Comments on: Avoid The Wedding Debt Trap, Pt 2

By: On Wedding Debt: A Cautionary Tale

On Wedding Debt: A Cautionary Tale — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:01:29 +0000

[...] Yet, things went wrong. [...]

By: Laila

Laila — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:58:12 +0000

I am sooooo going back and forth with this same issue right now. I lost my job in July, right before a one month vacation that we had been planning for years. I came back to a 3-month temporary job, that pays practically zilch. I’ve incurred about $5,000 in debt just dealing with life and things that keep coming up! And my usually great credit score is sinking – despite that fact that I have never before allowed myself to be in debt this far.

And now, nine months away from the wedding, I’m so worried. And debt makes me lose sleep at night. It already is. What will another $5,000 of debt do to us?

Reading this entry was really helpful, and showed me that I’m not alone. Thank you so much for taking the time, and having the courage to share it!

By: Think Money

Think Money — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:21:40 +0000

Thanks for the link to the Yahoo! Finance article & also (especially) your lessons learned. You can’t really put a price on personal experience!

Thanks again!

By: Wedding Gown Town

Wedding Gown Town — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:06:36 +0000

I’d love to have an outdoors wedding, but here in the UK the weather is utterly unpredictable, so trying to find a cheap/free location to get married in is really difficult.

Thanks for the great advice on this blog – I think people need to be thinking a lot harder about spending lavishly, particularly in financial crunch times like now.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:34:30 +0000

Just to add to my previous comment. My fiance and I started a Mutual Fund account and set an approximate goal for what we think our wedding will cost us and money is directly deposited into that account from each pay. We don’t want our parents to pay for our wedding so this is how we decided to save for it.

Hope this helps!

Anna

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:31:33 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story. We am currently planning our wedding and it has been a struggle to find a “perfect place” to celebrate our special day. We’ve been debating on whether to go with a banquet hall or a traditional Chinese restuarant. The only thing about a restaurant is that it’s pretty cheap where we live, but the place itself isn’t too nice, but it’s decent (no decorations at all). We talked about having it at a restaurant in Toronto, which would be nicer, but then it would cost approximately the same as having it at a banquet hall. But in the end, we think that the most important thing (aside from food) is that the guests are there to celebrate our wedding with us. I guess that’s what all couples should keep in mind and definitely live within your means. Afterall, it’s only 1 day and so what if guests are seated in chairs without the chair covers, that’s just an extra luxury that they will have to live without for a couple of hours.

By: Nicole Kraft

Nicole Kraft — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:49:34 +0000

Thank you for sharing this story, Khris! You are so right about all of it. It’s so tempting to live outside of our means on a daily basis and especially with our weddings. But it is possible to plan an elegant wedding within your means. My wedding totalled $11,000 four years ago. It was a gorgeous outdoor wedding and reception in an apple orchard on the water! Really it is do-able, but you have to be willing to think creatively. We made our own invites, had a friend cater and make the cake, had a friend DJ, had a friend officiate, we got a steal on the venue, made our own centerpiece which doubled as favors, had a photographer friend take photos, etc… And the list goes on. I had the time of my life that day! And we still get compliments about how amazing our wedding was and how personal it felt. Anyway, I’m with you 100%! And thanks again for sharing. Your story serves as an inspiration for us all!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:23:50 +0000

I just got married in June. We had a lovely wedding in a local state park, and it was beautiful. Total bill: $3500

Some tips:
We had silk flowers
My father used to be a DJ so he planned all the music
One of the guys I work with caters on the side
Guests gave us copies of videos (and pictures), which we then edited together
My aunt was in charge of taking the formal pictures and the event pictures (first dance, cake cutting…)

By: wysiwyg

wysiwyg — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:00:29 +0000

How do you NOT get into debt and still have a wedding that you love?

We have a $15,000 allowance from our parents and $2,200 of our own. My FI can get a $9,000 loan from his credit union at 8%. He’s hesitant to do it even though we make over $60,000 combined.

We can’t have a decent wedding without more “help”. That’s the reality.

By: Samantha

Samantha — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:38:19 +0000

I’m going through the ongoing pain of finding an affordable reception location for my 200+ wedding while reading this. It’s so true, all of it. I keep telling myself not to pressure myself to have the “perfect” wedding.