how long did it take you to pay off your Disney World wedding?

[pintradingwedding]

and if you are STILL paying it off, was it all worth it?

Any regrets at all ?

 

[pezzapixiedust]

we saved for our wedding as we wanted to pay for everything ourselves so everything is booked and paid for apart from the extras, but it is a huge weight off of my mind knowing that it is all paid!
I dont believe in getting loans and things for weddings as you hear all to often that people are still paying off the loan years later......and are divorced!!
Hope this helps! x

 

[JandJ]

we saved for our wedding as we wanted to pay for everything ourselves so everything is booked and paid for apart from the extras, but it is a huge weight off of my mind knowing that it is all paid!
I dont believe in getting loans and things for weddings as you hear all to often that people are still paying off the loan years later......and are divorced!!
Hope this helps! x

I have to agree, I just don't think it's worth going into deep debt for one day of your life. It's the marriage that's important, the wedding day is special of course, but it's hard to start out your marriage in debt for the sake of a party.

We did the same thing, came up with a budget, paid for it ourselves, and had it all saved up beforehand. We had an Intimate so after paying for everything (and I mean everything!) we still had money left. Which was great because we had just bought our first house and needed to decorate.

A friend borrowed close to $20k for her wedding (non-Disney), figured she would get money as gifts to help pay it off, didn't get more than $3000 in gift money, got divorced 2 years later and paid it off 1 year after the divorce! Not that anyone plans to get divorced, but even if they were still married, 3 years to pay off one day is kind of silly, IMHO. We surprisingly got a nice bit of gift money but were able to put some in savings and use some on fun stuff because we didn't have to use it to pay off our wedding day.

Make the right decision for you, only you can figure out how much debt you want to get into, and Good Luck!

 

[penlanspice]

Ok so we must be the silly ones I'm sure there are loads of us out there!!
We will be paying for ours for about 4 years. We are paying for it ourselves aswell as our at home party. We would never of saved that kind of money,we are totally rubbish at saving and any spare money we have gets spent, usually on holidays!

So it's one day ( I guess on the plane ride home we are going to be kinda gutted we just blew around $30K on one day) but it will bw the best day of our lives!!

 

[pintradingwedding]

I'm glad to hear it! Because i'll be borrowing against my 401k to pay for this and paying for a few years i bet! You only live once, right?!

 

[JDR2b777]

I want to have my weddings paid off too without loans. That is why I have worked everything out. My fiance just got a job *we are both graduating this saturday) He will live with my brother and only pay him 200 a month for rent. He will save all of his money. I am going to live with my parents for free and I will save everyone of my paychecks. I haven't found a job yet but if I get desperate I will get a job at the mall or somewhere and work everyday day and night and hope in 12 months I will make atleast 20,000. I know my fiance is make way over that but he will be saving for a downpayment on a home. So, I hope my plans go through. I am pretty determined girl when I have my mind set. So, hopefully - with support from family I will be able to save my money and save them money by paying all of it by myself.

 

[Luvndisney]

you do what you have to. We were going to have to take out a huge loan for this wedding but we got some ixie dust and onlt took out a small one. We will pay it off in a year or less. I don't regret it. Everyone is different. As long as you and your finance are comfortbale go ahead and do it.

It would have taken us 4 years to save that much money and we have been together for 7 already. So we did it and we knew it was Disney or no wedding.

 

[Mary626]

We were very fortunate, we paid for about half, and our parents generously took care of the rest. I tried to keep costs as low as possible without sacrificing too much though.

But even if we were paying it off for the next five years, I wouldn't have changed a thing!!!

