by Barbara Stockton

Created on: March 02, 2009   Last Updated: March 09, 2009

The wedding day, the day when every bride lives out her most romantic fantasy, with the prince of her dreams. Everything was perfect and romantic, a day that you will remember forever. You leave on your honeymoon basking in wedded bliss. A month later you receive your credit card bill and you realize that not only will you remember your special day for the rest of your life, you will also be paying for it forever.

It is said that the first two years of a marriage are the hardest, but with a financial problems to contend with these two years might be the only years in your marriage. According to statistics the major underlying cause of divorce in the United States is the financial stress. If you start your marriage in financial distress than you risk losing more than just a good credit rating, you stand a chance of losing the one you love.

When planning your wedding your finances should be taken into consideration. Just because you could get a loan for your wedding, or use credit cards doesn't mean you should. Credit card companies lay in wait for just an expense as this so they can get you to use all that credit then raise the interest rates beyond your reach. This leaves you with a very high monthly payment that will take years to pay off, and by the time you pay it off you have actually payed twice as much for your wedding as you would have if you had paid as you go.

You should allow sufficient time when planning your wedding, will allow you the opportunity to save the money need. Starting with a budget is the best way to prevent using credit. There are many web sites that offer advice and ideas on how to pay for your wedding without using credit.

This is the beginning of your life together and you should start off debt free. Not only does using credit cards leave you with high payments, charging a large amount all at once on a card will effect your FICO score and will prevent you from getting credit for many years. Your FICO score is important if you want to buy a home, or even rent an apartment, so though this may not seem important at the time it will be important after the wedding and the honeymoon is over and you are ready to settle down.

So give your marriage a chance to survive, and don't use credit to pay for your special day. Make plans for paying for everything as you go. This means that you will start your marriage off debt free. This is your day so do it right and don't let the bill collectors come knocking on your door the minute you return from your honeymoon. Your special day will remain in your memory as the day you walked down the isle in your white flowing gown into the arms of your Prince Charming.

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