Wedding Loans: How You Can Get A Loan For A Wedding

For many people, their wedding day is one of the happiest days of their lives, but an expensive one as well. Not everyone can afford their dream wedding out of pocket, and the wait to save up enough for it can be too long for most. For this reason, some people opt to take out wedding loans to cover those high costs.

This article will explain how wedding loans work and how to apply for one, as well as alternative means for financing your big day.

Wedding loans are funds that you can borrow to pay for wedding expenses. In the U.S., the average cost of a wedding is around $33,931. That’s more than most people can typically part with, especially when they’re about to start an exciting new chapter of their lives. A wedding loan will generally be unsecured, meaning there won’t be any collateral attached to the loan. Instead, your approval for a wedding loan will likely depend on your credit history and debt-to-income ratio (DTI). What Can You Use Wedding Loans For?Funds from a wedding loan can be used for anything related to the wedding itself. This can include any or all of the following:

• Buying an engagement ring
• Booking a wedding venue
• Paying for a catering staff
• Purchasing wedding insurance
• Financing the honeymoon

Some people will use their wedding loan to finance the entire wedding – the ceremony and the reception. There are few limitations to what you can spend your money on. Since the wedding was the reason for taking out the loan, though, it’d be wise to keep your spending related to that.

A personal loan is a perfectly viable option for financing a wedding. You can use a personal loan for almost anything, and there’s nothing that says that can’t include wedding costs. Personal loans are available through banks, credit unions and online lenders, and are repaid through monthly payments over the course of your loan term.

As stated above, your credit and income will convince a lender you’re good for paying back the loan, and those same factors will decide whether you get a good interest rate or not. Higher credit scores will often lead to better rates and terms.

Applying for a personal loan is a generally fast and straightforward process. Follow these steps to ensure you can get approved for the best loan terms possible:

• Check your credit. You’ll want a good or excellent credit score when applying for a personal loan. Otherwise, you may end up with less favorable interest rates and loan terms.
• Get prequalified. A prequalification can show you what rates and terms you qualify for based on your credit and DTI. For this, you’ll need to submit some personal information, and consent to a soft credit check.
• Compare lenders. Getting prequalified by multiple lenders will help you decide who you want to borrow from. Different lenders may offer you different rates and terms, and it’s important to understand all of your options when committing to a loan.
• Submit your application. Once you’ve chosen a lender, you’ll submit a formal application, along with documentation of your banking information, tax forms, pay stubs and more. A lender will also do a hard credit check at this time.
• Wait for a response. With your application sent, all you can do then is wait for an approval or rejection. If approved, you can expect to see your money in 1 – 7 business days, or even the same day you apply with Rocket Loans’® same-day funding.*

Wedding loans can have certain benefits over other types of financing, as well as some drawbacks. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Pros

• You can receive your funds in a short amount of time.
• Loans have fixed interest rates, meaning you pay the same amount on every monthly payment.

Cons

• Depending on your loan term, you could be paying off the wedding loan for several years, delaying other financial goals you may have.
• You could be inclined to spend money on things you wouldn’t if you were paying with your own money, resulting in unnecessary purchases.

A personal loan isn’t your only option when it comes to financing a wedding. You might want to consider some of the following other options.

Credit Card

Credit cards are known to have higher interest rates than other financing options, but you can get around that with a 0% annual percentage rate (APR) introductory period. When you sign up for a new card, often you can enjoy a 12 – 18 month period of interest-free repayments. If you can pay back your balance within that window of time, you may be able to avoid paying interest altogether.

That may be easier said than done, though. The costs of a wedding can be extremely high, and if you can’t pay them off within that introductory period, those infamous interest rates may put you even further into debt.

Personal Savings

If you start saving for a year or more before a wedding, or if you dip into an emergency fund, you can pay for all or some of your wedding expenses with your own money. Unless that savings was specifically intended for a wedding, you wouldn’t want to deplete it entirely. There will be more expenses in your near future that you may wish you’d set a little aside for.

It could take some time, too, to save up enough for your dream wedding. Those who have difficulty saving up that much could be waiting a long time before they can celebrate their commitment to each other.

Family Loans

If a wedding loan seems out of the question, you might see if any family members or friends would help finance the wedding. It’s not uncommon for the parents of the engaged couple to offer to pay for some or all of the wedding celebration.

This can be a big ask, though, and if your or your partner’s family isn’t financially able to help with the wedding, you’ll be back at square one with financing options.

Downsize Your Wedding Plans

It might not be preferable, but cutting costs and minimizing your plans could help you save money on your wedding. If you can still enjoy your big day without those particular items, then downsizing may be a financially smart idea. Otherwise, consider your other financing options, and maybe you could have the wedding you always dreamed of.

Are there wedding loans for those with bad credit?

Personal loans require good or excellent credit scores in order to get the most favorable rates and terms. A lower credit score may qualify you for a loan, but the interest rates you get could do more harm than good. You should work on improving your credit score in order to qualify for the best rates possible.

Do banks offer loans for weddings?

Many banks do offer personal loans that you can use for practically anything, including wedding expenses. Longtime customers may also be eligible for certain discounts or better rates. You can also borrow from credit unions or online lenders.

Can wedding loans impact your credit score?

Applying for a personal loan involves a hard inquiry into your credit history, which will impact your credit score by about 10 points. This is standard for most loans, though, and generally unavoidable. You can rebuild your credit by keeping up with your loan’s monthly payments.

Weddings can be expensive, and it’d be a shame to spend your life’s savings or sacrifice important items in order to make it all work. Wedding loans are available for those who qualify and can help you create a day you and your guests won’t ever forget.

Curious what you qualify for? Get prequalified with Rocket Loans today and see if you can afford the wedding of your dreams.

*Same Day Funding available for clients completing the loan process and signing the Promissory Note by 1:00PM ET on a business day. Also note, the ACH credit will be submitted to your bank the same business day. This may result in same day funding, but results may vary and your bank may have rules that limit our ability to credit your account. We are not responsible for delays which may occur due to incorrect routing number, account number, or errors of your financial institution.