 

[pezzapixiedust]

I suppose that is very true luvndisney, as long as you are in control of your finances then a small loan qont be a problem, i was just trying to say, try not to get into huge debt for your wedding and i understand everybody has different circumstances xx

 

[my4kids]

I didn't have a Disney wedding, but i did have a big expensive wedding. My parents sat me down when I got engaged and said "We can afford this much for your wedding....you can either spend it all on one day or you can have a small nice affair and use the rest of the money as a down-payment on a house! " Of couse, being young and starry eyed, I said "I want the big wedding! - We can always make money for a house, but we will never get married again" OK fast-forward 12 years and 4 kids (which goes by in a blink by the way) I soooo wish I had used the money on a house! The day was wonderful, everything went perfectly - but all I have is pictures of it. It was a ton of stress putting it together, I don't even have contact anymore with 80% of the guests. (College friends fade - my best friends soon became the parents of my childrens friends - because you get thrown together) I was truly in love with my husband (still am) and now I wonder why it mattered what kind of wedding we had at all, because I would still get to spend the rest of my life with him. The wedding was over in a day, and then I spend the next 6 years of my life pressed into an apartment , for the last couple of years there were 2 kids sharing that apartment with us. We then moved on to a house (very small) We are finally in a comfortable house, but it has taken us 12 years to get here and our 1 day wedding put us back at least 6 years.

I know everyone has different circumstances, and even though my parents tried to tell me exactly what I am saying right now, I still did not want to listen...and I am sure know one reading this wants to listen either, but hind-sight is 20/20, and I am just trying to give a little hindsight to anyone out there in a similar circumstance.

Other advice I would have....Cubic Zirconia!!!!!!!! they make them look so good now that no one can tell the difference....most people think my CZ is real and my diamond isn't (it sparkles more) - go with a nice beautiful CZ instead of a tiny little diamond....also, you will never use your china, register for things you will use. (More advice I did not take from my parents)

Edited to add.... Mary626 says she would not change a thing, but I see from her sig. that she was just married this year! I would have said the same thing for about 3 yrs after my wedding because I would not be able to see how much it impacted my life yet. I would be interested to hear what she thinks in 5 or 10 years. That is when you are trying to make a house payment, buy diapers ($30 a case) baby formula ($20 a can) think about education costs, want nice things for your kids, stay home with your kids (if that is what you want)

I guess what I am trying to say is...if you are in a position that you need to take a loan to pay for your wedding, maybe you should do something in your budget, and then if you have money later, why not have a 10yr. anniversary bash at WDW. Then you will know your marriage survived the first 5 (killer yrs) Your true life friends will be there. Your kids will be there. I had the attitude that I would never have that wedding day again with my husband...but you can have it again, everyday you are together you can have it again....Any day people you love come together to celebrate your love for each other is special whether it is the day you start your life together or the day you look back over 10 or 20 wonderful years together.
My 2 cents....again, everyone has different situations and priorites, i'm not trying to preach, just give an out look of a 12 yr. experienced bride who is still trying to make ends meet.

 

[princessblueeyzes]

Wow my4kids! You hit it right on the head- I am a young soon to be disney bride and even though I don't have kids I feel that having an intimate wedding at the WP is my dream wedding and I will still have money left over for a down payment for a house of my own. Thanks for backing up what I have been thinking- as my mom wants me to have a huge wedding and we are fighting about it as I only want the maximum allowed for the intimate which is 20 people max including DF and myself.

 

[penlanspice]

Great little insite my4 kids. I'm sure many brides to be feel the same way you did and are young and just want to live for now attitude.

I know I would never save, so when we decided to do it then we had to take out a loan to pay for it. Don't get me wrong I'm sure many others are not in a position the same as us, we have been together for 10 years this year and this wedding means alot to both of us and it's about everyone having a great time and showing off a little to be honest. We have lived together for many years and have absolutely everything and go on holiday around 3 times a year, so money is not really an object. We both have good jobs, no plans to have kids and most definitely live for now.

 

[druidia]

We paid a portion in cash and the rest on a 0% interest credit card. Most of it is paid off now. I completely do not regret it and would do it all again and spend even more! It was a total once in a lifetime experience that we're all still talking about!

