boxes, or custom napkins if you choose. The point here is that there are alot of extra expenses. I know in the last month, outside of the wedding, which I am paying the majority of myself, I spent $600 in dental bills (stinky insurance) and $800 on my car. I wish you all of the best, and we can all help you trim corners to be where you want to be so you can have a wonderful wedding. We can definately help you and support you!

 

[ead79]

I totally agree with Jonette. I think it really depends on your situation and how much you’re looking to finance.

Sometimes life just throws stuff at us that we’re not expecting. I was downsized 2 months after getting married, and that put us in a lot of debt (the lack of my paycheck, not the wedding). Leading up to the wedding I lived as absolutely frugally as possible in order to pay for my portion of the wedding expenses—my parents paid for 2/3 of the expenses and I paid for 1/3. I absolutely hate being in debt from being unemployed—it really can be an overwhelming feeling as a newlywed.

Sorry for the rambling, I think what I’m trying to say is that I think it’s a good idea to think long and hard about your financial situation before making your final decision. Make a budget and stick to it. Avoid the temptation for every single add on. For instance, let’s say that you absolutely want to have Cinderella’s Coach and 2 characters at your wedding. If you only have X amount of money, you might have to give up one of those to stick to the budget. It’s tough, but we’ve all been there. Let me tell you for sure that on your big day you won’t notice a single thing that you cut from the budget—what you did do will look so fabulous you won’t even mind what you had to cut.

Good luck with your decision and with your planning!

 

[sarah_n_brian2006]

My soon to be DMIL will give us 4k, my parents 2k, and we're responsible for about 6k, we were thinking of doing a loan for 8k, and pay off credit cards then put the rest towards wedding, which would be about 5k. So as far as financing my butt off, dont worry, it will easily be paid off shortly after the wedding. We want to get married ASAP, and if we finance, we can do it in a few months and not wait that dreaded year we would be forced to if we had to save. Plus we wanted to use wedding money to pay it off, which shouldn't be too hard with DF parents' friends. Thank You for your advice and concerns. Are there any more people that had financed?

 

[JonetteA]

Good Luck!

 

[littleladykaty]

Dahlin, it is UP TO YOU...you know what your financial capabilities are...it sounds like you and your DF have it figured out...sadly, doing things on credit is the American way...and if you can pay it off, make your money work for you, then you should do what you want to do.

My DF is a crazy serious financial planning madman. He does have debt (after a divorce and having to start over, buy a new house and all that goes with that) but it is what it is and we pay our bills every month and credit cards in full every month. His credit is impeccable...but DEBT is almost impossible to avoid. You just have to make sure that any debt you take on is not going to drown you. We don't buy things on credit that we couldn't pay cash for.

All this rambling aside...we took out a loan for our wedding, even though I was initially against it. His response was "i want you to have the wedding of your dreams, it's just money and we both work hard and I'll be gosh darned (not what he really said) if I work as hard as I do to have mediocre wedding!" To us it's a celebration of our lives starting...so FOR US, it's worth it to celebrate the way we say I do...

I don't want to regret one single thing...I've had enough regrets and I'm not willing to compromise on what will be the most precious important day of my life. This is the only wedding I will have. I know that for sure. So it's gotta be good!!! That's just me. Just my opinion Do what is best for you and what you can handle without crippling your life and your choices later on.

k...love ya

 

[sajetto]

I haven't read all the other posts but I'm going to say that I would NEVER do that. My DF and I just bought a house with the money we would have used for a big wedding. Its ONE day of your life. Why put yourself into financial ruin for a party? May sound harsh, but I have the Suze Orman way of telling it like it is. I've heard of people taking out a second mortgage out on their home, going into serious CC debt, or taking a personal loan to pay for a wedding and all I can do is shake my head. Flame all you want, but thats just how I feel about it and you did ask. Good luck with what you decide, but think about what you want for the long term of your life before you place that kind of money on that one day.

 

[Luvndisney]

everyone is different and all of this is just advice sweetie. I hope this works out for you because I was in your situation a few months ago. We wanted a dream Disney wedding and if it meant loans we were going to do it. I am not knocking anyone's wedding on here. SO please do not get mad at me when I say this - every person is different. But I would ahe regretted having a smaller wedding or one not in Disney. Whatsmore..so would my DH. We knew it so we considered loans. Now I am not saying this is something to just jump into...see what you can save without a loan. Cut your spending now and put every penny away. consider a 6 month cd with high interest rate first. If you still are short go to you bank and see waht they say. We took out a small lona like you jsut discussed and we will be able to pay it off in 1 year so if you are ok wiht that so be it. Good Luck Sarah!! I know you pain and frustraton right now. You make the decision that is best for you.

