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The graduate will have a student loan of £45,000. Both of these can be lifelong commitments that can wear you out. This does not mean you have to choose between a nice wedding and being penniless, but you do require real strategic planning.
Ways to Budget for a Wedding While Paying Off Student Loans
Set a Realistic Wedding Budget
You will see a hundred different random budget numbers online; ignore all of them. You start with the standard 50/30/20 household budget.
- 50% of your income goes to needs
- 20% goes to long-term savings
- 30% goes to wants
Your entire wedding fund comes only from that 30% wants portion. You do not touch needs. You do not touch savings. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Your total maximum wedding budget should never exceed 10% of your joint annual take-home income. You need a minimum timeline of 18-24 months for any budget under £10,000.
Never use your student overdraft for wedding expenses. Do not take out a general wedding loan at 3-10% APR when your student loan is almost certainly cheaper.
For people who have a very clear plan to pay the balance off quickly, an unsecured loan from a direct lender can be a far better option. This only applies if you can schedule the repayments to fit entirely inside your wants budget. You will pay the full balance off well before any extra fees.
- Never adjust your student loan overpayment amount to free up money for the wedding
- Do not include any expected guest gifts in your original budget
- Round every expected cost up by 15% to account for hidden fees
Prioritise Your Wedding Must-Haves
You will remember the three things that matter to you for 40 years. You will forget the favours before you even get in the car at the end of the night.
Start by sitting down with your partner individually, and write down as many non-negotiables as you can each, which should be 3. Allocate 60% of your entire budget to these three things. The remaining 40% gets split across everythings.
Then go through every single traditional wedding extra and cut anything that is not on that list. You do not need save the dates. You do not need favours. You do not require an engagement party. No one will mind, and no one will remember. A register office ceremony will cost between £46-110.
The cost of a church ceremony will be nearly 5-10 times higher. Monday through Friday wedding, and you will save up to 20-40% even before you can bargain over your place. Reserve in advance (Nov-March).
- Ask every vendor if they have an unadvertised discount for midweek dates
- You can bring your own food to almost all register office venues
- Most photographers will do a 2-hour coverage package for half the price
Choose a Wedding Timeline
If you are saving for a £5000 wedding, a 12-month engagement means you need to put away £417 every single month. A 24-month engagement means you put away £208 a month.
Never book a wedding in less than 6 months. Every single vendor charges rush fees, and you will have almost no room to negotiate on price. If you know a promotion or raise is coming in the next year, wait. If you are 18 months away from a large chunk of your student loan being written off, wait.
Also, remember that for Plan 1, student loans are written off after 25 years, and for Plan 2, after 30. For the vast majority of people, that balance will never be paid off in full. There is no sense delaying your wedding for 10 years to clear a loan that would have disappeared on its own.
- You can put down a £50 deposit now and book your date 2 years in advance
- Most venues will hold a date for 2 weeks with no deposit if you ask
- Avoid booking any dates in June, July or August unless you get a very good offer
Smart Saving Strategies
Open a completely separate easy access savings account paying 1-3% interest. Do not keep this money in your current account. Set up an automatic transfer for the exact amount you need to leave your account the same day you get paid.
Use Topcashback and Quidco for every single wedding purchase you make. Most vendors are listed, and you will usually get between 3 and 10% cashback on everything. Put your entire tax refund straight into the wedding fund.
Send all birthday and Christmas money straight to the fund. Sell any unused stuff on Vinted, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace.
In case you have saved 70% of your budget and have a small difference left, an unsecured loan by a direct lender will allow you to lock in the existing prices. This will not affect your student loan repayments or your finances in the long term, as long as you have a clear plan for paying the entire amount just after 12 months.
- Do not round your savings amount down; always round it up by £10
- Cashback money should go straight to the wedding fund
- You can usually get an extra £50-100 for switching your current account
| Wedding Timeline Based on Financial Situation | |||
| Your Situation | Recommended Wait | Monthly Savings | Target Budget |
| Loans only, no debt, £50k income | 18-24 months | £200-£300 | £4,500-£7,000 |
| Loans + £3k credit card debt | 24-36 months | £150-£200 | £4,500-£7,000 |
| Loans + saving house deposit | 12 months OR delay 3-5 years | £100-£150 | £1,500-£3,000 |
| Recent grads, £25k income | 24-36 months | £80-£150 | £2,500-£4,500 |
| One partner not working | Wait until both employed | £50-£100 | £1,500-£2,500 |
Funding Options
Ask any family members who might want to contribute very early on. Do not wait until you have booked things. Split all costs exactly 50/50 with your partner.
Ask for cash gifts instead of a gift registry. Almost all guests would rather give you £50 cash than a £60 toaster they got on offer. Set up a simple honeymoon fund instead of physical gifts. If you are very organised, you can use a 0% interest credit card for all costs, as long as you clear the full balance before the interest-free period ends.
Never withdraw money from your student loan maintenance for wedding costs. If you want to earn extra money, pick up a small side hustle and put 100% of that income straight into the wedding fund.
Keep Student Loan Payments Your Priority
Your student loan repayment comes out of your salary automatically before you even get paid. You should never change this amount for any reason. Never reduce your pension contributions to save for a wedding. Overpaying your student loan is rarely worth it, due to the low interest and the automatic write-off.
Never touch your emergency fund. You should always have 3-6 months of essential expenses put aside, completely separate from everything else. Your wedding should never delay your house deposit savings. And contrary to almost everything you will read online, your student loan balance does not affect your credit score or your mortgage eligibility.
Conclusion
You owe no one a huge and costly wedding, nor do you need to enter into matrimony further indebted. Also, choose the few important things, forget all the other idiotic traditions and never regret it when a year later you realise you were in a bad decision regarding your wedding.