I just don't believe in putting off our happiness for the "what if?" We worked within a budget number for the wedding. We happily came in well under that by managing our guest list closely.

I might have felt differently if we didn't already own a home, so I'm not sure spending your house down payment on a wedding is a great idea in today's rapidly appreciating market. But it's all about what your priorities are.

Personally I believe life is about living, not about saving it all to give away to someone else!

 

[Mary626]

Edited to add.... Mary626 says she would not change a thing, but I see from her sig. that she was just married this year! I would have said the same thing for about 3 yrs after my wedding because I would not be able to see how much it impacted my life yet. I would be interested to hear what she thinks in 5 or 10 years. That is when you are trying to make a house payment, buy diapers ($30 a case) baby formula ($20 a can) think about education costs, want nice things for your kids, stay home with your kids (if that is what you want)

I know your'e not really directing that at me per se, but are talking abouto the topic at hand, but I think I'll explain my situation a little bit more. Since I kept my costs to a bare minimum, I highly doubt I will regret anything. When planning for the wedding, I thought to myself "will I care in five years if I have chair covers or not" "will it matter in five years if there was an open bar for the guests?" etc. I had very few frilly things at my wedding. My centerpieces were a very cheap $35 each and were beautiful! I concentrated on keeping things that were FUN in the wedding and not careing as much about having every single perk or huge floral arrangements. I wasn't trying to impress everyone or pretend I was made of money - I just wanted a fun, memorable day/weekend.

I had a very reasonable budget and it was cheaper then if I had had the wedding in california - if I had the wedding in LA, there would have been about 150 guests instead of 47, and LA is a pretty expensive place to get married anyways.So by having my DREAM wedding I actually saved money, did things that wouldn't have been possible anywhere else - like have a fantasmic dessert party and dance with mickey and minnie - and had a magical time. Memories that will continue to make me smile for years to come.

I'm the kind of person who always does the practical thing, and never feels like I deserve anything special, and always felt like "the ugly one" growing up, so before I head into grad school this fall and do the starving-student bit, I wanted one day of my life where I could feel like a princess, as cheesy as that sounds. And like I said, I'm lucky that we paid for it all in advance, and I still have $15,000 in my savings for a downpayment on the house. So no regrets coming from me

It's been said, but I will say it again; everyone has different situations and you just really need to figure out what's important to YOU.

 

[my4kids]

Mary626 - I'm glad that you realize i was not targeting that at you specifically....I'm glad you had your dream wedding and it sounds like you were very frugal and smart in planning it.

As I said, all situations are different....my post was directed to anyone in a situation like I was in , and even then, someone else might feel different in that situation....but it is just my take on it 12yrs after the fact.

i like what you said about "will I care in 5 years if I had chair covers or not?" - those are good things for brides who are not made of money to ask themselves. Things that did matter to me were a good photographer (those things last) a good videographer, and nice food. Everyone might have different priorities, but do you really remember the flowers at any of the weddings you have been to?

 

[pintradingwedding]

the SMART, WISE thing to do -- is use it for a house.

the romantic what if i get hit by a bus tomorrow thing to do -- is to get married at the most magical, happiest place on earth!!!

i'm torn between both - i went house hunting this year and realized how pathetic it is i don't have savings and would have to get 100% financing.

i should have a cheaper wedding back home but i know i would resent the money i spent on the traditional wedding mill wedding. even if it's HALF the money i spent at disney. i'd rather spend twice as much to have my day at disney. disney world is an unbelievably special place to me -- to us. and there is something wonderful about knowing every year or so we can go back and stand in the same spot where we got married.

and i have been to so many cookie cutter weddings and the boring receptions with the chicken dance yuk. i want MY reception to be the MOST FUN ANY OF MY GUESTS HAVE EVER HAD!!!!

