5 ways consolidating debt can help with your dream wedding
Posted March 2017
With your wedding day fast approaching, you’re probably describing it to friends and family alike with words like ‘extravagant’, ‘gorgeous’, ‘heartfelt’ and ‘exciting’, but more than these, one word can usually be used to sum up almost any wedding: 'expensive'.
Of course, you don't need to be a Bridezilla to want your big day to be as good as it can be. Which is why it isn't uncommon to find yourself pulling out the plastic and piling on the credit card debt just so your day is remembered for years to come. Unfortunately, with the average New Zealand wedding costing anywhere from $10,000 right through to $30,000, it’s usually the debt that follows you and your partner around the longest.
Worse still, any leftover wedding debt will quickly follow you into your marriage, and leave you dealing with bills, credit card repayments and no shortage of stress, especially if any plans to renovate your family home (or start saving your money for a new one), finance a new car, or welcome a new baby into the world are put on hold as a result.
So while it may be impossible to completely strike debt from your wedding's guest list, here are 5 ways consolidating your debts can ensure it doesn’t crash your big day, and leave you and your loved ones with peace of mind to celebrate your wedding day in style.
1. Cut down on your pre-wedding stress
Let’s face it, weddings are stressful enough without the added stress of juggling your debts at the same time. Will the venue be available for your perfect day? How’s the weather looking? More importantly, where are the in-laws going to sit, and will they get along? Not to mention the fact that your partner may also be bringing their own debts along to the big day.
The last thing you want on your wedding day is to have to worry about whether you’ve scheduled your credit card payments, transferred your car payment, or if you have enough in your account for that automatic loan repayment. By rolling all of your debts into one with a debt consolidation loan, you can simply set up your single monthly repayment and get on with enjoying your big day. Now, if only planning your wedding was this easy.
2. Start your married life on the financially responsible foot
Money isn’t just high on the list of topics that couples fight over, it actually sits right at the top. In fact, it’s one of the major reasons couples throughout the US, Australia and New Zealand end up filing for divorce.
Personal finances can be stressful, and they can just as easily put a massive amount of strain on your relationships and, later, your marriage. Yet it’s said that seven out of ten American men and women enter marriage with some amount of debt, and New Zealanders just like you are no different.
In the lead-up to your big day, you’re probably thinking about the relationship you have with that special someone, but what about the relationship you have with money? And how will that change once another person, and their own financial life, is joined with yours? More than that, what do you - and your prospective partner’s - finances look like?
The act of consolidating your debts before you join hands, lives, and finances at the aisle can ensure you have a healthy relationship with money and an even happier, long-lasting relationship with your new partner.
3. Find out how your wedding budget will stretch
On our page Think Before You Spend, we share an easy-to-use and free budget planner to download and complete with your expenses. The key step here is to work out what you need to continue to live comfortably, what you can afford to save, and sticking to it. One of the key steps will also be to work out how much debt you already have and need to address.
By going through this process, you’ll have a better idea of your current financial position. This means you'll then be able to work out just how far you can stretch your wedding budget to pay for those little extras to make your big day truly special.
4. Improve your chances of getting finance for your wedding
Sometimes big purchases - just like your big day - are worth spending a little more on. As long as you’re financially responsible and know you can afford it, applying for finance to pay for live music, a better table setting, or the venue of your dreams could turn that dream into a reality.
If you’ve decided a secured or unsecured loan is how you’d like to help pay for your wedding, then consolidating your debts beforehand is a great way to improve your credit score and, in turn, land a better loan with a higher amount and a lower interest rate.
5. Quickly and easily pay off your wedding debt
Maybe you paid for the flowers with your credit card. Or perhaps you took out a holiday loan to pay for the sun-soaked honeymoon of your dreams. Either way, while your wedding may have been executed to perfection, planning and paying for a wedding can be a very messy process. By the end of it, you'll likely have money owing to a lot of people, all needing to be sent to different accounts, and all due on different dates.
You didn’t get married just to manage paperwork or struggle with debt, right? We didn’t think so. By consolidating all of your wedding debts into one easy-to-manage debt consolidation loan, you’ll be able to quickly and easily get those wedding expenses under control, and free yourself up to tell stories about your wedding, rather than groan about your wedding debts.
Your wedding doesn’t have to be ‘til debts do us part’
Weddings may be expensive, but that doesn’t mean the costs involved in making your big day special need to follow you into married life and beyond.
By being smart about your finances, setting yourself a budget, and then rolling all of your debts into one, you'll be able to reap the benefits of debt consolidation and enjoy your special day with friends, family and the people you love without debt showing up to crash your party.