Credit cards can be an ‘amazing tool’ for your wedding, expert says — but only if you’re ‘strategic’

Many engaged {couples} within the U.S. are counting on types of credit score to pay for his or her wedding ceremony. Specialists say that method could be good, if achieved rigorously.

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

A separate report by Zola, based mostly 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 wedding ceremony, together with utilizing factors or making use of for brand spanking new playing cards.

“In the event you’re strategic, a bank card could be an incredible software,” mentioned Matt Schulz, chief credit score analyst at LendingTree.

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

About 67% of surveyed newlyweds took on debt for his or her wedding ceremony, in response to LendingTree.

For brand new playing cards, the common annual proportion price, or the borrowing price, is 24.35%, the best since December, LendingTree discovered.

“Finally, a good looking wedding 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 costlier yearly. The common price for a marriage in 2025 is anticipated to be $36,000, in response to Zola. That is up from $33,000 in 2024, and $29,000 in 2023.

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

Some bank cards provide massive sign-up bonuses whenever you spend a set quantity on the cardboard inside a brief interval of opening it. That may be greater than you spend on regular bills, however inside attain when you have massive bills — comparable to wedding-related purchases and deposits — developing.

By instantly paying that cost off along with your financial savings, you’ll be able to make the most of the rewards for issues comparable to your honeymoon, Schulz mentioned.

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

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

Some playing cards additionally provide buy protections, a type of insurance coverage in opposition to theft or damages, per NerdWallet. Be certain that to learn the fantastic print of what your bank card presents and the way lengthy the phrases final.

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

“I undoubtedly wouldn’t advocate placing wedding 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 response to LendingTree. Of people who nonetheless owe cash, 47% mentioned they may end paying the debt in six months to a yr.

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

A 0% APR bank card generally is a software for wedding ceremony funds, as you may be paying little to no curiosity on excellent balances for a time frame. Nevertheless, make certain to complete paying off the cardboard earlier than the promotion expires, specialists say. In any other case, no matter stability is left will then get curiosity tacked on.

As you start to plan the marriage 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 test funds, whereas others would possibly cost further processing charges for bank cards, Rhee mentioned. Such further costs can vary from 1.5% to three.5%, in response to Bankrate.

Assess whether or not paying the additional price is each reasonably priced and price 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 might provide reductions for funds in money.

Whereas bank cards can provide sure protections to incurred funds or purchases, they may not provide 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 provide any actual profit if one thing have been to go mistaken with a purchase order of that magnitude,” mentioned Kay.

For such bills, wedding ceremony insurance coverage insurance policies generally is a good choice to contemplate. They assist shield you from surprising dangers comparable to excessive climate, theft or a vendor who did not present up, mentioned Kay.

Wedding ceremony insurance coverage coverage pricing can vary from lower than $100 to greater than $1,000, in response 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.