Poll: Wedding on Credit?

ExpatPumpkin

The three weddings by age 26 post got me thinking about wedding funding... Do you think it's okay to put some/all of the wedding on credit? If so, do you have a disciplined repayment plan? And over what term would you pay the money back? Just curious...

kikibaby

I don't want to put a single penny of my wedding costs on credit.  This means I have a miniscule budget, but I've got enough debt already.

salt78

I think it's a terrible idea.

louisvillebride21

We aren't doing it, but we discussed it. The photographer we really wanted was out of our budget and as that was the most important thing to us, we thought about putting the difference on the cc. We probably would have if we weren't going to be living on one income for awhile after the wedding. I don't see a problem with puttin a little bit on it, but not a large amount at all.

Night_Sprite

I think if there is a catastrophe I could understand it.  Other than that, it is not a good idea. 

Kati0105

Ehh, I don't think it's the greatest idea.  I know my mom was planning on charging some of ours which concerned me, but she opted to borrow money from her parents and my brother instead.

MeaghanandMichael

We put a few things on credit, mostly for the points, but also because we just wanted extras here and there. Maybe 4k? We has paid it all off six months after the wedding. We never would have done it if we thought it was going to sit there for any length of time.I don't think it is a big deal at all if you have a repayment plan. We people say, "plan the wedding you can afford and don't use credit" I disagree. Use it wisely if you are so inclined. It worked out very well for us and I spoiled myself a bit.

Nebb

Some I dont mind, I used credit for some things towards the end when my budget went out of control. I think using ALL credit is incredibly irresponsible.

kdcwedding

I agree with kiki. I think I put maybe $100 on a credit card, and that annoyed me at the time. Everything I put into the wedding, I paid for as I went along. Granted, if it wasn't for family support, the wedding would have been much smaller, but I still wouldn't have gone into debt for it. Neither did our families.

DanielleH910

I'm fine with putting deposits on credit cards, because I pay them in full every month, and that way I earn some points I can use for honeymood related costs, but I would never finance the entire wedding, it's one day and I'd rather not be paying for it for years to come.

aMrsin09

Every single item that we had to buy in Australia went on the US card so we could take advantage of the, at the time, great exchange rate.  Everything was 20% less :-) Come to think of it, we proably put 99% of the expenses on the card that rackked up FF miles.  But it all got paid off as the charges hit the card.

calle28

Most people are going to say no, it's not ok to pay for your wedding on credit, wait and save, don't go into debt over a wedding, etc. Did I use my CC for the wedding? No. But do I think it's ok? That's an individual choice. I don't really care one way or another. It's probably not the wisest thing to do, but a 2 year engagement so you can save up enough money for a wedding to me is silly. Have a cheaper wedding or something, but 2 years is a long time to be engaged.

kdcwedding

I will add that, if we didn't already have a lot of debt, and had the ability to pay it back in a reasonable amount of time (say 6 months or so), I might be more willing to put some things on credit, as others have mentioned. But DH and I already have CC debt and college debt, we didn't need any more.

J&K10910

We plan to put a few things on credit cards, mostly for the points (seriously).  We also plan to pay them off immediately.  So in the sense of putting it credit cards and then taking 5 years to pay it off, I think that's a terrible idea.  But using the cards for rewards if you can pay it off right away?  Works for me!

kdcwedding

We were engaged for just over 2 years. PFFFFT. I liked it just fine

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

We put our catering on credit cards, but only because we wanted the points. We turned around and paid it off. I can see putting a couple of little things on credit cards that you could reasonably pay off quickly. But really, I don't know any couple who thinks it's a good idea to start out a marriage with debt (or more debt than they previously had individually).

lpstl

Credit isn't always evil. We used our Amex to book the whole honeymoon because we got a discounted rate booking via amex, and got points. It was paid off in a couple months.

Mrs_AF

We have a 2 year engagement so that we can save for the wedding rather than put any of it on credit. We have a certain amount that we put in each month, and whatever isn't used on the wedding will go towards the down payment on our house.

kikibaby

Yep, I'll also add that if I could pay it back within about 3 months, I might do it.  What's wrong with a 2 year engagement?  I think if that's what you need to do to have the wedding you want, why not?

sarabellam

I put every dime except the photographer on credit card. And paid off every dime the same month it appeared on the bill.

calle28

KDC - Why was your engagement so long? Just curious.

jilybeans4

If you are having a 25k wedding and charge the whole thing, I think that is stupid. If you need to charge a couple grand and can pay it off in a reasonable amount of time, then I don't have a problem with it. We were lucky and my parents covered the whole thing (we planned the wedding to fit within the set amount they gave us) so didn't run into this. If we had seriously needed something else, I probably would have charged it. We've financed furniture, appliances, cars, etc... I don't see this as being much different, as long as its not going to be a long term expense.

aMrsin09

a question for those of you who are saying absolutely no way, nothing on cards (which is fine), BUT...were you really able to buy stuff on Etsy w/o a CC?  Were you able to book hotel rooms/flights/room blocks w/o a CC?  

tidetravel

Confession:  we took out a last minute personal loan for the wedding.  It was small - only about $2500, but it was a lot less stressful in the last few months to have all of the money upfront, than to worry about trying to make the final payments on vendors.  It was through a credit union, so the interest rate was low, and the monthly payment is only $100 a month.  We pay off more than we owe, to reduce the term of the loan.It wasn't the most ideal solution, and I wouldn't plan on doing it that way, but in the end, it was what worked best for us and I don't regret it.

sarabellam

I should add that the card we use puts a certain percentage into a 529 plan to save for college. So yeah, our wedding helped pay for my children's college.

ExpatPumpkin

I used my credit card to pay for major purchases - the reception, the hotel, etc. - to get the miles points. Then I transferred money from savings to pay off the balance at the end of each month. But I guess that doesn't really qualify as using credit to pay for the wedding since we didn't carry a balance.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

We are some, but we have a plan to pay it off. Basically, I'm budgeting what we can save up to a year after the wedding - but obviously a lot of stuff has to be paid for up to a year before the wedding. It's more important to be married sooner than to wait 2, 3, 4 years and then get married with cash in hand. We're adults, we can handle credit, it doesn't make us bad with money.I put a flat screen TV on my credit card last year, then paid it off. Weddings are the same thing.

tigger9922

no. We paid cash ourselves for the wedding and the honeymoon.  Sure, there were things we wanted that cost more, but we couldn't justify the "need" to go into debt over them.  I have no regrets.debt is baaaaad, mmmmmmkay?

kdcwedding

calle - I saw so many friends get stressed out, that I didn't want to rush to plan our wedding in a year. We took our time, enjoyed the first few months of being engaged without even thinking about the wedding. I got to take my time figuring out what I wanted the wedding to be like, do some DIY projects, and not spend every weekend wedding planning. I know you can do a wedding in less time and not get stressed, but we guaranteed it by taking our time.

vicmo5

I think it's a dumb financial move to put a wedding on credit.  There's no doubt about that.  And beyond that I would be so disappointed after the wedding if we would have put anything on credit because it went so fast.  It would have been a huge waste.  I did initially pay for everything with my credit card because I got points, but I paid it off before any interest accrued.

[Deleted User]

I think getting a line of credit or a second mortage just to pay for your wedding is a terrible idea. I think putting a few things on a card and paying them off quickly is just fine.