Utilizing bank cards to pay on your marriage ceremony: professionals and cons

Many engaged couples within the U.S. are counting on forms of credit to pay for his or her marriage ceremony. Specialists say that strategy may be good, if performed rigorously.

Whereas 46% of surveyed newlyweds — {couples} who tied the knot inside the previous two years — used principally financial savings to pay for prices, 24% paid with bank cards, according to a report by LendingTree. The positioning polled 1,050 newlyweds in early March.

A separate report by Zola, primarily based on a survey of 6,000 {couples} getting married in 2025, discovered that 31% of engaged {couples} polled plan to make use of bank cards to pay for his or her marriage ceremony, together with utilizing factors or making use of for brand spanking new playing cards.

“Should you’re strategic, a bank card may be a tremendous instrument,” mentioned Matt Schulz, chief credit score analyst at LendingTree.

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In any other case, a credit card generally is a slippery slope, main {couples} to stroll down the aisle with long-lasting and costly debt, consultants say.

About 67% of surveyed newlyweds took on debt for his or her marriage ceremony, in accordance with LendingTree.

For brand new playing cards, the typical annual share price, or the borrowing value, is 24.35%, the very best since December, LendingTree discovered.

“Finally, a good looking marriage ceremony ought to by no means come at the price of monetary stress to a brand new marriage,” mentioned Gloria Garcia Cisneros, an authorized monetary planner at LourdMurray, an funding and wealth administration agency.

Weddings have gotten more expensive yearly. The typical value for a marriage in 2025 is predicted to be $36,000, according to Zola. That is up from $33,000 in 2024, and $29,000 in 2023.

You probably have financial savings put aside to cowl your marriage ceremony prices, charging the expense to a bank card after which instantly utilizing these financial savings to repay the invoice may help you earn rewards corresponding to factors or miles, mentioned Schulz.

Some bank cards supply large sign-up bonuses once you spend a set quantity on the cardboard inside a brief interval of opening it. That is likely to be greater than you spend on regular bills, however inside attain if in case you have large bills — corresponding to wedding-related purchases and deposits — developing.

By instantly paying that cost off together with your financial savings, you possibly can benefit from the rewards for issues corresponding to your honeymoon, Schulz mentioned.

“It is a solution to make these financial savings work even tougher for you,” he mentioned.

Utilizing a bank card can produce other benefits, too. Bank cards supply layers of federal safety that may assist cardholders dispute fees and get a refund if issues go awry with an merchandise or service bought with a card, consultants say.

Some playing cards additionally supply purchase protections, a type of insurance coverage in opposition to theft or damages, per NerdWallet. Ensure that to learn the superb print of what your bank card provides and the way lengthy the phrases final.

Nonetheless, the important thing with bank cards “is to pay in full,” mentioned Ted Rossman, a senior business analyst at Bankrate.

“I positively wouldn’t suggest placing marriage ceremony bills on a card if you are going to be dragging that out over time,” he mentioned.

Not paying the stability off will depart you with high-interest debt as you begin your new marriage.

Practically 1 / 4, or 24%, of newlyweds married inside two years of the survey are nonetheless paying the debt off, in accordance with LendingTree. Of those who nonetheless owe cash, 47% mentioned they may end paying the debt in six months to a yr.

“You do not wish to sacrifice your long-term well-being for a short-term occasion,” Rossman mentioned.

A 0% APR credit card generally is a instrument for marriage ceremony funds, as you may be paying little to no curiosity on excellent balances for a time frame. Nonetheless, be sure to complete paying off the cardboard earlier than the promotion expires, consultants say. In any other case, no matter stability is left will then get curiosity tacked on.

As you start to plan the wedding and attain out to distributors, ask in the event that they settle for bank cards as a type of fee, mentioned Jason Rhee, a marriage planner in Los Angeles.

Some distributors would possibly take solely money or examine funds, whereas others would possibly cost extra processing fees for bank cards, Rhee mentioned. Such additional charges can vary from 1.5% to three.5%, in accordance with Bankrate.

Assess whether or not paying the additional value is each inexpensive and value it to you, or if it is best to make use of a unique type of fee with the seller, mentioned Lauren Kay, govt editor of The Knot.

What’s extra, some distributors could supply reductions for funds in money.

Whereas bank cards can supply sure protections to incurred funds or purchases, they won’t supply broader protections or insurance policies to cowl bigger expenditures, such because the reception or the venue, Kay mentioned.

“In most cases, your bank card would not supply any actual profit if one thing had been to go flawed with a purchase order of that magnitude,” mentioned Kay.

For such bills, marriage ceremony insurance coverage insurance policies generally is a good possibility to think about. They assist defend you from sudden dangers corresponding to excessive climate, theft or a vendor who did not present up, mentioned Kay.

Marriage ceremony insurance coverage coverage pricing can vary from lower than $100 to greater than $1,000, according to NerdWallet, relying on the scale of your coverage and the sorts of protection.

“It is essential to consider what you are hoping to guard,” Kay mentioned.