How to Allocate Your Wedding Budget
If you’re in the process of wedding planning and wondering how much you should set aside for your big day, here’s the average cost breakdown of a wedding in Malaysia for 400 guests:
Click here to get a FREE Template for the Wedding Budget for Malaysians.
Use the handy guide below as a rough outline for spending breakdowns and adjust according to your priorities.
Budget Breakdown
- Venue and Catering: 40 percent of your budget
- Photography and Videography: 15 percent of your budget
- Wedding Attire: 7 percent of your budget
- Beauty & Makeup: 2 percent of your budget
- Music/Entertainment: 8 percent of your budget
- Favors and Gifts: 2 percent of your budget
- Transportation: 3 percent of your budget
- Invites & Paper: 2 percent of your budget
- Cake: 2 percent of your budget
- Décor & Flower: 10 percent of your budget
- Red Packet & Extra: 9 percent of your budget.
Another High-Cost Budget item
Other than the above budget items for the Wedding Ceremony.
For Malaysian we still have to consider the following items in your wedding budget list.
- Dowry Money
- Wedding Rings
- Honey Money Trip
- Renovation
- & more
Financial Implication
Are Wedding Loans a Good Way to Cover Costs?
First things first: There’s no such thing as a “wedding loan.” You can’t just walk into a bank and request a wedding loan. What we’re talking about here is using a personal loan for the purpose of funding your wedding.
Most financial advisers would tell you to stop here and not pursue wedding loans. “The problem with personal loans is that most often people are taking them out because they’re trying to spend cash they don’t have. I would also lump in credit card spending here because I think a lot of people pay for wedding-related things with a credit card and they may or may not have the cash to pay it off in full.”
Personal loans are good to avoid spiraling into credit card debt, but maybe not as a quick fix for a down payment on your venue. That being said, taking out wedding loans isn’t unheard of, and there are a few ways to go about getting a personal loan to help cover wedding costs.
Cons of Wedding Loans
- Interest, interest, interest! By taking out a loan for your wedding, you will be paying interest on the loan for years. For example, if you take out a 5-year loan for RM15,000 at a 10% interest rate, you’ll end up paying over RM4,000 in interest over the course of the loan. Is splurging for your wedding Special Day really worth an extra RM4,000?
- You’ll be starting out your marriage in debt. Money troubles are a common cause of relationship stress. Do you want to start off this new and exciting chapter of your life with a monthly loan payment for the next three to five years?
- Existing loans make it more difficult to qualify for new loans. Are you thinking of buying a new car or even a new home after your wedding? When a bank considers giving you a loan, they will look at your existing loans to determine if you can afford the new loan. If you have a lot of existing loans, the bank may not give you a loan for the amount you want, or they may deny your loan altogether.
- They could make you spend more. Getting the money for your wedding loan in your bank account could make you feel flush with cash. You may feel more comfortable upgrading your floral arrangements, choosing that dress that’s out of budget, or inviting a few more people to your wedding. All of these upgrades add up.
In conclusion, we don’t recommend you have a wedding loan but we recommend you set a budget and financial goal to save the fund for your special day.
A true story share by https://fiholic.com/chinese-wedding-cost/ I ended up taking out a personal loan alongside incurring hefty credit card debt to finance all the above costs. My wife had to take out her savings too. Until today, I’m still paying off my debt. Was it a stupid move? Perhaps, from a personal finance aspect. Even after knowing for a fact that taking a personal loan to finance a wedding is really stupid, I did it anyway. But the value lies in something money can’t buy: everyone’s happy at the end of the day. And this does my mental health some good and it’s hard to put a price on that sort of thing.
How to Save Money for Peaceful Wedding
Conclusion
If you’re a couple in Malaysia and are going to get married soon, congratulations! Just brace for the unavoidable stress and work things out with your partner. Keeping a level head, being objective and mature will help to smoothen the whole process.
or contact a consultant to give your a suitable recommendation for your wedding budget planning.