Loans for Weddings?

Re: Loans for Weddings?

• Megglez2008 member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Hey! I love the heritage first of all! I'm Irish and Portuguese on my mom's side, and Scottish, English and German on my dad's. We're an interesting group of people to say the least, haha. My FI and I just talked about loans the other day. We originally were going to pay for everything ourselves, which meant we'd be having a really small wedding. But luckily my parents have been very generous and have said they will pay for the majority of our reception (we're looking at inviting 150-60 people). We thought, oh this is going to be great, we'll have a ton of money to put towards the rest then! While we will have about $12,000 that we can bank ourselves between now and July, we're finding that everything is wicked expensive. Like you, the photographer is definitely something I don't want to skimp on! So we figured that we will try to save as much as we possibly can, and try to find the best deals out there. But if we need the extra money we're willing to take out up to $5000 in a loan. We figure that if we continue to put away the $1000 a month that we're doing now for the wedding, we'll have it paid off in 5-6 months. It's completely doable if you can save the money. I'm not sure if that helps, but I think that if you needed to take a small loan it should be fine. It's your day and you want to make it awesome!

  Report0 Reply
• 24Rockland

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Hi!  On of my friends got a personal bank loan for her wedding.  I would probably call your bank and find out if it's a possibility, along with the interest rate, etc.

  Report0 Reply
• xoxpipahxox

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  I'm not getting a loan, but I also think that with adequate research you'll be able to stay under your budget. You don't have to skimp on photographers to get a great photographer at a reasonable price. There are also other areas that you can cut back (is a limo, for example, really all that necessary?) I guess I'm just weary about starting my marriage with that much extra debt, but it's completely up to you. Best of luck!

  Laura
  
  

  Report0 Reply
• chayer227

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  I agree with pp.  IMO, your budget should be based on what you can swing.  If you don't have the money, or can't save it, then your budget needs tweaking. 

  
  
  My Wedding Bio! Not updated in a LONG time!

  Report0 Reply
• Mrs Babs member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  I was told by my MOH very early on in planning that you don't want to start off your marriage in debt. FI and I saved as much as possible and got help from our parents but we're pretty close to the wedding and we realized we were going to be about $1200 or so off. So I did some research and applied for a 0% APR for 6 months credit card. I set a certain amount of money to put on this card and swore that I would not put more on it then we absolutely needed. I will be more than able to pay off this CC within 6 months but its enough to get our heads above water for the time being. This may or may not be an option for you. I would try all other possibilities before getting a loan. GL and remember we are here to help with budget weddings

  Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml

  Report0 Reply
• maggiecroteau member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  I am with the others who say don't take out a loan!   It really isn't the best way to start out a marriage with debt just for one day (even if it is an important day).  You and your FH need to have a real hard talk about what you really "can't live without".  You also should talk with your parents.  If alot of the guest list is family see if there is anything they can help out with.  A $15,000 budget is entirely doable.  There are many brides on this site who have been able do have a wedding on that budget.  Just because a dj or photographer is expensive doesn't make them the best.  I love my photographer and I think she is fantastic, but she doesn't cost a fortune.  There are so many reviews that other NH Knotties have written that you should be able to find something you like that is affordable.  Just my two cents.

  Report0 Reply
• Arez16

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Hi! we are not taking out a loan, thankfully when we got engaged last June my parents offered to pay for the reception (including DJ, centerpieces, chair covers) and my mom is paying for my attire separately. So FI and I only had a portion to pay for and have been saving. What we did was research rates and come up with a budget, allowing for inflation. And we figured out how much we have to each put away each month. We are 1/3 of the way to our goal, and out wedding is in Oct 2010. I also have started booking vendors early, and getting the 2009 price in most cases. And really doing my research to get a good deal, I like cheap price but not cheap quality!!! A wedding can be done on that budget, you just have to research, skimp on some things maybe, and maybe even some DIY stuff. I wouldn't want to take out a loan... but I know how you feel on the family front. I am Portugese and FI is Irish, French, and Scottish. And we both have really large families, thankfully though FI barely has any cousins, while I have tons!!

  

  Report0 Reply
• Megglez2008 member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Hi again. So I didn't mean to sound like she should go into debt over her wedding. Obviously planning out what you can afford and doing a lot of DYI projects is smart and is what I am planning on doing. FI and I just talked about the possibility of if we needed a small amount of money to cover something we would like in the wedding and whether or not we could afford to take out a very small loan. We really don't want to enter our marriage in debt, so we've been looking around and asking advice on who has the best rates. I'm really sorry if I came off sounding bad earlier. I reread my post and was a little embarassed the way it came off. :-/

  Report0 Reply
• Gabs71109

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Beautifully said Chayer. Don't start you marriage off in debt.

  

  Report0 Reply
• nikkiblueeyes823

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Thank you all very much for your imput.. I always find that you guys help put everything into perspective. I really dont want a loan but we also dont have the money to start paying for anything now to get 2009 prices. FI lost his job in Dec and just now started working and I have a PT job. I cant find a FT job anywhere. We own 2 homes so thats paying our bills right now. Its just hard to think how long its going to take to reach our budget goal and have everyone there. And the thought of prices going up by then will put our budget way out of reach. Thank you again!

  Report0 Reply