There’s no doubt that a person’s wedding day is likely to be the most expensive day of their lives.
With the average wedding day in the UK now costing £18,400, it’s no surprise that many couples are struggling to foot the bill.
For those who are attempting to stick to a strict budget to keep their big day as affordable as possible, it can be more difficult than initially anticipated with an estimated 48% of couples going over budget
Funding the big day
Finding the money to fund a wedding day can take years.
With the current cost of living crisis, many couples will not be able to afford one at all.
Seeing as four in ten UK adults are already struggling to afford rent or mortgage payments, it is fair to assume that many will not have any disposable income left to save for a potential wedding day.
That is why an estimated two-thirds of UK couples get into debt to fund the wedding day of their dreams.
A study by Lowell said that although 74% of Brits recover from their wedding in under a year, it takes 15% of couples up to two years and 5% up to five years to pay off the debt.
The average salary in the UK is £31,447.
With the average wedding being over half of the average yearly salary, there’s no surprise that couples are turning to credit to fund their big day.
There are already set to be over 130,000 weddings in the UK this year, with plenty more still to be booked. For example, there is an average of 275,000 weddings in the UK every year.
This could mean millions of pounds of debt could be racked up by excited couples looking to make the most of their big day.
Pre-existing debt
This couple spell disaster for those already paying of debt.
An estimated 29% of couples are already paying off debt while planning their wedding.
If a person is already balancing multiple minimum payments, taking on a large amount of debt for a wedding day can make those payments unaffordable long term.
This can create a cycle of debt that can be difficult to get out of alone.
Changing Times
Times have changed over the last few decades.
In 1990, over 375,000 couples tied the knot, but in 2019 just 219,850 couples got married.
With the steep increase in population since the 70’s, it would be expected that the number of weddings would also increase.
To add to this, more and more couples are opting to wait and get married older.
In 1970 the average age of marriage was 27 for men and 25 for women. It is now 34 for men and 32 for women.
How to Seek Help?
For those who have found themselves with unaffordable debt, there are solutions that can help.
Here at Trust Deed Scotland, we provide advice on all formal debt solutions that are available in Scotland.
Our experienced debt advisers will be able to discuss your situations and provide you with information on all of the solutions that would suit your individual circumstances, so that you can make an informed decision on what is right for you.
A Trust Deed is an example of one of the solutions that we offer. A Trust Deed provides legal protection from the people that you owe money to, while freezing interest and charges. It allows you to consolidate all of your debt repayments into just one affordable payment for a period of four years. At the end of the 48-month term, the remainder of the debt is legally written off.
Another example of a debt solution that we offer is the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS). The DAS, like a Trust Deed, allows you to consolidate your debt into one affordable monthly payment while freezing interest and charges. The difference is that you would pay that affordable payment until the full debt amount is paid.
If you think that a debt solution may be the right option for you, you can try our Trust Deed Wizard tool or call us on 0141 221 0999.