Loans for Weddings – How to Make the Most of It

I’m not going to blindly tell Loan Camel readers to go out and find their loans for weddings and “party like a rock star, party like a rock star, party like a rock star, totally dude…” That’s nuts and this is serious… even for someone like me who jokes about everything as a way to deflect stress and anxiety.

I’ve spent too long, suffering for you to not make the mistakes I made, building up my credit into the 800’s and changing my life for the financial better to tell anyone to go on a wide-open wedding binge… or any kind of spending binge for that matter. I actually look for ways to help all of us better manage our situations and am a proponent of personal loans to consolidate credit card debt and pay it off .

But I also get that there are big lifetime expenditures that come up, such as wedding expenses, car and home purchases, medical costs… whatever it is and so knowing and understanding this, and having used personal loans myself for almost every one of these situations, I am hoping to minimize some fears, anxieties and costs you have in paying for your wedding expenses, and if a personal loan is needed, then Loan Camel is here helping people over the hump in a variety of ways and weddings are included. But first…

There are weddings… And Then There Are Weddings

According to WeddingStats.org, the average price of a wedding in these here United States of ‘Murica” runs $30,433.00 and The Knot goes even higher stating that the average wedding costs $33,931.00, with an average number of guests at 136 people… That’s $250.00 per wedding guest… That’s a lot of money for the average person.

Believe me I know… I went through this previously and yes, I did use a personal loan to offset some costs, combined with some savings I had in order to help get myself over the hump so I can speak on the matter from my own experience. I’ll get into what I did later as I killed 2 birds with one stone.

So the average wedding cost also varies from state to state and even within states – South Florida weddings cost more than North Florida weddings, New York City weddings cost more than everywhere, on average. My sister had a Miami area wedding for 250 people with lamb chops and all kinds of expensive hors d’oeuves being offered by roaming staff. It was loco to me but my parents were in a position to pay for it.

I don’t know that they could afford it but they had the money and they paid for it. It killed me to see money being spent that way but they were willing to do what she wanted. I certainly couldn’t afford that nor would I even want that amount of attention or to place that burden on anyone, myself included. My wedding was just a small group of relatives.

The type of wedding you have will dictate much. Venue, food, photographers, entertainment, rooms, transportation costs… it all adds up. If you take out a loan, how long do you need to pay it back? Will your credit score help get you a decent rate on any loans for weddings that you are considering. You can certainly check your rates here at Loan Camel but what are your options?

So What Are the Options Before You Commit to the Big or Not So Big Event?

Look guys, I’m certainly not going to tell you to imagine your dream wedding and then just borrow the money and take on massive debt for an unforgettable night of partying and celebration. That’s unhelpful and just plain irresponsible without knowing the circumstances. That wasn’t my personal priority so I am the last person to push that agenda.

If you need to borrow 10’s of 1,000’s of dollars, I think you should seriously reconsider your priorities in what you are doing, why and for who. Is it worth it? If so, OK but you should really consider your options before looking at loans for weddings or really for any expenditure that you need to borrow against in order to make the purchase.

Right off the bat, do you have time to save some money for the event? I saved some money, over time myself, and it helped me when I needed some help with a loan as I did not have to borrow much. This definitely takes some discipline in keeping budgets tighter in order to save as you count down to your big day but I cannot, in good conscience, not recommend this as your first move in this arena.

Next, I want you to consider what you need to do and then narrow things down by eliminating excesses you do not need. Do you need a big wedding? If so, do you need hard liquor or will beer, wine and sparkling wine be acceptable? Do you need sit down service or will a buffet work? Does your buffet need to be a heavy meal or can it be heavy hors de oerves? Do you need a full band or are there lesser cost options, lesser cost decorations, lesser cost venues – like a restaurant’s private room???

Yo, you better work it y’all. These things all add up and I want you to consider whether you can do a small ceremony now, even with a judge, and a dinner or party at a home or similarly free location. Look around and look into it. And keep asking yourself why am I doing this, who am I doing this for and what do I really need to do here that can satisfy what I need versus what I can financially manage? For really realz, don’t do something for the wrong reasons. Make good choices and borrow accordingly, if needed as well.

Drop the Stigma, Lose the Guilt, Cut the costs… If You Can

I feel your pain… I really do because I’ve been there but I’m too neurotic to just drop it at the last paragraph and I can’t just let it go without asking you again, who are you doing this for, why are you doing it and is it all necessary? There’s a lot of pressure, I get it, but believe me, the financial pressure over time, if you overdo it is not, in my opinion, going to be worth it.

But girls dream an entire lifetime about their wedding day? But my friends had a big beautiful wedding and I feel like I need to do as everyone else does? But my family will all be there? But, but but… Got it. There’s always a balancing act and competing reason or pressure to do one thing or another… in many facets of life. But you need to do what you can afford to handle too.

I’ve made multiple mistakes like this, particularly earlier on in life. Make sure that you do the right things for the right reasons. What’s important is that you found someone special to share your life with. Let that be the ultimate end not how you celebrate it and to what extent you do so to impress or please anyone else. This is your day and your life. With that said, and assuming that you are looking for a loan to assist you in paying for your wedding, time to make it happen.

Now About Those 2 Birds & 1 Stone… Minimize & Maximize Your Personal Loan

Say huh what???? That’s right, this is what I did and this is what you can do too, if needed. As I mentioned, I saved some money and you can bet that I went with a scaled down wedding. When I say loans for weddings, there’s really no wedding loan per se, but rather, it’s a personal loan for a large expenditure.

I paid costs in cash and put the balance on credit cards where they sat for about a month. When I took out my loan, I also consolidated other debt that I had. In essence, my payments with my wedding expenses were not so far off from my credit card payments that I had been making but now I also had a date certain to pay off everything. If you are sitting with revolving credit card debt, I would recommend you looking into this option as well.

That said, I need to reiterate this point as I do in most of my posts as you cannot effectively change your financial life simply through debt consolidation loans alone.  Consolidation loans simply help you move debt into a place that is more manageable so that you can pay it off at a date certain but YOU MUST CHANGE THE BEHAVIOR THAT GOT YOU WHERE YOU ARE, where possible.

Loans for Weddings & Getting What’s Needed

What needs to happen is that you need to decide what you really need, for the right reasons and eliminate excesses and narrow things down to what you can afford and live with… And without making decisions due to outside pressures that will only create additional pressures for you going forward if you go beyond what you honestly know that you can manage.

Save the money you can and then, if needed, take out a personal loan that you can afford to help get over the hump. If you have revolving credit card and/or other debts, look to consolidate everything together in one loan. And remember, this is your day for you and your significant other. The two of you are the ultimate end and finding each other is what matters most.

If you would like to check your personal loan rates without impact to your credit, you can check it out at Loan Camel by clicking here. Oh… one more thing… Congratulations from Daddy Poorbucks and the Camel!