Have the type of wedding you can afford even if that means a small backyard ceremony. I would in no way suggest taking out a loan just for a wedding. You really want to start your new life together already in debt?! Figure out what you can afford and plan accordingly. A wedding is about the love the two people share, not the price tag required to 'show off' that love.

Two options and some thoughts....

1. Spend less
2. Take more time to save more
   

As for the wedding itself.  Sit down with your husband to be and figure out what is really important to the two of you.  There's a lot of stuff out there that people will tell you that you need to have a good wedding.  Most of it you don't need and half the time, the couple doesn't want it.  They only get it because some relative or friend tells them they "have to have it".  Unless that person is paying for it then you don't have to have it and even then you still don't.

I'd never recommend taking a loan for a wedding.  Not just because you're starting your life in debt (which adds a lot of unneeded stress to a new marriage), but it's a sad that that in the US many marriages don't outlast the loan used to pay for the wedding.

One other thought......plan for your life beyond the wedding.  Are you and your husband to be able to support yourselves?

I wouldn't take out a loan to pay for a wedding.  "They" say that most divorces have something to do with money, do you really want 1 more money issue to stress you out the day after your wedding?  Our wedding was wonderful, it was around $8k, but honestly, hindsight I would go to a beach or something and elope with just our parents.  There's nothing wrong with spending $100k on a wedding IMO if it's important to you and you can afford it, but on the flip side, don't spend even $500 on a wedding if you can't afford to do so. 

Also like the PP mentioned, what are your finances going to be like after the wedding?  Even if you don't have to take out debt FOR the wedding, make sure you have adequate money to live on after the wedding.  DH and I got engaged on our 3 year anniversary, didn't get married for 18m because even though our parents were paying for the wedding, we didn't have money to own a home more than a large cardboard box. 

Are you both out living on your own or will you need money to furnish a new place?  DH and I both lived with our parents when we married, luckily we had enough furniture to furnish our home, and just needed the little things (kitchen utensils, small appliances, etc). 

no way would i take out a loan for a wedding.  we had a really nice/classy wedding only spending about $7,000.  either do a budget wedding or go to the court.  I wouldn't want to be stuck with debt in a new marriage

You can have a beautiful wedding on a budget - you just have to get creative and cut out the stuff that you don't really need. 

I wouldn't advise taking out a $10k loan for multiple reasons. One being that I don't see $10k being a small loan. Another being that I, like PPs, wouldn't want to start our my new life with my new husband with that kind of debt hanging over our heads unnecessarily.

Have a long engagement so that you have time to save. Get familiar with DIY to save yourself money. You don't have to spend a million dollars to have a great wedding.

 Good luck and congrats on your engagement! :) 

All you need for a wedding is two people to get married, someone to perform the service,. a wedding license, a witness or two (if you even need them, CT doesn't require a witness at all!)  if you want guests as well, a reception can be as simple as a sheet cake and some fruit punch in a space large enough to accommodate the number of guests.

My family did help pay for the wedding. It cost us $6k. My husband and I paid $2k of it. We had our wedding at a spa that my company owns (I got an employee discount), we had the dinner there as well. We opted for no dancing since we both have two left feet. We did minimal decorating since the space was already beautiful to look at. I did get a wedding dress, he wore a tux. We had a matron of honor, a best man, one groomsman and a flower boy. There were 23 people there including the wedding party. Everyone that was there was impressed even though it was a small wedding. 

 

Had it been done the way that my husband was suggesting, we would have been married on the beach by a justice of the peace with just our immediate family there. We probably would have gone out to dinner afterwards to celebrate. We were married in mid-April. I have a friend that would have done the photography if I had asked as a gift.

As a PP said, decide what it is that the TWO OF YOU WANT. Prioritize what's important. The nice thing about paying for it yourselves is that no one else gets a say in what you plan. :) My husband wanted a justice of the peace. I wanted a wedding dress and nice dinner. I wanted very few guests so that I didn't get nervous.  It all worked out in the end.

Good luck and have fun! The end result will be spending the rest of your life with your partner in crime. :) 

I sent you a PM

NO! NO! NO! to the loan idea!

Wait an additional year and save, save, save and then not spend a penney more than that ---

Have your wedding on the date planned, but keep it SUPER SIMPLE - One attendant each, bargain dress (it does not need to even be an "official" wedding dress) , go to the justice of the peace to get married and have a backyard reception. 
Get married in your church (if you are a member) and use their fellowship hall for the reception.

Mid afternoon reception - no big meal, limit alcohol - or even exclude it  - have a cake, punch and cookies/bars/ desserts

No band

Only invite immediate family  - or epand to only family and very close friends.

The larger it is - the more it will cost.