 

[happylalagirl]

Sarah - I am going through a similar problem. My DF and I have been dating since 1993. We have a 10 year old daughter. About 3 years ago, I thought it was over... we strayed so far apart, I could barely see "us" anymore... but God had other plans for us and we are stronger than ever and we both KNOW that this is going to be our ONLY wedding. With that said, neither of our parents' can afford to help us with the wedding. My parents are paying for our photographer (Randy Chapman ) but we are responsible for everything else. I went back to school full-time last fall and I'm graduating in August. That didn't leave much time for a real job... so, my DF has been working his butt off to make the ends meet... and now, in a couple of months, I'll be able to get a real job and help out with the finances. We are not willing to compromise on our wedding. Since I decided to go to grad school starting in the Fall '06, I am going to take out extra student loan money. It's lower interest than I would get on any other loan and I have a grace period (I'm going to pay at least the interest while I'm in school). So, this was thought about and discussed for several months before I moved forward with it. This was the best decision for us. Like many other girls have said, you have to think it out and make the decision based on your situation. Just be prepared for unexpected things, like losing your job (sorry to hear about that Elisabeth - your wedding is our inspiration).

All I really want to say to you is do what's best for you and enjoy your day.

 

[Ember]

Have you thought about a line of credit? The interest rates are usually much lower and there's other benefits as well. We have a line of credit that we use for all our big purchases (computer, furnishings, etc). It's the only debt we have because we use it to buy one thing at a time and the we pay it off. Also, it means there are no store cards or any other loans or payments to worry about. Part of our wedding will be on our line of credit and we aren't worried about it.

 

[Disney Girlie-Wirlie]

You just have to do what's affordable for you and realistic.
It's easy to think about your DREAM wedding and then start to get carried away and think of all the ways you may just be able to pull it off, but at the end of the day you realize it's probably not realistic. Don't get me wrong, I think everyone should have their dream wedding but for example, I had my dream wedding in May 2005. But was it really my absolute FANTASY wedding? It was perfect for what we could do, but my real, in a perfect world dream wedding would've consisted of me and DH getting married infront of Cinderella Castle infront of 200 of my closest friends and family with Mickey and Minnie in attendance, and, you get the idea. However, being from NY, getting all those people there would be virtually impossible not to mention a wedding like that would've been WAY out of budget. But I wanted Disney to be incorporated in my wedding b/c DH proposed in Cinderella's Castle.
So, I started to think, well, maybe we can have an Intimate Disney wedding, with just our Closest family and friends. But when I thought about it, it was my wedding day and I wanted everyone to be there. So, we had the wedding in NY and over 200 of the people we really love and wanted to be there were there and we were able to do it within budget, and that was the most important thing. So, we had a Cinderella theme for the wedding to incorporate Disney, and to top it off we went to WDW for part of our honeymoon before heading to St.Lucia.
But it was nice having a dream wedding within budget that really worked perfectly for us. We didn't finance anything and, infact, with alot of places, you'll even find (opposite of finance charges) they're willing to give you a price break if you pay in cash! But all I know is, for instance, my dress, looked like the dress of a Princess and so thought everyone else, but ya know what? It was first one I tried on, I fell in love with it, and I got it at David's Bridal for a couple hundred bucks. Meanwhile, a girl I know who got married before me spent $10,000 (gasp!) on hers and she's still in debt (and really upset) over it. It's your wedding day, it's only one day, and as long as the people who you want to be there most are there, then no matter how much you spend, it's going to be the most special day of your life! And believe me, the wedding day goes VERY insanely fast, but unfortunately, if you finance, before you know it the wedding will be over and all that will be left are-THE BILLS!!!
So, on that loooooooong note, Biggest & Best Congratulations to you and yours and a Lifetime of Magic and Happiness.

Notice the Cinderella Cake topper on this one!

 

[sarah_n_brian2006]

Thank you for all of your concerns. The loan I am considering will be easy to pay off. I'm having a custon on a Monday in the morning. The reception is at Living Seas, so the only decor I need is cake table and the centerpieces Im bringing with me. My total budget is 12k, mean while 6k is taken care of. So we are only left with 6k to save for. DF's father is a surgeon, so we have those 'political' invites. By political, I mean I invite to show that his dad values their business (either referrals or substituting) and they usually just send a check. A nice check. We will easily be able to pay the loan off within a year. See I am not having a WDW wedding because it's my fantasy. And having a wedding at home would require more money than the WDW one. I live in Palm Beach county, where if you're getting married, the prices are outrageous. The best prices in town for reception meal (Caesar salad and Lasanga) is $50 + drinks + cake + champagne toast. We originally thought about doing the intimate and having a reception at home for my family, yeah right, the budget (Wal-Mart version [cheap]) was $12k. I looked into havinga custom to shoot two birds at once, and it worked out. Thank you for your concerns on me taking out a loan of like 20k, and trying to warn me of the conseqences. But I need some info on the actual process and how to go about getting it, like would it be considered a Personal Loan and such. Any help?

 

[bride2bee]

Here are to websites that you can apply for "wedding loans". The first one is really reliable ( my df took a personal loan out while in college) and I don't know anything about the second company. Anyway here are the links Good Luck!

http://www.mbna.com/loans/weddings_spec_events.html

http://www.bridalloans.com/