Getting married guide

Wedding savings and a wedding budget

The tradition that the father of the bride will pay for all of the wedding costs isn’t so prevalent anymore, so creating a wedding budget is a must. Decide what your wedding budget is before you plan anything, and don’t go into debt for the sake of a ceremony. Allowing an extra 10% on top of your wedding budget as a contingency will help to avoid any nasty shocks.

The best way of accumulating wedding savings is with a savings account, so consider opening one as soon as you get engaged. Many accounts have introductory bonus interest rates for the first 12 months, which might give a good rate of interest for the length of your engagement.

If you are planning a long engagement, it may be worth checking whether you have both used up your annual cash ISA allowance. Many people think about ISAs around the end of the tax year in April but they are available all year round and offer a tax free return on your wedding savings, increasing your wedding budget.

Your bank or building society may offer a wedding savings plan or a preferential rate on a savings plan if you hold a current account with them. Take a look at our savings guide for more information on the best account for you.

You may also want to consider a credit card with incentives, such as cashback, airmiles or reward points, so that the large amount of spending for your wedding gets you something back. Consult our credit card guide to find out more about the benefits available.

Wedding insurance

Every couple wants to ensure their special day runs as smoothly as possible, but things can go wrong, so you may want to consider wedding insurance to give you complete peace of mind. Each wedding is unique, so think about the following when you're considering which policy to buy.

• Cancellation cover is more common than you might think. Illness or a host of other reasons may mean that you have to cancel your wedding. Think about the cost of your wedding and then buy a level of cover to match. It won’t cover you if you just decide to call the wedding off, however.
• Optional features extend your policy for a host of extra add-ons that might feature in your wedding, such as marquee cover (if you have a marquee) or ceremonial sword cover (for the ceremonial sword used in Sikh weddings). Covering hired items can help with the cost if, for instance, the marquee is accidentally broken or the ceremonial sword stolen. You may even want to extend your cover to include the guests at your reception.
• Check the exclusions and excesses for specific features to make sure you don’t get caught out.

The best way of choosing a wedding insurance plan is to think about how much cover you need, and then use our Star Ratings to pick a suitable policy. If you’re planning a lower cost wedding then wedding insurance with basic features may suffice, so look for a 1 or 2 Star rated product. Alternatively, products with higher star ratings offer maximum peace of mind.

Once you are married

After getting married, you should review your individual financial products, as you may want to combine some and others may be invalidated:

Current accounts

You may have separate current accounts, and with the huge variation between products its worth looking to see which one offers a better deal. It might even be worth switching accounts altogether- check out our current account guide to find out what to look for.

Think about whether you want to keep your money separate or combine it. You may decide to do both and perhaps have a joint account for shared household outgoings.

Life insurance and protection

Until you got married, it's likely you were covered only as 'single life' - that is for yourself only. You may both now wish to think about changing to joint policies for life insurance, as it may offer a better deal. Our life assurance guide will tell you more.

Now you have a spouse, and possibly children (now or in the near future) to look after, consider getting critical illness cover and life assurance to cover your family if disaster strikes. These are both available as joint policies as well. For more in depth information take a look at our life assurance guide or our critical illness cover guide.

Mortgages and loans

Buying a house together involves reviewing your mortgage arrangements. If you are taking out a mortgage in joint names, you will both be liable for the full debt - not just an equal share of it.

Mortgage payment protection insurance can help you keep up with your mortgage payments if you can’t pay your bills due to redundancy, illness or injury. You may also want to consider income protection, so that you and your dependents don’t lose everything if you are unable to work due to injury or illness.

Savings

Joint or separate savings accounts can help you to save for either small expenditures like holidays or large ones like buying a house. There aren’t any tax exemptions for married couples, but you can move savings into the name of the person who pays the lowest income tax rate. Married couples and civil partners can move assets between them without incurring any capital gains tax.

Wills

If you both made wills before you got married, you need to review them to ensure that you and any children you have together benefit fully when one of you passes away. Married couples and civil partners can leave money and assets to each other without paying any inheritance tax but some thresholds may apply. The government change the limits regularly, so check the HRMC website often. Have a look at our Inheritance tax guide to find out more about bequeathing your estate.

Credit Scoring

Credit rating agencies will now view you as financially linked, so any application for a loan or credit will take both of your credit histories into account. Our guide to credit scoring contains more on how your credit score is tallied, and how to change your credit score.

Top tips for getting married

• Calculate your wedding budget and try to stick to it, allowing a contingency;
• try to accumulate wedding savings for the big day rather than relying on borrowing;
• consider taking out insurance, and think about what level of cover you need;
• you may wish to open a joint account, but shop around for the best deal;
• once your finances are linked, your debts and credit history are shared- so make sure both are clean;
• juggle your finances to take advantage of tax breaks;
• don’t forget to name your spouse as the beneficiary in your pension;
• consider life assurance and other protection insurance policies.

Our getting married guide outlines the financial considerations surrounding your wedding. Now that you’re settling down with your partner, you may also want to start thinking about buying a house and planning for retirement.