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6-1-18
Expert June 2018

Is it wrong to pay for a wedding when you have debt?

6-1-18, on February 11, 2018 at 10:35 AM

Posted in Planning 68

I've recently gotten into personal finance and joined a personal finance group on Facebook. I commented on something and mentioned our wedding and was completely berated for having a wedding when FH and I have debt. Apparently these people are so hardcore about having no debt and having a lot of...
I've recently gotten into personal finance and joined a personal finance group on Facebook. I commented on something and mentioned our wedding and was completely berated for having a wedding when FH and I have debt. Apparently these people are so hardcore about having no debt and having a lot of money at retirement that they can't enjoy themselves now. The only debt we have is our cars (less than $9k combined) and student loans (less than $18k) and we're spending about $4000 on our $7.5k wedding; my mom is paying the rest. So, what do you think? Are non-courthouse weddings only for debt-free people?

68 Comments

  • C
    Beginner October 2018
    Charlie ·
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    No my wife to be and I are in huge debt and going for bankruptcy and we’re have a nice wedding
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  • fallinthegarden
    Master October 2017
    fallinthegarden ·
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    I'm sorry, what? You have the money to pay off your credit card debt, which is definitely debt, but just don't want to? You'll pay less paying them off in full right now than paying them off over time, plus your credit score will go up, your debt-to-income relationship will go down...

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  • Malwen107
    VIP October 2018
    Malwen107 ·
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    I think this is unrealistic. Lots of people are likely to have student debt etc, during the wedding planning process. I don't think it's smart to go into MORE debt over the wedding, but we honestly met with a financial advisor just this week, to talk about strategies to pay down debt, and get our stuff in line, and not once did she say we shouldn't have a wedding. She just asked how it was going and what we still need to save. As long as you keep paying everything you need to pay, and prioritize so you don't get deeper into trouble, I think you do what's right for you. Have the day you can afford, even if that means pushing it back so you can save.

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  • plangalCG
    VIP May 2018
    plangalCG ·
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    People need to lay off the judgement in general! I was fortunate enough to pay off my debt recently, and I’m even more cognizant about it now, and people say how “dumb” spending money on weddings is, but come on! I agree not to be crazy and go into debt for weddings, but your wedding is by no means crazy. I have known people who go to extremes to save money but to me that is miserable. I’m for living within one’s means, but the key term there is LIVING. Just ignore them.
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  • Officiallymrs
    Super May 2010
    Officiallymrs ·
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    Yes that’s what I said exactly ... I don’t want to dish out that much cash at once while I’m also planning and paying for some of my wedding .. and only one card has interest, and the rest all be paid off before the 0% interest year is up, and I have a very very good credit score ...
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  • Officiallymrs
    Super May 2010
    Officiallymrs ·
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    Only 1 card right now has interest the rest are interest free and will be paid off before the interest kicks in
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  • Red Queen
    VIP May 2018
    Red Queen ·
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    There is good debt and bad debt. I would not be having a wedding if I had credit card debt. That's the highest interest rate and most problematic of debts. I pay off my credit card at the end of every month.

    I do have a mortgage. Mortgage debt is good debt and I don't worry about that.

    I don't agree in never having any debt. If you don't have debt, you can't leverage anything. But you have to pick your positions well.

