Columbia, SC (WLTX)-- According experts, marriage is a great investment. Fee Only Certified Financial Planner Laura Scharr-Bykowsky says people are talking about nuptuals from South Carolina to Hollywood.
Kim Kardashian is making headlines with her quick change of heart regarding her recent nuptials. Her lavish televised $10M+ wedding made many viewers secretly wish they could experience such a romantic, extraordinary experience. Of course, as Hollywood often reminds us, the longevity of the marriage is not necessarily correlated to the price tag of the wedding. Here are some tips for how to save money on a wedding, and some benefits of marriage.
Happy Wife, Happy Life...
In addition to improved physical and psychological health, married couples have higher median household income. Even among single-income married families, the median family income is still higher than that of unmarried individuals. Married, college educated individuals have the best outcome. Specifically, financial benefits that accrue to couples include the following:
- Discounts on insurance- There are often discounts for health, property and casualty and long term care insurance coverage.
- Increased financial stability- with two incomes there is greater flexibility. One spouse can stay home to raise the children; or in times of hardship, if one spouse loses their job, the other can provide needed income.
- Two can live cheaper than one- Expenses like the mortgage and insurance payments are shared and employee benefits from each spouse can be evaluated to minimize costs. For example, family and spousal health insurance coverage is often much less expensive than if both spouses chose individual coverage.
- Social Security and pension income can be maximized as spouses and survivors can collect benefits based on their spouse's record.
Take the Plunge, but Don't Break the Bank
If you have decided to marry and are planning a wedding, you don't have to put financial pressure on yourself in order to enjoy your day to its fullest. Since 1990 the average price of a wedding has doubled to approximately $28,000. But in this new era of practicality and frugality don't feel obliged to "Keep Up with the Joneses". Here are some great tips to keep the costs down without sacrificing on romance.
- First, make a budget and stick to it. Most importantly, parents shouldn't feel guilty about not being able to pay for a wedding, if it will jeopardize their retirement. My parents could not afford to pay for my wedding but were gracious enough to pay for my dress and good china. They set that expectation up front and so I was clear on how much I needed to contribute. My father in law also gave us a cash gift that helped defray costs. We never expected either side to pay for our whole wedding as we did not feel it was a privilege or a duty of our parents. We both had jobs and were willing to take responsibility for the event.
- Remember the cost of your wedding is not directly proportional to the longevity of the marriage. In fact, it is probably quite the opposite.
- Trim your list to include only very close friends and family members- Don't worry about offending your coworkers or long lost cousin. They probably don't want to obligation of attending and getting a gift anyway.
- Rent your wedding dress- There are many web sites now that specialize in this and if I had to do it all over again, I would rent my dress. My dress went out of style and I ended up giving it to Goodwill. Most brides have a big box in their closet of their preserved dress that just takes up space. Why spend over a thousand dollars to wear a dress once?
- Consider scheduling your wedding off season. If you book during the season, the price will be higher and the availability of venue will be an issue as well.
- Serve lunch or heavy hors d'oeuvres- this can dramatically reduce your food bill, yet still be elegant.
- Have the ceremony and reception in the same venue. This creates double savings. You save because you only have one location and you only have to provide flowers or decorate for that one venue. For my wedding, the florist simply moved the arrangements from the room where we were married, to the reception area. We were married in the Alumni House at Bryn Mawr College, so guests could mingle during the cocktail hour in the various rooms which were nicely appointed and did not need any decoration.
- Ask for help- do you have friends in the florist, catering or liquor business? Is one of your friends in a band or a talented musician? Can you ask someone who is handy with a video camera to videotape your event? We got our liquor for wholesale through my husband's roommate whose father had a liquor distributor, got a great discount on our flowers through a friend of a family member, and had our nephew videotape the entire day.
- Consider simple invitations- Engraved invitations with tissue paper are taking a back seat to printed invitations due to improved print quality. Many brides and grooms are being creative and designing their own invitations and printing them on their home printers.
Remember that it is only one day and don't sweat the small stuff (or pay too much for the small stuff!)
For more tips from Laura Scharr Bykowsky click here.