Two-Thirds of American Couples Overspend on Weddings

With the summer wedding season in full swing, and weddings becoming more and more lavish with an average price of a wedding at a cool $7,873 according to a new survey released by Visa, many couples find the cost of their wedding to be the biggest expense they face in the first year of marriage.

Visa surveyed 1,000 cardholders who got married in the past ten years, and what they found was a lot of overspending. In fact, two-thirds of the respondents admitted that they overspent on the big wedding day. Men typically over-splurged on the honeymoon while women flashed around the credit card for the big day itself-spending big dollars on food, drinks and elaborate wedding cakes. Surprisingly, they spent less on their wedding dresses than on entertaining their wedding guests, but 11 percent of brides said they spent too much on the wedding dress. When asked where they felt the money was best spent, brides answered on decorations and wedding photos, and only 1 percent reported that they overspent on those items.

Is spending too much on the wedding a recipe for falling off of the marital bliss plateau quickly? What does it portend for the future for couples that are tying the knot? Is there a lesson to be learned from this most likely first large expenditure together that can make the difference in a couple having a good financial basis or one filled with friction?

Personal finance expert and best-selling author Jean Chatzky has this to say. "Marital bliss can quickly turn to fiscal friction if couples don't sit down and talk about their financial values and priorities before tying the knot. Whether it is planning a wedding, sending a child off to college or thinking about retirement, marriage is full of critical and often unexpected financial decisions. One of the best ways couples can plan for them is to have a frank conversation about financial expectations and then create a budget."

Some financial preparation for marriage can really make a difference in the marriage that takes place day to day long after the wedding is a memory. Visa is stepping up to help couples prepare financially for marriage with a marital money management guide. Practical Money Skills for Life is available free. It's easily accessible at at http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/marriage, an award-winning online financial education program.

Before couples ever walk down the aisle, Visa's Practical Money Skills for Life advocates that they keep in mind a few practical things like open communication between the bride and groom about the state of your finances and what's affordable and what's not; determining who'll be in charge of the financial tasks like balancing the checkbook, paying bills, etc.; and maximizing your insurance coverage together.

While overspending on the big day may result in a wedding they'll be talking about for years and some great photos and memories, couples who get on the same financial page together before the wedding with some practical money skills and a plan like the one offered at Practical Money Skills for Life can help to ensure a bright and more harmonious future, possibly even wedded bliss.

Source:

Two-Thirds of American Couples Overspend on Their Weddings, Visa Survey Finds, PR NewsWire, July 19, 2007, http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/07-20-2007/0004629517&EDATE=