Why borrowing money for a wedding is a bad idea

Why you shouldn't start your family life with debt

The desire to play a magnificent wedding is understandable. It is initially given too sacred meaning. Fairy tales end with a beautiful ceremony, after which the characters live happily ever after. Gender socialization also contributes: many girls are still led to believe that marriage is the main event in their life. Naturally, if you live with the dream of a single day for more than twenty years, it is not so easy to give up all the best at once. The arguments "this is the most important day" and "this is only once in a lifetime" enter the battle with rational arguments for economy.

In the first six months of 2021, 368.4 thousand marriages and 307.6 thousand divorces were registered. Divorced marriages were mainly people who did not get married this year, but earlier, but the statistics are still indicative. And she shouldn't be upset. Centuries ago, there were fewer divorces at all not because people were completely happy in the family and knew how to build relationships. But it is worth taking for granted: there will not be only one marriage in your life.

It may well arise that you are entering into a third marriage, but you are still paying the loan for the first wedding.

And even if you are fortunate enough to meet the love of your life, debt can significantly cloud your life together. 37% of Russian families quarrel over money. A large loan - and usually not 50 thousand are taken for a wedding - can become a long-term fuel for scandals.

For reference: the average rate on loans is 10.75%, the size of a consumer loan is 268.5 thousand.

Let's assume that the newlyweds take exactly that much. With a loan for 2 years, they will have to pay 12.5 thousand a month and overpay more than 31 thousand. It is already quite a lot for a country with an average accrued salary of 58.8 thousand rubles.

The loan will hang on you for several years, during which the financial situation may change. For example, a young family will have a child, due to which income will decrease and expenses will increase. Money will be required for the arrangement of everyday life. Finally, the wedding experience will start to fade and it will be difficult to understand why, because of one fun day, you should give up entertainment for the next 3-5 years.

Why taking out a loan for a wedding is dangerous

Usually people who spend a lot of money on a celebration say that they are doing it for a reason. They "make a dream come true," "invest in memories, emotions, impressions." If it is paid for with savings, why not. In the end, people spend money on travel, and this is also primarily photographs and emotions.

Another thing is when it comes to loans. Take loans seriously. If you want financial stability, you only need to take them for what you really need. And you should always have a plan for how you will give them away if something goes wrong.

Even if you bought an iPhone on credit, you can always sell it at a reduced price and compensate for at least part of the loan. The cost of a wedding does not generally involve purchases, but payment for services. Therefore, you will have practically nothing to sell, only if the kidney.

Here's the real story: in 2016, a resident of Novosibirsk tried to sell a kidney to pay off a loan he took for a wedding. Be aware that organ trafficking is illegal in Russia. Although you can legally make money on your body, but in other ways.

It is possible that the loan will become an exorbitant burden and you will have to say goodbye to part of the property, start saving on literally everything, declare yourself bankrupt or get acquainted with the collectors - and these are all bad options for the development of events.

It is naive to hope that you will beat off the wedding with gifts from guests and repay the loan. This is a hard-to-predict item of income. Maybe your calculation will be justified. But history knows many cases when guests gave not even gifts instead of money, but just empty envelopes.

How a wedding loan deprives you of opportunities

Suppose the newlyweds did not take out the average wedding loan. They modestly celebrated the wedding, and then began to set aside money with which they could pay off the loan. In 2 years they would have saved 300 thousand.

Money opens up many opportunities. For example, they can become a down payment on a mortgage. This amount is enough to start investing or open your own business. For 300 thousand, you can complete several professional courses and significantly increase the income of both spouses. It will be difficult to do all this with a loan.

How financial burden can be on one person

A wedding is like a plantain - it can heal any relationship. At least many continue to think so. Surely you have acquaintances who think that after the marriage the partner will definitely change. Or people who made the decision to get married, because in their situation "there were two options: to part or marry."

This is a dangerous mistake, because a stamp on a passport does not solve relationship problems. Perhaps the euphoria from the holiday will turn partners into their best versions for a while, but this will not be for long. So there is a great risk of divorce. There is a chance that the relationship will have time to end before the wedding. And in both cases, there is another danger.

The loan that you took before the wedding is the responsibility of the person for whom it was issued. Accordingly, whoever took it, that and pay. If the money has already been spent, debt will become a big personal problem for the borrower.

What to do if there is not enough money for the wedding

Whether to take a loan or not is up to you. But an unforgettable celebration can be organized within a modest budget. Invite to the holiday only those who are truly dear and close to you. Take care of the decor yourself, choose a bouquet not from a rare variety of roses, but from wildflowers.

The lack of money will have to be compensated for by an additional waste of time, but perhaps this way the holiday will be even more memorable.

But do not forget that everything ends with a wedding only in fairy tales. In life, this is the beginning of family life, where there will still be happy days and reasons to spend money.