Weddings are a great opportunity for friends and family to get together. Many people dream about them for years and they are a turning point in our lives. Unfortunately, theyâre also incredibly expensive.
It doesnât make sense for any couple who isnât financially stable (minimal consumer debt, car paid off, owns a home, solid income, etc.) to overspend on a wedding. Let me tell you why.
We know the basics of money, so we can guess whatâs silly and whatâs smart. If something is practical and makes sense, itâs probably smart. If youâre embarrassed to admit something, you do it to impress others or you canât really justify the costâŠitâs probably silly.
When we make silly financial decisions, weâre likely making emotional decisions and not being honest with ourselves. We know it doesnât make sense, but we do it anyway. Does that sound like success to you? It sounds like ramen noodles and an empty bank account to me.
The point isnât to downplay a weddingâs importance. I understand that the memories last forever, but so does debtâŠor at least thatâs what it feels like. Debt doesnât just go away as soon as the wedding is over. You have to pay it all back and more in interest.
You donât have to spend thousands of dollars to make the day important or create incredible memories. When you get married, overspending on a wedding is not the responsible thing to do for the future of your new family.
âŠWhich leads us to our next point: Financial issues are one of the leading causes of divorce. Why would you add more stress to your marriage by having an expensive wedding? By putting wedding money instead towards a new home, paying down debt or something similar you can double your money. Hereâs an example:
Scenario 1
Decision: Spend $20,000 on a wedding.
Outcome: $20,000 in debt plus whatever ridiculous interest rate you pay. Letâs be conservative and say the debt + interest totals $25,000.
Scenario 2
Decision: Spend $20,000 on something smart and productive.
Outcome: Pay down debt (credit cards, student loans, auto loans, etc.) by $20,000 or put it towards a new house (i.e. knock $20,000 off your mortgage). Weâll assume you save around $5,000 in interest for paying your debt off early. This adds up to $20,000 + $5,000 = $25,000 in progress.
What Iâm trying to say isâŠ
A $20,000 wedding costs $50,000 in progress. Thatâs right, your wedding will cost 250% of its price in lost opportunity. Thatâs the worst way to start your marriage.
We werenât mathematically precise in these examples, but you get the idea. The better financial decision is obvious: use thousands of dollars to pay down debt, towards a house or for educationâŠnot on a wedding.
As we already mentioned, financial issues are one of the leading causes of divorce. The divorce rate is around 50%. Why increase those chances by overspending on a wedding when you could strengthen your marriage and set yourself up for financial success? Marriage is more than just the wedding day.
Together you can decide if that one day will be a big step forward or backward for your familyâs financial independence. Which will it be?
Thereâs a sensible middle ground, so just think about it before diving in. By compromising you will not only give your family a head start but you will also increase the chances for your marriage to succeed. Of course, if youâre wealthy and money isnât a concern then you just wasted the last five minutes of your life when you could have been yachting.
In another article weâll talk in more detail about alternatives to an expensive wedding.