Credit...debit...payment plans...???

knottie2b256f5c2ae42586 · July 2015

So, I am no where closer to choosing a place for my DW, but I am curious as to HOW you paid for yours. Did you use a credit card for all the big purchases like airfare, deposits, and rooms? What did you pay for in cash/debit?

I'm thinking if I want my wedding to be Spring 2017, I will have to purchase plane tickets next spring...which got me thinking how on earth do you pay for all of this???!! Granted, we have started saving

lyndausvi · July 2015

I would use credit as much as possible (paying it off every month). Although some vendors might not take cards, so then PayPal might be an option. I would avoid debit cards. You get more protection from credit cards.

flbride2015 · July 2015

Ditto. I have an airlines miles card that I use for all purchases, but I pay it off every month. Fiance and I have a wedding savings account where we have our wedding and honeymoon money. We're booking our honeymoon flights next month on our CC and we'll immediatey pay it off with the money in our savings account.

knottie2b256f5c2ae42586 · July 2015

Thank you! Knowing that relying heavily on credit cards (WHILE PAYING THEM OFF!!) is normal makes me feel better about saving and being able to afford what we want.

CMGragain · July 2015

We use credit cards for all major purchases except home and cars. We never use debit cards.
Credit cards have protection if you purchase something that is not delivered, or if someone steals your card. Debit cards do not. We have had our cards stolen twice. (DH, both times!) The credit card company called us quickly when they saw some very unusual purchases coming in on our account, and in one case, they caught the guy. We didn't have to pay a cent of the fraudulent purchases. (Discover)

If you ever want to buy a house, you will need to have a credit history. Without credit cards, this is extremely difficult. My son-in-law found this out the hard way when he was turned down for his first loan. He had $90,000 in his savings account, a great job, but no credit history. He had always paid cash for everything.

We never pay interest charges, though. Before we buy something, we make sure that the money is in the bank. Neither of us make major purchases without checking with the other first.

Jells2dot0 · July 2015

I used airline miles for my intra-continent flights, but charged everything else to my credit card. I had the money in my bank account and just paid it off every month.

When I got married the first time, I paid almost everything with a check, which was dumb! I missed out on tens of thousands of airline miles or hotel points!!!

WinstonsGirl · July 2015

Credit cards for everything we possibly could. If you pay for something and don't get the service, CC's are more likely to get you your money back.

We did do cash for our Officiant, hair/MU, for example, but they were paid the day of right before the ceremony, so they were obviously there and going to do their job. Anything we had to pay last minute in cash went into a labeled and sealed envelope so we just and to pull them out that afternoon and hand them over. Much easier

jacques27 · July 2015

Jax43615 said:

Thank you! Knowing that relying heavily on credit cards (WHILE PAYING THEM OFF!!) is normal makes me feel better about saving and being able to afford what we want.

Yeah, it's the bolded part that's key. You shouldn't be using your credit as money you don't have - you should still have a budget and a way to pay off the cards asap (because interest adds up). So, if you only have $10,000 you can save, you shouldn't use the credit cards to throw yourself a $30,000 wedding. But using the cards themselves for the actual payment is the smart thing to do for protection against shady vendor dealings and to reap any rewards your cards might offer.

KnottieBoots · July 2015

You could talk to your bank about getting a line of credit. The interest should be far less than a credit card.

kmmssg · July 2015

KnottieBoots said:

You could talk to your bank about getting a line of credit. The interest should be far less than a credit card.

Noooooooo! You don't pay ANY interest for a party! If you don't have the money to pay for it you don't plan it.

lyndausvi · July 2015

kmmssg said:

KnottieBoots said:

You could talk to your bank about getting a line of credit. The interest should be far less than a credit card.

Noooooooo! You don't pay ANY interest for a party! If you don't have the money to pay for it you don't plan it.

This.

