Talk about money! How to pay for your wedding. In the middle of budgeting and looking for ways on how to pay for your wedding? Wondering how to pay for the wedding using your credit card? Or pay for your wedding using cash? Surely, every newlywed-to-be has different situations and family dynamics and will have different funding options. This is why in this guide, we’re sharing tips and ways on how to pay for the wedding, so you can find the best option that works for you.
A wedding is a significant investment. Setting a realistic wedding budget can sometimes get tricky. Planning how to pay for your wedding is essentially the first step to take before speaking to wedding vendors and browsing ideas.
Sometimes all we need is creativity and some unpopular ideas to navigate planning how to pay for your wedding. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can pay for your wedding without breaking your bank and causing unnecessary stress.
Payment options
Before we begin looking at the different ways you can pay for your wedding, let’s take a look at the two most common payment options: Cash and Credit card.
Cash is the most popular way to pay for a wedding. It’s easy and convenient. Plus, you don’t have to worry about paying any interest rates. On the other hand, credit cards can be suitable because it’s easy to make payments through your credit card online.
Cash
[ PROS AND CONS OF PAYING FOR YOUR WEDDING IN CASH ]
If you choose to pay for the wedding in cash or money transfer, you will need a large sum upfront. This can be a bit of a challenge if you’re just getting started saving for the big day. Plus, it’s not always easy for everyone to find that much cash at once.
However, if you pay for your wedding in cash, you don’t have to worry about paying interest rates. Also, there will be no need for a credit check, and this might help if you plan on applying for loans in the future.
What you can consider is that not everything about your wedding is paid in full upfront. It is usually only a percentage of the total amount. Most likely between 20-30%. Some wedding vendors might even require a flat fee amount for the deposit.
This means the cash upfront that you have to come up with might not be as large as you think it will be. You can contact the wedding vendors you are eyeing on and see what their payment terms are. Check what the initial payment, deposit, or booking fee is. Ask them how long they can ‘pencil’ in your wedding date so you can have the time to plan the cash to book their services or products.
Plan the dates when you ‘finalize’ the booking with the wedding vendor. Organize this in your calendar based on when that cash is coming or arriving – or when the cash is ready to be used.
Strategically planning when you will pay off those initial payments, deposits, or booking fees will help your cash flow. From there, you can take the time to come up or save cash so you can pay for the rest of the fees before the wedding.
Speak to your wedding vendors if they can help you develop an installment plan if you are to pay cash or money transfer instead of credit card.
This process might incur some admin fee since this is not their usual payment process. But if after you did your calculations, it came up to still save you a significant amount of money, then it is worth checking out.
[ PROS AND CONS OF PAYING FOR YOUR WEDDING USING CREDIT CARDS ]
If you choose to pay for your wedding with a credit card, it will be easy to make the payments. Also, you can get a 0% APR on your credit card and pay no interest on the wedding loans for up to 12 months. That’s a great way to save some money if you need time to repay the debt.
However, this method of payment requires a good or excellent credit score. If you have a low credit score, your application for a wedding loan might be a challenge. Plus, you will be taking on a lot of debt, and you will need to make monthly payments.
Another pro is convenience. Most vendors have automatic payment systems in where they deduct your credit card on your agreed date, and you have to wait for the receipt and the update.
Especially if you are working full time during the day, this process will help manage your payments. You can track it better. You can take up any complaints to your wedding vendor and your credit card company.
When paying for your wedding using your credit card, try and stick to using one credit card only, preferably the one with the lowest interest rate.
[ MIX CASH & CREDIT CARD ]
This might be unpopular advice, but if you want to maximize your budget, ask your wedding vendors what the best payment method will help you save you some money and get more value.
Some vendors might tell you that you won’t have to pay processing or admin fees if you pay using cash. This might also be the opposite for other wedding vendors as well.
Every wedding vendor has its own payment system, and if you can find which way you will save more money, the better.
After your wedding, you will most likely receive monetary gifts (if you choose to!). Once you receive these gifts, you can pay back 60-70% of what you have initially paid for. Even if you get 40-50% in monetary gifts, this will still help you pay back the credit card or recover the cash you used to pay for the wedding.
Smart ways to fund the wedding
Here are some ways on how to pay for your wedding:
1. Wedding loans. You can use this loan to pay for your wedding. You need to make monthly payments with interest. You’ll need a high credit score to get a reasonable interest rate. Or you can also use your line of credit if you have it available.
2. Credit cards: This is another way you can borrow money to pay for the wedding. You’ll need to make monthly payments with interest. But you have to remember that this is very expensive and the interest rates are high.
3. Ask friends and family: You can ask family and friends to loan you money for the wedding without charging interest. You can also ask if they would like to contribute in other ways, such as helping with the catering or decorating.
These contributions might not be monetary, but maybe they can drive you to the hotel, or they can help transport guests. If this is the help they offer, you can save money on transportation. Meaning you won’t have to book a limo or a car service anymore.
Even on some DIY projects that you might have decided to take on, ask your bridal party and family for help.
Smart tips on how to manage the wedding debt
Here are some tips to help you manage your wedding debt:
1. Create a budget and stick to it: This is the first step when planning a wedding. Consider what your non-negotiables are and work from there. Stick to the budget you set for your non-negotiables, and for the rest, be flexible and open to alternatives.
2. Start saving early: This is probably the best tip. As soon as you get engaged, start saving for the wedding day. Make sure you have enough cash to pay for your venue, catering, dress, and all other costs. Also, don’t forget about the honeymoon!
3. Shop around for prices: It’s always a good idea to shop around and see what each company or service provider is charging for the same (or similar) products or services. You can even ask friends and family members to share their experiences with particular companies.
4. Negotiate prices: If you’re dealing with multiple vendors, you can try negotiating prices. You’ll be surprised at how much money you could save when you lower the cost (within reason).
It is essential to know that when negotiating when you haggle too much, even if it seems like the price got lower, the wedding vendor will still make some changes that might not be that obvious to you and might lower the quality a little bit. Find the vendor with the best value and not just the lowest price.
You can manage it
There isn’t a right or wrong way on how to pay for your wedding. You choose what is suitable for you and your circumstance. If you’d like to consider a long engagement to come up with the cash first, you can do that as well. Perhaps consider an intimate wedding to save you more money.
You and your partner are the only ones who know what will work for you best. Of course, money matters. But it is also essential to consider the stress that a decision might bring.
If you choose to pay cash, that might require you to budget a lot and cause stress. Or if you select credit card, that might incur interest but will also give you some time in between to rest and take it easy.
These are all suggestions that you can consider. At the end of the day, your wedding, your rules!
There you are lovelies! How To Pay For Your Wedding!