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  • Nikki
    Super May 2018
    Nikki ·
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    This is all relative tbh. It’s different to be in a position where you have a few payments you’re making comfortably vs you’re looking at going into further debt to pay for the wedding. And it depends on your priorities. If you’re in a situation where the $ you’ve put aside for the wedding is the difference between being able to buy a house...you may want to evaluate your options more closely. But in my opinion even if you have some debt, as long as you are managing it & on track to pay it off & not adding to it, then the expenses for a wedding shouldn’t matter. We’ve made sure to budget what we could save so that we’re able to pay cash for everything & not add to our credit cards. We want to buy a house in a couple years so we have a financial plan we follow to get debt free before that happens.
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  • C
    Master July 2018
    Cuoghi ·
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    There is balance. You should NOT go into further debt for your wedding. But continue paying your current loans while planning a wedding and work to pay off your loans. Also consider refinancing your loans, that can help
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  • RZ_ToBe
    Master July 2018
    RZ_ToBe ·
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    We have quite a bit of debt mashing car payments and student loans together. But we can afford to pay the bills monthly and still have some money to set aside for our wedding. I don't see anything wrong with that! As long as there's no loans being taken out and all bills are paid on time, theres no need to hold back on your wedding.
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  • L
    Expert June 2018
    LeeAnne ·
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    Im sorry what? Why would you have a nice wedding if you are on the verge of bankrupty????
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  • M
    Super October 2018
    MaltedMilk ·
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    Some of those personal finance blogs and groups are.....strong. To answer your question, I think you are good to go. You are not incurring any additional debt for a wedding. Best wishes!

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  • C
    Beginner October 2018
    Charlie ·
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    Because nice wedding does not mean super over-the-top expensive unfortunately that’s some people’s mindset!
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  • C
    Beginner October 2018
    Charlie ·
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    As long as our bills are paid Like rent and all utilities and food and all of that than It shouldn’t matter and we are more than able. we can pay our bills and pay for a wedding and we both just forked out $2000 to pay for bankruptcy
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  • L
    Devoted July 2019
    Lexi ·
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    Ha well I have quite a bit of debt too yet I'm paying for the wedding which is 14k. As long as you don't rack up a bunch of more debt and continue to pay off your current debt and save for your wedding I feel like its fine. If you wait to have a wedding once your debt free you might be 100 years old.

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  • Baconater
    Dedicated April 2017
    Baconater ·
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    Well I mean if you're filling for bankruptcy, can you pay your bills?

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  • L
    Expert June 2018
    LeeAnne ·
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    Im a little confused maybe i dont understand bankrupty but why else would you need to file bankrupty if you can pay all your bills? Doesn't make sense.....
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  • Katie M.
    Devoted June 2019
    Katie M. ·
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    I say have your wedding! The thought of being debt free would be nice but not achievable for most. As other suggested dew the line if your wedding is creating more debt. I have student loans and I’m still in school while FH has some credit card debt. We can afford all monthly payments while putting a portion away for our wedding Smiley smile
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  • S
    Expert July 2017
    SaraBear ·
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    The only reason I would say it’s not a good idea would be if you’re throwing a huge extravagant gala that could pay down all of your debt. For example, if you said your budget was $30-40K, I would say definitely not a good idea, why don’t you cut your budget in half and apply some to the loans. BUT I think you and your FH spending 4K is not out of control. You can save for your wedding and continue paying down some of your debts. As long as you don’t go into more debt on your wedding or start making late payments or skipping your payments!

    Charlie, I’m interested to know the cost of your wedding? When I hear nice wedding, I think of yummy food, fun cocktail hour, open bar. Usually insinuates a higher price tag with a large amount of guests, especially when people brag about it. But you can definitely have a nice wedding for a handful of people for a relatively lower price tag. Or is this one of those, “we’re having a nice wedding for $2000 and 250 of our closest friends are showing up.
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  • S
    Expert July 2017
    SaraBear ·
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    Perhaps I don’t understand the dave Ramsey thing and I promise I’m not trying to start an argument but this statement really confuses me. No debt =/= no credit. Both my husband and I entered our marriage with zero debt. I paid off my card long ago, neither of us had school loans, and we pay off our credit cards in full at each statement. We don’t pay any interest, ever, and neither of us has ever missed a payment or had a late payment. We have a healthy savings account were using to put down a good down payment on a home in Southern California (with enough savings leftover) and our credit scores are both over 780. We were told were excellent candidates for new homebuyers. I promise - I’m just curious but I’m not sure how no debt equals no credit. Would Ramsey consider just having a credit card, even if it’s paid in full at every cycle, “debt?”. I guess I’m just a little confused on Dave Ramsey’s philosophy. Just curious!
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