but i AM into cutting out things that don't matter. i don't need a cake (my sister is horrified by this)

i don't need a bouquet -- i bought a pearlized vintage bible on ebay for $10 -- but my sister is MAKING me get a bouquet!!! sigh. so i'll get the $300 solid french. it's beautiful. classic. not too crazy priced.

i don't need decorations (thanks to disney's wonderful themeing)

if i can swing photography, i'll go for it. if not, i'm just going to have to rely on snapshots my friends and family take.

the thing i would love to not bother with is a bar -- but i think too many people want to drink at a reception - so i'll do beer and wine only. mixed drinks you're on your own!

i really hope i don't regret spending all this money on a disney wedding. i hope the time spent there with the people i love at an incredibly special time in our lives will more than make up for the cost!!!

but who knows, i could be KICKING myself in two years!

 

[JDR2b777]

I totally agree about decorations and stuff. I mean, I am already have a disney wedding. I want the memorable things, I want fireworks, dove releases, majordomo, confetti at the end. And in order to that , Ihave decided not to add flowers anywhere and leave out alot of other small things. Sooo many people I have talked to has said the same thing, Flowers are so nice and so pretty but noone remember them. UNLESS, you go all out of flowers, but a few flowers here and there at about 600 dollars more, not many people will remember. Same, with the chair covers.. Haha, I debated for ever for the classic or cinderella look. I am going to just have the grandfloridian basic and maybe cover the chairs but that is it. I am not even going to do the centerpieces. I got bunch of candles we can set nicely around and light up. But anyways, I understand where you are coming from. I am just 22 years old but I love to hear other people opions on things. So, thanks.

About the ring thing too. I know a ring won't matter on down the road but being 22years old.. it's hard not to have a nice real diamond on your hand to show your friends. I do feel a diamond is an investment, so I will stick with something reasonable. I babysit for a lady now and she is very well off and she never wears her 2 1/2 carat flawless emerald cut diamond. I think its amazing but with 2 kids and being busy she says it gets in the way. She has just two solid bands she wears but when she goes out that is when she wears her engagement ring.

I am very simple but classic girl. If we couldn't afford a real diamond than I would just stick with a band with our names engraved on it. But fortunately, we are financial stable and whatever ring my man chooses for me, I will love it because I love him and it is from him.

 

[pintradingwedding]

i found my ring in an antique shop and fell in love with it. my very sneaky boyfriend managed to buy it behind my back and then sat on it for 3 years!!!

what's nice about estate or antique rings is they are so unique -- you won't see the same ring on another girls finger! although if you lose it, it's gone!

antique rings also cost less than your typical modern engagement ring

personally i love the delicate designs of the filigree rings and rings from victorian times. i'm just not into the modern or Tiffany type engagement ring

i actually will sit and look at my ring on the subway or at dinner or whatever because i just think it is so pretty and i enjoy looking at it

i'm not sure why i'm going on about this! i'm not sure what it has to do with anything! well excpet that it's a way to save money on a ring. without going the CZ route. antique rings come with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires. all kinds of stones!!!

 

[Kismetdreams]

This was my second marriage, my husbands first. When we decided to get married, we told our parents that we would be paying for it and they both offered to help however we needed it. We saved every penny over the 6-month engagement, I budgeted-cut-budgeted-cut until I got us to a number we could afford and in the end, we paid cash for the wedding with a little help from each of our parents.

We had the things that were most important to us: he wanted an open bar, I wanted the MK photo session and we both wanted M&M at our reception, but I didn't care about chair covers (who notices them, anyway? I had to go back and look at photos to see what color my chairs were 5 days after the wedding), large floral centerpieces that get tossed and no one can see around.

Everyone had a wonderful time, said it was the best wedding they had ever been to and we were done paying for it when it was over. Now, I do wish I had been able to do somethings, but I figure that when we are older and have the opportunity, we can have a VR with all those trimmings that I wanted and couldn't afford the first time (the coach *sigh* )