Finance Friday: ‘I Do’, but…

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

I started this post during the royal wedding craze and was inspired by the ceremony and spiritual meaning behind the joining of two lives – but more so by the extravagant arrangements and jaw dropping costs. Reports estimate the royal wedding costs anywhere from $30 million to $70 million, with Brits footing the bill for security.  With an average US wedding costing close to $30,000 – peanuts to The Duke and Duchess I’m sure – most couples spend their honeymoon phase paying for that one special day.

Tia Mowry and Cory Hardrict

Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich  suggests a foreign concept in his book by the same name (see Chapter 9: A Rich Life). Start to save for your wedding as soon as possible. Whether you are single or engaged, on the hunt or playing the field, if marriage is something you eventually see for yourself, why not start saving for the day now. I am willing to put in the upfront  leg work to have the wedding my future husband and I want. OK– I tried to include him but let’s be real, the wedding I want.

New Parents: Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon

This isn’t Project Husband, where you plan a wedding without a partner. But the concept and application of saving for your wedding as oppose to daydreaming about it will allow you the freedom to have the wedding your budget can afford. Heck! Saving now will allow you to have the wedding you might not otherwise be able to afford!

Say at eighteen you started putting away $50/month in a measly saving account earning you 2%. By twenty you’ve saved  $1,275.56. Wedding cake? Check!

Now say you continue to save another five years while you meet and fall for the guy of your most dreamiest dream. You’re earning  more so you increase your monthly saving amount to $100.

Final Savings Balance: $7,718.53

Ummm, looks like you have options when it comes to your wedding dress. Maybe even go to Kleinfelds for a private fitting. At twenty-five you have personally saved a significant amount for your big day. But because hubby-to-be is THE one he is on board with the luxe savings plan and decides to contribute too. You two are saving $300 month at a higher interest rate. By thirty, you would have saved:

Final Savings Balance: $29,386.29

LaLa Vasquez & Carmelo Anthony

Some of you may find this strange, unrealistic, time-consuming, blah, blah, blah. But you will be one of those people who overspends, overcharges or has to make those seemingly tough cuts to control costs. If you think you cannot afford to save now, how will you afford to spend later?

As a married couple your lives will be filled with many special days. Hopefully each one doesn’t cost you a fortune. But if you begin to really plan (and by plan, I mean save) for you big day, the result will be “a wedding where, the day after, you’re debt-free and can start your lives together“.

Shania Twain and Frédéric Thiébaud

For a simple savings calculator, click here.

P.S. It is really tough to find celeb wedding photos were the couple is still together…