Loan for a Wedding -Pay back some using Gifts

Irish Gunner

Looking at option of taking out a loan to finance a wedding. Plan is to save as much as we can and then borrow the rest. However i know it maybe presumptuous but we hope to use any money we get as gifts t pay some of it of

No figures yet but say taking €20k over 5 years and best rate I can see via bonkers is 5.9% APR (fixed rate) & 5.7% Interest rate (fixed rate) and Unscheduled repayments are allowed with An Post money. Not sure if any hidden extras?

So taking this if we where to use gift money loan length would remain along with agreed payment amount or can you pay off earlier without incurring a early payment fee?

The APR for the Credit union is 11.56% and we have some savings there but at that rates seems crazy to go there

Anyone got any suggestions or anyone took a loan out for a wedding and how did you work / repay it?

Static M.e.

Yes, we took a very similar approach to you. We saved as much we could and then took a loan out, 5 years, for the last six months when all of the bills mounted up quickly. I felt like I had to track everything because the costs add up very quickly. I would strongly suggest you agree a budget with your partner, stick to it, and then do the same. We used wedding gifts to pay off the loan afterwards and combined with our savings it cleared it. Don't forget you will also need to budget for the honeymoon which could also be expensive.

Irish Gunner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120088866#Comment_120088866

We are looking at possible option of getting married abroad so checking that and from speaking to wedding planners we know what our budget should be and stick to it. The stay around for few days as our 'Honeymoon'

How did you approach it and any tips etc and whom did you go with for the loan?

Thanks

Keano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120089133#Comment_120089133

You say in your opening post you would use money from gifts to help pay it back, then suggest your looking at getting married abroad? Gifts from the wedding abroad I can say would be very small. People have to travel etc?

AndrewJRenko

Why not just have a smaller wedding? It’s crazy to see young people getting into debt for a big party.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120089133#Comment_120089133

There won't be as many gifts of money if invited guests are travelling abroad for a wedding.

Personally, I feel borrowing to fund a wedding is not a great option in the first place.

Sorolla

I think you and your beloved are stone mad to even consider spending 20k on a wedding.

a loan of 20k over 5 years at a rate of 5.9% will end up costing you over €6k in interest payments alone.

Do you really want to fork out over €26k for a wedding.

You would be better off living within your means.

If you decide to have kids your household income will probably decrease and the wedding loan could become a milestone around your neck.

If your beloved wants to go all „bling“ for a wedding then maybe the beloved is not the one for you.

What is the motivation for the big wedding - is it to impress friends and neighbors?

if it is then I see a spiraling of uncontrollable debt as you will want to get a car that will also impress the friends and neighbors and also expensive furniture and and and ……

JPup

Ugh. Some really unhelpful and unpleasant comments there from Sorolla. I think the OP is in a better position than you to judge whether their 'beloved' is right for them.

I'd go into the credit union/bank/An Post and ask. Explain what you're looking to do and get the terms and conditions in writing so you can see if there are any early payment penalties or not. Generally, I wouldn't expect there to be on a loan of this nature.

Jim2007

I am always shocked at how much Irish people spend on weddings (and Communions and Confirmations for that matter), my brother is a Concierge at a well known hotel in the west of Ireland and from the figures he mentions 20k is actually a very reasonable amount for a wedding.

But is the idea of putting yourself into debt to the tune of 20k and spending the next five years trying to pay it back that concerns me. As newly marrieds there will be lots of better opportunities to spend the 20k over the next five years of your life.

Most of the weddings I have attended were here in Switzerland, where the norm is that you spent no more than one month's salary on a wedding, in fact you'd be considered a bit foolish to waste more than that on it. Weddings are usually held in the village hall or a farmer's barn with both families and friends doing the catering. And they have been every bit as enjoyable and memorable as any you'll spend 20k on.

bucketybuck

26k for a glorified party, its definitely Bonkers.ie that you should be going with.

I'll try to give some advice without any judgement.

I got married 4 years ago, in a very fine affair in a private country house. The wedding, all in cost us less than €22k. We skimped on a couple of things. But not much. For example, we made the wedding cake ourselves. We didnt buy everyone a drink for the speeches. We didnt have a gin bar at the reception.

We basically decided that the things people (and us) would remember were the location, the band and the food. I've never heard people give out about the quality of the flip flops in the bathroom, or the lack of a free drink for the speeches.

Anyway, things have gotten more expensive since then. I'm sure of it.

We spent about 18 months between getting engaged, and getting married. In that time we saved the majority of the money we needed. Fortunately, we got some money from parents too. But if we hadn't, we would have needed a loan of approx 25% of the overall cost the wedding.

I think you need to sit down and decide

When you want to get married? This will tell you how long you have to save. Can you add a year?

How much ye can save every month? Give you an idea of what your budget should be

Where ye want to get married? Costs will vary hugely between a country estate in Wicklow, and a hotel in Longford

What you need to have at the wedding? What can be cut

How many people do you expect to invite? More people, results in more gifts, and makes things like the band/photographer relatively cheaper

From personal experiences, you can hope to get back about 60% of the cost of the wedding as gifts, but this is not a guarantee. The last thing you want to be doing, is judging your friends and family for what gifts they provided. You invited them to your wedding. You should consider any gift, large or small, as exactly that, a gift, and not a certainty

I'd try to keep the cost of any loan, to be less than 25% of the overall cost of the wedding

Irish Gunner

Hi

Thanks for the comments some 'out there' and others useful

We are not young(wish we where) fairly financial stable with normal bills and creche fees (yes we have children) and mortgage been our major outgoing. We do have savings and trying to decide what we can afford extra to save each month towards the wedding

We don't want anything 'Blingy or 'Flashy' and not out to impress anyone its our wedding and the people we want there will go and we are limiting it to 80 at max. if we go abroad those we mentioned said they will go and if not no biggie. I agree its an extra expense and we don't expect guests to add more to their costs with an expensive gift.

Again its working out costs v getting married abroad v Ireland and its our wedding so up to us and thats what everyone is agreeing with.

Again early stages so just looking at all options and costs and input from those whom have done that and bought the t-shirt