How soon before the wedding should we get a loan?

MrsDrink

My personal view (I haven't read everyones replies) is never.

Stephb1986_2

You could always find somewhere cheaper to get married that way you wouldn't need a 10k budget.

It's not a good way to start married life being in debt, you could save up that £400 between now and then you would have £9600 thats really good.

Steph xx

podperson

RainbowDrops wrote: »

Hey Lonodon00 - stick with this board & I'm sure you'll get lads of tips on how to have a fab wedding without having to get a loan



I have to dissagree - why should your guests have to pay for your wedding!

I never said they should HAVE to pay for the wedding but if people want to give money as a gift then why shouldn't it go to something useful? I'm sure they didn't ask for money to 'pay for the wedding'. I saw it as they had had a lovely day and rather then being in debt for it then it was cleared due to family and friends' generosity - that's what I thought was nice.

london00

RainbowDrops wrote: »

Hey Lonodon00 - stick with this board & I'm sure you'll get lads of tips on how to have a fab wedding without having to get a loan



I have to dissagree - why should your guests have to pay for your wedding!

Thanks!

Personally I'd feel a bit funny asking guests for money towards the wedding as they're there as our guests. That said we think we'll forgo making a wedding list and ask people to contribute to a honeymoon fund instead.

RainbowDrops

podperson wrote: »

I never said they should HAVE to pay for the wedding but if people want to give money as a gift then why shouldn't it go to something useful? I'm sure they didn't ask for money to 'pay for the wedding'. I saw it as they had had a lovely day and rather then being in debt for it then it was cleared due to family and friends' generosity - that's what I thought was nice.

Sorry, the way you worded it sounded like they had asked the guests for money towards the wedding. Sorry for the missunderstanding.

That said, I still don't believe in getting in debt for the wedding in the first place.

meer53

I have friends who took out a loan for their wedding and are regretting it now, they are struggling so much to make ends meet and the wedding was 2 years ago, her husband was made redundant and was without a job for over 9 months. You should have the wedding you can afford and not be swayed by other people and their fancy weddings. It's not about how much you spend really, it's about the two of you. You never know whats around the corner, don't put yourself into debt if you can help it at all.

gandy

i'm definitely in agreement that if you can get away with out taking out a loan for the wedding and just save money then do it that way!

i'm getting married in 4 weeks and i've been engaged since christmas eve 2008 and have been saving away for the wedding. we were very lucky and managed to get a house when the market dipped a bit so that meant having to wait and have the wedding a little later than we planned but i'm so happy we did it that way.

we're due to get the money out of our ISA in a few days to be able to pay off the wedding bills that will be coming in and if everything goes well we should actually have some money left over from our wedding savings and that's including payment and spending money for a 3 week honeymoon in california!

if you really want a wedding with all the trimmings a few months extra savings is definitely better than starting your marriage in debt.

LEJC

have you actually sounded out the bank yet regarding the loan...some will not lend if they know that the purpose is for wedding expenses...(in a previous life I did indeed work in the loan admistration and credit scoring section of a high street bank!).

In terms of should you take it now...then the answer is from the point of view of interest rates as it would be a fixed rate loan the answer would probably be yes...however unless you know exacly how much everything is going to cost you may be swayed into spending more for things just because the funds are available to you...or indeed take out far more of a loan than you actually require...dependant upon your choices and how your budget pans out...

Have you actually sat down and worked out a budget for the wedding and know that the money you borrow will cover your needs...
Personally I think you can do a lot with the £400 you are saving per month towards the wedding rather than earmarking it for loan repayments...
in the perfect world its easy to say that you will repay the loan over 3 years then save for a deposit for your house etc etc..but other things can crop up so whilst you can easily feel that you can afford the repayments now and your timelime is achievable you need to also consider the factor that maybe one of you could lose a job or the patter of tiny feet may restrict your budget in the 3 years following the wedding....hence making those seemingly achievable payments more challenging...

Do think hard before taking a large loan to fund what is in effect one day of your lives(albeit an extemely special one)...it may be far better to budget well and haggle hard but politely to achieve the day of your dreams rather than pay for it by a credit agreement...

Just done some quick calculations and thats monthy repayments of £326.50 per month over 3 years...but with interest you actually pay back an extra £1750 above your initial loan of £10k

Debbiecatal

Why don't you cost the wedding you want, compromising in the places that are not so important and work out exactly how much you will need to get married. Swallow pride and ask your families if they will be willing to contribute (even something like paying for the cake can make a difference). Then divide this by how much you can afford to save each month to work out how many months it will be till your wedding? We did this because I am NEVER getting into debt again, and that is why the wedding is September 2012!

twirlypinky

"Since finances is the number one topic for marriage partners to fight about, life's biggest irony is starting by spending as much money as you possibly can on your wedding."


I know you only what to do it once, but think long and hard about getting that loan. If you really have to get one, then dont get it until the last minute, and between now and then save every penny you can - that way the loan amount will be smaller.

My OH and I got engaged, worked out what it was we really wanted to do, costed it (and how much was needed up front etc), worked out how long it would take us to save that much, then set the date based on that target. Not only are we on target now, but we'll actually have money in the bank towards the house deposit that we'll be saving for as soon as we get back from honeymoon. Getting into debt for this wedding was not an option. I'd rather not get married than get into debt.