Should I raid my emergency fund to pay for my wedding?

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Key points

• You don’t want to end up with piles of debt from your marriage.
• You also shouldn’t be taking money out of your emergency fund for a non-emergency.
• Look for ways to save money on your big day (like a smaller guest list or a cheaper venue) or consider a personal loan (which would come with a fixed interest rate).

Getting married is exciting, but it can also be expensive. In 2022, the average cost of a wedding was $30,000, according to The Knot. And even if you were diligent about throwing money away on a special savings account to pay for your upcoming wedding, you may still find yourself short on the total amount you need.

Unfortunately, because weddings are so expensive, many people end up racking up credit card debt in the course of their payment. And clearly, that’s not ideal.

If you’d rather avoid marriage-related debt, you might be tempted to take some money out of yours emergency fund to pay for your big day. But this is a move you may very much regret.

Don’t forget why you created your emergency fund in the first place

The reasoning behind an emergency fund is simple. You need cash reserves to fall back on when unexpected expenses occur or when circumstances make you unable to work and earn money for a period of time.

Let’s say you bring home $4,000 a month. Chances are you don’t save half your salary. Well, what if your car needs a $2,000 repair? That’s where your emergency fund would come to the rescue.

Likewise, if you were to get laid off at work, it could take a few months to find a new job. In that scenario, you wish your emergency fund was on hand to cover your bills.

It’s for these reasons that leveraging your emergency fund to pay for a wedding really isn’t a good idea. You might think it makes sense to loot your savings before going into debt since, well, the money is already there and it’s already yours. But if you take a withdrawal from your emergency fund to cover your wedding expenses, that money won’t be there for you when you really need it.

A better way to pay for a wedding

In an ideal world, you’d be able to pay for your wedding outright. And to be clear, here I am steps you can take to limit costs. These include keeping your guest list on the smaller side, picking an affordable venue, opting for a wedding during the week, and asking friends to help out to minimize the number of vendors you need to hire (for example, ask the your friend who is good with a camera taking pictures).

But your wedding is also, well, your wedding. And there are some details you might not want to compromise on.

Therefore, if you need some extra money to organize the big event, consider looking into personal loan. You’ll still end up owing interest on the amount you borrow, but you may be spending much less on interest than you would on a credit card.

All in all, it’s hard to plan a wedding on a shoestring budget. And even if you do your best to save for your own, you could still end up running a deficit.

The one thing you don’t want to do, however, is take money out of your emergency savings to cover the cost of your wedding. This could make you extremely vulnerable when an actual emergency occurs.

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