How To Finance Wedding Purchases If You’re A Bridesmaid Or Groomsmen

As exciting as weddings can be, they are a major life expense — both for the couple tying the knot and the guests who are involved in the wedding party.

Many wedding party events, like bachelor and bachelorette parties, can err on the expensive side especially when wedding party members are traveling for the events. A LendingTree survey from 2018 found that for a destination wedding, members of the wedding party spend an average of $1,580.

And, a consumer spend report from Affirm found that 36% of consumers have had to decline being part of the wedding party due to high costs. Between bachelor and bachelorette parties, the cost of attire, gifts and more, being in a wedding party can sometimes leave bridesmaids and groomsmen feeling as though they’ve bitten off more than they can chew financially — and when you consider macroeconomic forces, things can feel even more costly.

“The current economic environment has certainly had an impact on the wedding industry,” explains Liz Ewing, the CFO at Marcus by Goldman Sachs. “The price of consumer goods and services are continuing to rise, including many things that affect wedding party members, such as gas, airfare, and retail goods, which can cause bridesmaids and groomsmen to have to spend even more money to be part of the wedding festivities.”

If you’re in a wedding party and feeling a little on edge about the expenses, here’s what you can do to save up and put a little money back in your pocket.

“Map out expenses in advance, so that you can see how much you will need to save, or where you may need to compromise,” Ewing says.

And the earlier you start planning, the more time you’ll have to save up. Of course, much of this will fall onto the engaged couple to decide on their wedding party festivities and notify their wedding party in a timely manner. But once you find out the plans for the bachelor or bachelorette party, attire, bridal shower and any pre-wedding events, you should create a budget for the costs and start saving.

Instead of saving your money in a traditional savings account, you can consider putting your money in a high-yield savings account. These accounts — like the Ally Bank Online Savings Account and the Synchrony Bank High-Yield Savings account — pay you higher amounts of interest compared to traditional savings account. You likely won’t earn hundreds of dollars per month, but at least it could help your balance grow just a little quicker.

Another option is to save your money in a high-yield CD account. It’s similar to savings account except it holds your money for a specified period of time and allows you to earn typically higher amounts of interest. If you have less than a year to save for wedding party expenses, you might consider a CD account from Ally Bank, which offers account time frames from three months to five years.

Once you map out your expenses and create a plan for paying for them, you should try to stick to that plan. This, of course, is easier said than done.

“When confronted with higher prices and rising expenses, you might be tempted to go over your budget to overcome the setback,” Ewing says. “Rather than deviating from your financial plan, however, it can be beneficial to explore alternative courses of action.”

You might be wondering how many “alternatives” for wedding costs could possibly exist for members of the wedding party. But Ewing suggests, for instance, renting your dress or tuxedo instead of buying it, or doing your own hair and makeup instead of paying to have it professionally done. Other alternatives will depend on the plans for the wedding and wedding-related activities.

Paying for travel for a destination wedding, whether it’s within the U.S. or outside of the U.S. can make wedding festivities feel more expensive. But according to Ewing, it can be worth it to think about using credit card rewards points to bring down travel costs. Depending on how many points you’ve racked up and the costs of your flight and hotel, you could potentially wind up having these costs completely covered by your points. You could even consider opening up a new credit card for the welcome bonus alone, as these bonus points could be worth enough to fully fund your wedding travels.

Select named the American Express® Gold Card as the best travel credit card. The Amex Gold card lets new cardholders earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first six months following card activation. The card does have a $250 annual fee (see rates and fees), but the card’s other perks — like $120 in dining credit ($10 in statement credits per month) at participating restaurants and $120 in Uber credit ($10 per month) — can offset that fee. Amex points can be transferred to over a dozen airline and hotel partners, including Delta and Marriott, which can be used for free travel to destinations around the world.

And if you’d rather consider a card with no annual fee, you might check out the Discover it® Miles card. Cardholders can earn an unlimited 1.5X miles for every dollar spent on purchases. But for higher spenders, Discover offers a welcome bonus that’s hard to beat: It will do a mile-for-mile match of all Miles earned the first year (for new card members in their first year only). If you rack up 35,000 miles within the first 12 months, Discover will match you with 35,000 miles. That’s a total of 70,000 miles you can redeem for $700 of travel.

Just keep in mind that the rewards points on credit cards are most useful when you’re able to pay off your balance in-full each month so you can avoid paying interest on your balance. Any interest you pay will most likely negate value of the rewards you earn.

If you’re still having trouble financing the wedding expenses, it could be worth looking into a credit card with a 0% intro APR period to pay for these costs. With this kind of credit card, you won’t owe interest on your balance for the specified introductory period, usually from 12 to 20 months. This way you can pay off those wedding costs over time without having to pay any interest charges during the introductory period. However, this shouldn’t be seen as an excuse to overspend — make sure you have a robust plan to pay down your balance.

The Chase Freedom Flex℠ card has a 0% intro APR period of 15 months (after, 16.49% – 25.24% variable). It also has a pretty sweet welcome offer: You can receive $200 cash back after you spend $500 on purchases in your first three months from account opening. Plus, you could book your travel with this card and earn 5% cash back when booking through the Chase Travel Portal.

While you may be excited to participate in your close friend’s or family member’s wedding, it’s hard to forget how expensive these events can be. Saving money ahead of time and finding ways to have more affordable alternatives for activities can help alleviate some of that financial pressure. And if you have some credit card rewards points that have just been sitting around, you can use those to pay for your flight for a destination wedding or bachelor/bachelorette party.

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For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.