Financial planning for weddings
A wedding should be the chance for a couple to celebrate their love for each other, the last thing on their mind should be can we afford this?
Our top tip for weddings would be to set a reasonable budget and stick to it. A wedding can be a very emotional time, so having agreed budgets can keep these emotions in check.
Traditionally the bride’s father would fund the cost of a wedding, but in the modern world we find that the both families and in some cases the bride and groom also contribute to the costs. If you are getting married for the second time, most bride and grooms fund the whole wedding, which can run into thousands of pounds.
However some future planning can ease the cost of getting married, so you can relax and enjoy the day without worrying about the bills.
If your children are still young, start funding ISA investments, as these grow tax free. If you are looking at longer than 10 years consider equity plans, however remember that the values can rise as well as fall, but weddings normally give you some notice to manage these issues.
Even if you only have a short time to save, a cash based ISA should be the first type of contract considered. This will give you a fund of money, growing tax free, that you can use to fund deposits and save for a total budget (if set). After ISA’s general deposit accounts should be chosen as the timescales would not suit an equity based investment.
You can now insure your day, a valuable protection for deposits, against a supplier not turning up, the death of an immediate family member leading to cancellation of the ceremony, however the policy cannot cover the bride or groom getting cold feet.
Once married and honeymooned, consideration should then be given to joint finances. Today the majority of couples have lived together before getting married, so some of this may already have been completed.
Contact should be made with mortgage lenders and insurance companies to confirm change of names. If members of company pension schemes expression of wish forms should be completed to reflect any changes in wishes.
If wills have been made these should be reviewed as Inheritance Tax rules will have altered. It is worth noting that if you are getting married for the second time and already have children, that step children are not recognised under rules of intestacy and so a review of wills is essential not only for financial matters but also guardianship.
Future planning can now be undertaken for joint plans, wishes for the future whether it is a larger home, retiring early or just children in the future, unfortunately they all have financial implications.
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