By now some readers are probably asking the question: How is it possible to have a beautiful wedding on my budget? Or perhaps some readers are saying: I don’t have much money to work with, so how can I possibly get married? But don’t despair. There is a way to create a wedding on your budget, especially if you believe that real beauty isn’t something you purchase. In fact, you can even create a debt-free wedding that will set the stage for your marriage.
First, remember that your wedding day debt is going to follow you into the marriage. If you’ve borrowed money to finance the wedding, you’re going to have to pay as soon as you return from the honeymoon. There are many couples who are still paying for their wedding ten years into their marriage. And, worse yet, I’ve known some men and women who were paying off wedding debt after they divorced. One woman I met fifteen years ago at a wedding seminar told me she was still paying off her wedding debt from wedding number two, and she was about to get married for the fifth time! Now that’s a tough way to fund a failed marriage!
Second, financing a wedding through debt doesn’t reap future dividends. remember, a wedding is a one-day event—and it is difficult to justify a long-term debt for a one-day event, even an extremely important one! A mortgage, on the other hand, is a fifteen-, twenty-, or even thirty-year event—and can reap longterm dividends for a couple as they build home equity throughout their marriage.
Finally, you simply don’t want to jeopardize your future—your ability to own a home, save for a family, save for an education, or any of a dozen other vital aspects of life—all for the sake of a frosted wedding cake. You want to have a debt-free wedding because it will offer you a better future—one where you and your fiancé can fulfill your dreams and plan a life together. One year, five years, ten years after your wedding, you’ll be glad you came home from your honeymoon deb free. You’ll be able to look back and say, “All of this success and happiness began there, and we’ve got the money to prove it!”
First, remember that your wedding day debt is going to follow you into the marriage. If you’ve borrowed money to finance the wedding, you’re going to have to pay as soon as you return from the honeymoon. There are many couples who are still paying for their wedding ten years into their marriage. And, worse yet, I’ve known some men and women who were paying off wedding debt after they divorced. One woman I met fifteen years ago at a wedding seminar told me she was still paying off her wedding debt from wedding number two, and she was about to get married for the fifth time! Now that’s a tough way to fund a failed marriage!
Second, financing a wedding through debt doesn’t reap future dividends. remember, a wedding is a one-day event—and it is difficult to justify a long-term debt for a one-day event, even an extremely important one! A mortgage, on the other hand, is a fifteen-, twenty-, or even thirty-year event—and can reap longterm dividends for a couple as they build home equity throughout their marriage.
Finally, you simply don’t want to jeopardize your future—your ability to own a home, save for a family, save for an education, or any of a dozen other vital aspects of life—all for the sake of a frosted wedding cake. You want to have a debt-free wedding because it will offer you a better future—one where you and your fiancé can fulfill your dreams and plan a life together. One year, five years, ten years after your wedding, you’ll be glad you came home from your honeymoon deb free. You’ll be able to look back and say, “All of this success and happiness began there, and we’ve got the money to prove it!”
At every seminar I have conducted I try to include one couple who has already embraced the idea and who can express how budgeting for a debt-free wedding has changed their lives. A debfree wedding may not seem like such a big deal while you are deep in the throes of walking down the aisle or greeting your guests at a blowout reception—but a year after the wedding, you’ll be glad you took the time to budget wisely and to begin your life together on a firm financial foundation.
essentially, adopting a debt-free wedding philosophy is akin to adopting a plan for your future. It is telling yourself that the wedding day is not an end in itself, but the beginning of a marriage. And if your wedding day is a beginning, and if you are truly concerned about the strength of your marriage, than you won’t want to begin your married life together saddled by a mountain of debt. Having a debt-free wedding is giving yourself permission to have a life. It is a philosophy shaped by a specific plan (which you can create) to finance your own wedding—and not to be beholden to the credit card companies, the bank, or a line of credit.
The debt-free wedding philosophy is easy to understand. It will not overwhelm you with charts and figures. It won’t dazzle you with fancy formulas. You will be the one shaping your wedding, planning your budget, and creating the debt-free approach. In fact, your debt-free wedding may be very different from another debt-free wedding. It’s not about size, or number of guests, or even appearances. It is about the results you are able to produce and the wedding you want, no matter what your budget.
As you read through this book you will find that creating a debt free wedding is as easy as one, two, three. Three steps. Three parts to the planning.
