Wedding Loans: Till Death Do You Owe

05/15/08 - 05:53 AM EDT

Jeffrey Strain

The entire amount paid for the wedding will disappear in a day, and if the wedding is paid for with a loan, the couple could be paying for that day years down the road.

Any couple that has to get a loan to pay for a wedding is setting itself up for money troubles in the future. Avoiding the wedding loan will force a couple to deal with financial issues before marriage, which can go a long way to eliminating money as a major marital problem.

Here are three alternatives to wedding loans:

Elope

If you were told that skipping your wedding would mean you could have $1 million dollars, would you do it? That can be the result if you decide to elope instead of going into debt for a wedding.

If eloping is an option, it is financially by far the best one.

Forget all the trappings of a wedding and save yourself tens of thousands of dollars that you can put toward more important financial dreams (a down payment on a house, retirement accounts, etc) the two of you have.

Delay

If you have your sights set on a wedding that costs a specific amount and aren't willing to compromise on it, think about delaying the wedding until you have the money to afford it.

This could be an excellent time for you and your betrothed to discuss financial issues together and how you are going to accomplish your goal to save the money needed.

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