And she didn't ask how to pay, meaning I can't afford the event. She was asking how to physicially get the money to the out-of-country vendors.

knottie2b256f5c2ae42586 · July 2015

Thank you all so much for all the advice! My fiancé and I need to get a budget down soon (though he doesn't really think so)...which means figuring out where we are going! But we have started a saving jar (it's actually the Patron bottle from our engagement date lol) and I am starting to build up my savings account for when it is time to make some purchases.

Jells2dot0 · July 2015

Jax43615 said:

Thank you all so much for all the advice! My fiancé and I need to get a budget down soon (though he doesn't really think so)...which means figuring out where we are going! But we have started a saving jar (it's actually the Patron bottle from our engagement date lol) and I am starting to build up my savings account for when it is time to make some purchases.

It is VERY important to have a budget. The wedding industry puts a premium on services when you mention the word "wedding", so things you might think aren't too expensive usually end up being pricey. Plus, there are SO many ideas out there and as you plan, you might get caught in the "oh, but that's so cute/pretty/fancy/beautiful/shiny! I must have it!" loop. Things will spiral out of control quickly without having checks and balances.

southernbelle0915 · July 2015

Jax43615 said:

Thank you all so much for all the advice! My fiancé and I need to get a budget down soon (though he doesn't really think so)...which means figuring out where we are going! But we have started a saving jar (it's actually the Patron bottle from our engagement date lol) and I am starting to build up my savings account for when it is time to make some purchases.

I really do not mean this to be snarky at all, but loose change isn't going to pay for a DW.

Unless your FI is Mr. MoneyBags, a hard budget is a must. Weddings can get very expensive very quickly.

Also, DO NOT take out a loan or charge more to your credit card than you can afford to pay. This is a wedding, not an emergency. Purchase what you can afford and nothing more.

knottie2b256f5c2ae42586 · July 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

I really do not mean this to be snarky at all, but loose change isn't going to pay for a DW.

Unless your FI is Mr. MoneyBags, a hard budget is a must. Weddings can get very expensive very quickly.

Also, DO NOT take out a loan or charge more to your credit card than you can afford to pay. This is a wedding, not an emergency. Purchase what you can afford and nothing more.

I do understand that a loose change jar will not pay for a wedding; my line of thinking is that it will, however, pay for SOMETHING! Like the bridesmaid's gifts, save-the-dates, etc...

My fiancé is definitely not Mr. Moneybags, but I am concerned that he is not at all motivated to figure out where we are going sooner than later. I feel like this will help us create a budget so we have a better idea of what we need to save per month/paycheck and so we can let our family and friends know too. I have already done some research on all-inclusive resorts and their wedding packages, but plan to do more and get in touch with some people.

princessleia22 · July 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

Jax43615 said:

Thank you all so much for all the advice! My fiancé and I need to get a budget down soon (though he doesn't really think so)...which means figuring out where we are going! But we have started a saving jar (it's actually the Patron bottle from our engagement date lol) and I am starting to build up my savings account for when it is time to make some purchases.

I really do not mean this to be snarky at all, but loose change isn't going to pay for a DW.

Unless your FI is Mr. MoneyBags, a hard budget is a must. Weddings can get very expensive very quickly.

Also, DO NOT take out a loan or charge more to your credit card than you can afford to pay. This is a wedding, not an emergency. Purchase what you can afford and nothing more.

Not exactly true... my wedding was paid mostly from our "savings jar". But, it wasn't just spare change in it. DH had a part time job tending a vending machine and he just put all the income into the jar, so we had difficult/limited access to it until we needed it. I also used larger bills and put all $1 and $5 into the jar and any leftover cash I had at end of week went in. If I wanted something, but decided I would rather save for wedding, the money I didn't spend went in the jar. We saved it for over a year (occasionally moving it to the bank) and it paid for most of our wedding. Yes, throwing the spare 50 cents from your pocket into a jar each night won't add up to much, but if you are throwing larger amounts in, a savings jar can certainly contribute.

Anyway, paying with credit card is certainly the safest method of payment. And if you get a good rewards card, it can help with expenses. We got an airline rewards card and were able to pay for our plane tickets to/from wedding with the rewards points.

Credit...debit...payment plans...???

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