Wedding Loans: Compare Your Options

Weddings can be extremely costly. The average cost of a wedding was $33,391 in 2017, according to a survey by The Knot. According to The Knot, costs dipped slightly last year primarily because people are having less formal weddings. However, the average cost per guest has hit an all-time high of $268 as brides and grooms splurge more on amenities.

If you’re financing some or all of your own wedding, you’ll need to figure out where the money is going to come from. Wedding loans are one funding option. Below, you can find out everything you need to know about wedding loans, so you can decide if this approach is best for your big day.

On this page:

• What is a Wedding Loan?
• Where to Find Wedding Loans
• Pros and Cons of Using a Personal Loan for a Wedding
• Alternatives to a Wedding Loan

What is a Wedding Loan?

Some lenders specifically offer “wedding loans,” which they market towards brides or grooms. However, there’s no reason couples necessarily need one of these specialized loans. 

In fact, a wedding loan is simply a personal loan that you decide to use for your wedding expenses. Many different lenders, including local and national banks, credit unions, and online lenders offer personal loans.

By not restricting yourself to specialized “wedding loans,” and just shopping around among many different personal loan lenders, you may be able to get an offer with a better loan term and better interest rates.

Personal loans can vary in terms of credit history and credit score requirements, monthly payments and the limits on the loan amount, so it’s necessary to do comparison shopping.

>> Read More: Compare the Best Personal Loans

Where to Find Wedding Loans

Shop around carefully among the various lenders to compare all the different options. Here are some examples of lenders that could offer you competitive financing.

LightStream

View Rates

Rates (APR)

5.95% – 19.99%^*
with AutoPay

Loan Amounts

$5,000 – $100,000

Credit Score

660+

LightStream, our top overall personal loan partner, offers low rates, no fees, and a Rate Beat program in which they will beat any rate a competitor offers by 0.10 percentage points.^** All three of these features make LightStream a terrific option if you are looking for a wedding loan. LightStream is also great for consumers with good to excellent credit.

• Credit score category: Excellent, good
• Soft credit pull to check rates: Not available
• Deposit time: As soon as the same day
• Origination fee: 0%
• Late fee: None
• Discounts: 0.50% interest rate reduction for enrolling in autopay
• Repayment terms: 24 – 84 months^***

Upgrade

View Rates

Rates (APR)

7.99% – 35.97%

Loan Amounts

$1,000 – $35,000

Credit Score

620+

Upgrade is another great option for borrowers, especially for those with bad to fair credit or consumers that need smaller wedding loans. You can check rates without harming your credit score and eligibility is based more on free cash flow in comparison to other lenders.

• Credit score category: Fair, bad
• Soft credit pull to check rates: Yes
• Deposit time: As soon as the next day
• Origination fee: 2.9% – 8%
• Late fee: $10
• Repayment terms: 36 or 60 months

Upstart

View Rates

Rates (APR)

8.41% – 35.99%¹

Loan Amounts

$1,000 – $50,000²

Credit Score

600+

Upstart is an online lending platform that partners with banks to provide personal loans that can be used for almost anything. Upstart’s lending model considers education, employment, and many other variables when determining eligibility.³ This model leads to 27% more approvals and 16% lower rates than traditional models.⁴

• Credit score category: Fair, bad
• Soft credit pull to check rates: Yes
• Deposit time: As fast as one business day
• Origination fee: 0% – 8%
• Late fee: $15 or 5% of payment
• Repayment terms: 36 or 60 months

Pros and Cons of Using a Personal Loan for a Wedding

While you have ample options for personal loan lenders and financial institutions who will give you the cash you need to have a dream wedding, think very carefully before you decide to go into debt.

To decide if using a loan for a wedding actually makes sense, you should weigh the pros and cons.

Some of the advantages of a personal loan to fund wedding costs include:

• Lower interest rates: It will usually cost you less to use a personal loan to fund your wedding than to put your costs on a credit card. 
• Amazing memories: You’ll hopefully have just one wedding in your life. You may decide it’s worth it to borrow the money you need to make memories.