You do NOT need to have the wedding of your dreams - instead have the MARRIAGE of your dreams.  You need to get your financial house in order and start off on the right foot.

Establish your priorities of what is important to the 2 of your for your wedding - you cannot have it all , but you can have a wonderful day on your budget.

I didn't even think about a beach.  that's a great idea as well.  if you have enough money to have a decent honeymoon, just do that with your wedding right before it.  our honeymoon was in Hawaii.  that's a beautiful place to get married.  also, think about a honeymoon registry instead of the conventional type.  people basically go online to see it and buy you the activites you want to do.  saved us a TON of money.  all we ended up paying for was the flight and stay and souvenirs. 

DH and I paid for all our wedding expenses, we saved up money prior to wedding which I suggest you do, getting a loan is not recommended. You can make a plan to save for 1.5 yrs and then have wedding or you can do what you can with funds you have now, it really depends on wedding date and how much you can save. We cut down on costs by a) created our own invitattions, found lots of invitation ideas on theknot.com and had someone on Etsy design it for us ($15) we printed on our color printer and used Kodak photo finish paper from Office Max ($49) and received lots of compliments, bought the envelopes from cards & pockets online  b) we only invited 100 guests which cut down on the catering costs and c) we had several DIY projects including bouquet (made mine from flowers at Kroger for $40), centerpieces (Michaels), flower girl basket ($10 Michaels), veil ($15 EBay), petticoat ($25 EBay) and wedding gown from David's Bridal during sale for $299. 

DO NOT GET A LOAN.

150-200 guests is not going to be a low cost wedding.  Reduce your guest list!

You do not need a splashy weddiing to be happily married.

Get a second job to afford your wedding or do it on a smaller scale.

http://vistaprint-goddess.weebly.com/

I used that ^ website to get my Vistaprint invitations, RSVPs, and Thank you cards for nearly free. My photographer was someone just getting into the business. I got the whole day, a website, prints of the pictures, and the original photos on a cd for under a $1k. I made mine (and bridesmaids) paper flower bouquets. My husband and I made a lot. We used iTunes for the playlist. We got creative and had a great beach/non beach reception wedding for under $10k.

We both took on a second job (mine was tutoring) to pay for the wedding. We didn't want to start our marriage in debt.

Good luck to you!

 

jtmh2012:

One other thought......plan for your life beyond the wedding.  Are you and your husband to be able to support yourselves?

This this this.

What is the plan for after the wedding?  Where will you live, how will you pay your bills?  Are YOU working now? 

No, absolutely do not take out a loan to pay for your wedding......that's completely foolish, especially if the two of you can't easily pay it back in a timely manner.

Time to be a grown-up.  Not everyone can afford a Disney-style Pretty Pretty Princess Day.  Time to get realistic about your budget.  Fewer guests will save you a ton of money.  A Sunday afternoon wedding is way cheaper than a Saturday afternoon/evening wedding.  David's Bridal almost always has $99 dresses.  Don't be fooled into thinking that a backyard wedding/reception is automatically cheaper........renting tables and chairs can get costly as well, so look into other options as well.  Start pricing things out, and start saving every penny.  Work a second job if you want to save more quicker.  And to the point above - remember that a wedding is ONE day.  Don't drain your bank account for that 24 hour timeframe, because life will continue the next day, and there will still be bills to pay and things you'll need to purchase.

Go for simple and it doesn't have to cost a lot.  MW and I eloped so we had no costs.  My first marriage we spent roughly $1000 total for the wedding.  You don't need to do fancy to have a good time.

Have a wedding that you can afford.  Taking out a loan for a wedding should never be an option.

No loans!! Have a simple ceremony. People who care about you won't care about where they attended your wedding nor what you served.  Or just take the time to save if you really want a princess wedding.

I think you've lost sight of reality. If you can hardly support yourself now, how will you support yourself married PLUS a loan payment for the wedding you HAD to have? Grown ups do the responsible things first. They pay their bills on time. They save for their future (emergency funds, retirement, etc). It sounds like you can hardly take care of yourself now without your parents help so adding a 10K loan at 15-10% interest is a TERRIBLE idea just so you can have pictures of you and your friends looking rich and important. Not everyone has the money to waste on fancy cake and designer dresses. Even when they have the money the grown ups choose to save for their futures FIRST.

My wedding, this April, will be 15 people standing under a tree. I'm making my dress with my friends (accomplished seamstresses), no attendants, reception at a restaurant. The biggest expense is my fiance's suit because he wanted one he could use for work as well. I suspect I will be happier at my wedding knowing I don't have a 10K loan to pay off when it's over. (and we make ~150K a year but don't think spending it on a fancy wedding is a good use of our money)