So, you’re an engaged couple and you’re ready to take that big step of planning and affording your wedding day! But, modern-day weddings are becoming fancier each year and cuples now want their wedding ceremonies to look no less than a dream – resist the desire to compete with this fantasy.
Brides wish for luxury designer dresses and the grooms won’t compromise on the photography quality. Thanks to the new trends, people are ready to spend whatever it takes to make their wedding Insta-famous.
All these factors and the increasing inflation rates are making weddings costlier than ever before. You can expect to spend over $35,000 to arrange a fairy-tale wedding. But the question is, can you afford to pay this much just for a 5-hour function?
In the past, the bride and groom’s parents would help the couple with their wedding-day expenses. Unfortunately, this trend is also dying. The couple has to arrange for most things by themselves and that can wreak havoc on a couple’s bank account.
Now, the majority of couples make wiser decisions in such circumstances. They opt for a more straightforward wedding with minimal guests and affordable dresses.
However, sometimes, the bride and groom-to-be are too excited about their special day and don’t want to do the cost-effective thing. Not having enough money, they are left to take out hefty loans for their dream wedding.
What Causes Wedding Debt?
A big loan can surely make your lavish wedding dream come true. However, starting out as a new couple with some serious debt can be a bummer—click here to read more.
This explains why everyone needs to know the downside of borrowing money for a wedding. Before discussing why borrowing money for a wedding is a bad idea, let’s see why people do so in the first place.
Below is a list of a few of these cost-inducing factors. Try to keep these in your mind and avoid them when planning for your wedding. This way, you’re likely to plan an affordable ceremony.
- Lavish, designer, custom-made dresses
- Expensive videography and photography
- Rose-embellished banquet halls and venues
- Too many food items
- Too many guests
- Inviting famous musicians
- Ordering a lavish wedding cake
- Overtly expensive wedding rings
- Makeup artists and hairstylists
- Luxury invites
Why You Shouldn’t Borrow Money When Getting Married?
No one’s stopping you from spending massive amounts on your wedding. However, borrowing money to fulfill your wedding dreams isn’t the best idea.
Here are some reasons why you should avoid taking out a wedding loan”
1. There’s no end to borrowing money once you do it
Once you begin planning your wedding ceremony with money that you don’t own, you might just lose track of your actual budget and fly past what you can even afford.
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Deciding to take a loan to afford an expensive photographer is just the first step. After hiring the best photographer in the town, you’d be forced to invest in designer dresses to look your best in photos and videos that you’ve invested in.
Later, you might feel like investing in the venue’s décor a little more so that it looks good in the photos. Having such a stunning venue, you’d feel like investing more and inviting more people.
This way, your desire to make things better will intensify, and so would the amounts that you’re borrowing. It all just keeps adding up!
2. Being married is hard enough
Marriage is no cakewalk. When you add a solid $25,000 in debt to the first day of your union, well, it might be a little harder.
Not to mention, being married can get expensive fast. You might need to invest in a better apartment and get yourself a new vehicle. Your monthly expenses also increase once you start living together as a married couple.
After a year or two, you might feel like planning for a child that further increases your living expenses. Having a lot of money to pay back, you can’t even begin to plan to do any of these things since all this requires money.
3. Stress and depression
It might seem like an overstatement but being in debt is depressing. Unfortunately, wedding loans are rarely in small amounts, which means they are harder to pay off.
With your new life already requiring you to adjust and compromise on some occasions, the stress of having to pay a debt adds a lot to your miseries. You don’t want to spend your honeymoon phase fighting and arguing with each other all the time.
4. Spending big once means spending bigger every time
You may feel like you’re taking a loan for the first and the last time on your wedding, but that’s not the case with most couples.
Once they borrow money for unrealistic wedding expenses, they are likely to do it again to arrange a better honeymoon. This would follow the desire to arrange even bigger anniversary parties and spend bigger on gifting each other.
No offense intended, but most couples spending too much on their weddings are just doing it to show off. Once they show off successfully, they are likely to maintain their extravagant standard no matter how they do it.
5. It’s harder to save after getting married
When you’re single, you can save money easily compared to when you’re living with your spouse. You both have to spend on each other and each other’s families and friends.
This is further complicated because you’ve more responsibilities after marriage, most of which require spending. Hence, getting married while being in debt means your future is furthermore complicated and problematic than it’s now.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, getting married to the love of your life is the happiest day in one’s life. You must celebrate your wedding in style, but keep it within reason. Borrowing money to match unrealistic expectations isn’t wise. Even if it will help you get the wedding of your dreams.
You may feel like you’d easily pay back the loans, but it’s not always the case. Getting married means increased financial responsibilities, which makes it hard to save up and get rid of the debt at the same time. Plus, it’s unwise to start a marriage with the weight of debt already on your shoulders.
Therefore, it’s best to invest for long-term benefits, making your married life easier, rather than spending all that you have just for the dream wedding that’s only going to last a few hours.