Some of the disadvantages include:

• Starting your married life with debt: Money is one of the leading sources of stress in a relationship. When you start your married life owing a lot, you’re only adding fuel to the fire and you may be setting yourself up for bad credit in the future if you can’t afford the loan payments. 
• Delaying other financial goals: When you’ve borrowed for a wedding, you may have less money available to fulfill other financial goals, such as saving for a down payment on a house or starting a family. The outstanding balance on your wedding loan could also affect your debt-to-income ratio, making it harder to get approved for a mortgage to buy a home.
• Increasing the costs of your wedding: When you pay interest on a personal loan for a wedding, you’re essentially increasing the cost of everything you finance. If you pay 10% interest, everything you’ve bought is about 10% more expensive. Weddings already cost a fortune, so try to minimize interest.

For many couples, the financial cons often outweigh the pros, but these life-event decisions are often made based on emotion, so they typically borrow anyway.

Alternatives to a Wedding Loan

Before you decide a wedding loan is the right choice for you, consider all the alternatives. Instead of taking a personal loan for your wedding, you could:

• Reduce costs: You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a great wedding. Look for ways to cut expenses so you can afford to pay out-of-pocket. For example, maybe you could get married at your alma mater or at a national park for less than the cost of a fancy venue.
• Save up and pay in cash: If you aren’t getting married for a while, create a line item in your budget to save to pay for what you need in cash. Also, consider taking on some extra work or a side gig to help you save the funds you need for your dream wedding.
• Use a 0% interest credit card: If you can get a card with a 0% promotional APR, you may be able to charge what you need for your wedding without paying interest.
• Tap into the equity in your home: You could use a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit to borrow against your home. The interest rate on a home equity loan or line of credit will usually be lower than a personal loan rate, so this option could be more affordable. But, it’s often a bad idea because you put your home at risk if you can’t pay it back.

Bottom Line

Taking on thousands of dollars in debt through wedding loans just to have one amazing day often doesn’t make any sense for your personal finances.

If you want to do the practical thing, avoid borrowing for your wedding and do what it takes not to borrow. But, if you’re determined to have your perfect day just as you envision it and need a wedding loan, just remember it will cost you. So, compare your options.

^*Your loan terms, including APR, may differ based on loan purpose, amount, term length, and your credit profile. Excellent credit is required to qualify for lowest rates. Rate is quoted with AutoPay discount. AutoPay discount is only available prior to loan funding. Rates without AutoPay are 0.50% points higher. Subject to credit approval. Conditions and limitations apply. Advertised rates and terms are subject to change without notice.

^**LightStream will offer a rate .10 percentage points lower than the rate offered on any competing lender’s unsecured loan provided that you were approved for that lower rate (with the same loan terms offered by LightStream) no later than 2 p.m. Eastern time two business days prior to loan funding. The Rate Beat Program excludes secured or collateralized loan offers from any lender, and the competitive offer must be available to any customer with a similar credit profile. Terms are subject to change at any time.

If you believe you have been approved by another lender for a lower qualifying rate, contact LightStream customer service. We will work with you to determine your Rate Beat eligibility and obtain the necessary documentation.

^***Payment example: Monthly payments for a $10,000 loan at 5.95% APR with a term of three years would result in 36 monthly payments of $303.99.

¹The full range of available rates varies by state. The average 3-year loan offered across all lenders using the Upstart platform will have an APR of 21.97% and 36 monthly payments of $35 per $1,000 borrowed. For example, the total cost of a $10,000 loan would be $12,646 including a $626 origination fee. APR is calculated based on 3-year rates offered in the last 1 month. There is no down payment and no prepayment penalty. Your APR will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application.

²Your loan amount will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will qualify for the full amount. Loans are not available in West Virginia or Iowa. The minimum loan amount in MA is $7,000. The minimum loan amount in Ohio is $6,000. The minimum loan amount in NM is $5100. The minimum loan amount in GA is $3,100.

³Although educational information is collected as part of Upstart’s rate check process, neither Upstart nor its bank partners have a minimum educational attainment requirement in order to be eligible for a loan.

⁴Approval numbers compare the 2020 loan approval rate by the Upstart model and a hypothetical traditional credit decision model. The APR calculation compares the two models based on the average APR offered to borrowers up to the same approval rate. The hypothetical traditional model used in Upstart’s analyses was developed in connection with the CFPB No Action Letter access-to-credit testing program, is trained on Upstart platform data, uses logistic regression and considers traditional application and credit file variables.