Do we get a loan for our wedding?

thelittlestranger

Before I go any further, I do not want this post to cause offence to anyone. I understand that most people's opinions are if you can't afford it, don't have it, but stick with me!

I am 21 and my OH is 23. We are getting married in April 2013. We have most things booked but it's all those things that now need paying off (rest of rings, photographer, etc).

We only have £700 to pay for our mini honeymoon in Devon (excited!) and will only book a more luxurious honeymoon when we have the pennies to do so.

I earn about £16300 p/a my other half very slightly less. We pay rent, and have little outgoings, and are pretty wise with money but it's more of a matter of we just can't afford these massive lump sum payments that come with a wedding, especially with Xmas soon approaching too.

I am very worried about getting a loan for our wedding day, but my OH has made me think that it's simply so we don't have to pay massive bulks then struggle what we'll be eating with. As soon as our wedding's paid off we have no other extreme outgoings at all really.

We would be looking at around a £4000 loan. Do you think we would be able to get this? And would it affect us getting a mortgage in the next 2/3 years?

Many thanks.

broad-sword_2

Glad you're expecting the obvious responses

I'm a bit simple but £4,000 borrowed now is £4,000 less on a future mortgage (I know it may have reduced by then) Most important day perhaps, but it's still just one day and that loan will take a lot longer to pay off.
Good luck for the future though

meer53

0% credit cards ? Cancel the honeymoon for now ? £700 is a lot when you can't really afford it.

skateykatey

Whilst I am not going to condone getting into debt for a wedding, would an interest free credit card with a relatively small limit be a safer option. From what I can gather, it's not the paying off monthly amounts that it is the issue with you but rather the large lump sum payments; have I got that right.

Without being the voice of doom; I know of a few couples who have got a loan to pay for a wedding (admittedly larger than yours) and are still paying it off, after they divorced!

katsu

I put some of my wedding costs on a credit card. I Dread to imagine how much they cost me in the end.

Scrimp and scrape. Spend less on Xmas - give each other only a token gift and little gifts to family and friends. Tell everyone you are saving for the wedding. They will understand.

Try and reschedule some payments if necessary.

Better to struggle now than start getting into debt.

All the best with whatever you decide.

cos_2

With a joint income of perhaps £30k and low expenditure, as you say, I think a loan of just £4k is very achievable. Lenders will look at your current loans/credit and compare that with your income and other expenditures.

On the face of it, you'll easily qualify for a loan.

/Edit -get a loan over three years and it'll have no adverse affect on a mortgage application. Perhaps it'll make things better for you.

pheonixrising21

cos wrote: »

With a joint income of perhaps £30k and low expenditure, as you say, I think a loan of just £4k is very achievable. Lenders will look at your current loans/credit and compare that with your income and other expenditures.

On the face of it, you'll easily qualify for a loan.

/Edit -get a loan over three years and it'll have no adverse affect on a mortgage application. Perhaps it'll make things better for you.

Maybe a combination of all the above advice is the answer? When will you need to make final payments on things? I've recently got married and the venue didn't need final payment until 28 days before the wedding, so you may be able to save some of it. Work out a full budget for a month and work out how much you can save before the wedding bills are due. You may be able to save a grand or two by the time the bills are due?

This is what me and my OH did. We worked out what we could save over 10 months between getting engaged and the date the wedding bills were due. I put some stuff on my CC, which I have BT'd to 0% and she took out a small loan to cover the rest

Any stuff which required immediate payment such as invitations,deposots for flowers, etc, went on the CC, final payments for things came out of the savings when due. We put the loan into the savings account too, to make sure we had it and to halve the interest costs for a while

DCFC79

thelittlestranger wrote: »

Before I go any further, I do not want this post to cause offence to anyone. I understand that most people's opinions are if you can't afford it, don't have it, but stick with me!

I am 21 and my OH is 23. We are getting married in April 2013. We have most things booked but it's all those things that now need paying off (rest of rings, photographer, etc).

We only have £700 to pay for our mini honeymoon in Devon (excited!) and will only book a more luxurious honeymoon when we have the pennies to do so.

I earn about £16300 p/a my other half very slightly less. We pay rent, and have little outgoings, and are pretty wise with money but it's more of a matter of we just can't afford these massive lump sum payments that come with a wedding, especially with Xmas soon approaching too.

I am very worried about getting a loan for our wedding day, but my OH has made me think that it's simply so we don't have to pay massive bulks then struggle what we'll be eating with. As soon as our wedding's paid off we have no other extreme outgoings at all really.

We would be looking at around a £4000 loan. Do you think we would be able to get this? And would it affect us getting a mortgage in the next 2/3 years?

Many thanks.

Im also glad your open to opinions. The credit card option is a good 1 and a loan also sounds like its achieveable for the small amount you need. No need to struggle with what your eating as long as you dont splurge out on things that aren't neccessary and restrict yourself. \Not sure if it would affect a loan in 2/3 years but there are more knowledgeable people who may well know a definitive answer.

malkyh

I was fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be able to use inheritance money to pay for my wedding in full.

I am against getting a loan for a wedding though. It only lasts one day and then you are stuck paying it off for years to come.

pheonixrising21

DCFC79 wrote: »

Im also glad your open to opinions. The credit card option is a good 1 and a loan also sounds like its achieveable for the small amount you need. No need to struggle with what your eating as long as you dont splurge out on things that aren't neccessary and restrict yourself. \Not sure if it would affect a loan in 2/3 years but there are more knowledgeable people who may well know a definitive answer.

Not sure exactly how the loan will affect your ability to get a mortgage. If you can do things to minimise the amount you borrow by saving a bit yourselves if you can, keep the interest to a minimum by using 0% purchase cards and BT's in future and things like that, then you should be OK.

If you can aim to pay it off by the time you need to apply for a mortgage, then that will obviously have no negative effect on your ability to get a mortgage. If you make sure that you never miss a payment, then it may even help with the mortgage as you will have built up a good history.

talana

malkyh wrote: »

I was fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be able to use inheritance money to pay for my wedding in full.

I am against getting a loan for a wedding though. It only lasts one day and then you are stuck paying it off for years to come.

I happen to agree with the bit in bold. But surely a wedding is either worth spending lots of money on or its not, regardless of how you pay for it?

If it's not, then to me the argument would hold in your other example of using inheritance money. A wedding only lasts one day, and think what other long-term uses you could put that inheritance money to. Deposit on a house or whatever it might be.

But each to their own for sure.... I'm just not into weddings