Not So Average Wedding Cost

In the life planning step of my “Save For The Significant” process one of the common goals is a dream wedding.

Parents often list a goal of wanting to contribute to their children’s weddings. And independently minded young couples often want their dream wedding without the “suggestions” from their well-meaning parents – thus they want to pay for their own wedding.

Weddings are costly and not an expense most people can easily absorb into their income for that year. That means they need to be save up for and most people get that. But how much does a wedding cost and how early do you need to start saving?

Earlier this year Bride to Be magazine released the results of their Cost of Love 2008 survey, which found the average cost of a wedding was $49,202.

That is only a couple of thousand dollars less than the average Australian wage before tax.

Since many couples probably earn less than the average wage they need to be saving one partner’s full wage for probably two years or more just to pay for their own wedding. That could be a tough ask especially if you are also saving a deposit to buy your marital home.

When you’re already dreaming start saving

Perhaps a better approach would be for ladies who dream of a lavish wedding to start saving right now, even if you are not yet in a committed relationship. When cupid strikes the wedding can creep up quicker than you can save.

Blokes Beware – Bling is Costly

Blokes should also be aware that the average cost of a bride’s engagement ring was $5,116. It seems the old notion of three months wage may be continuing. So if you are a traditionalist then get saving right now mate, ‘cos you don’t want to pay costly credit card interest on a depreciating asset like a ring.

Then of course you need to consider the wedding bands. They cost an average of $1,507 for the bride and $1,096 for the groom.

Remember that costs increase

One tip when you are establishing your savings plan is to factor in an increase in costs. One article about the survey results reported that the average wedding cost had risen 76 per cent in eight years. That equates to cost increases averaging 7.3% each year.

Save for your dream wedding

Your wedding and honeymoon are not the most important events in your life but they are one during which you get to be the centre of attention and one that will be remembered. So if you want to be able to do it as you dreamed it the ensure you have saved for it. Don’t make it any more expensive than it needs to be by borrowing money and paying interest.

Save for the significant events in life and you can have enough money for what you really want.

(I can’t find the official survey results on the magazine’s website but they were widely reported in newspapers including here and here.)

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1. Saving for your children’s education
2. Latest Research: You Save More by Paying For Financial Advice
3. Calculating the costs of your children’s education