Wedding: Why financing it should not leave you in debt

Under normal circumstances, a wedding is a one or two-hour ceremony. Basically, a couple will part with less than Shs1m for rings, Shs500,000 for Church, Shs1m gown for the bride and Shs500,000 suit for the groom. Vows are made, and wedding is done.
Yes, to some it is majorly a Church affair but to most people, after the “till death do us part” promises, an amazingly big wedding reception is a must-have because it is a once in a lifetime event.
Ms Regina Ampumuza got married early December 2016. Two and a half months later, still overwhelmed with joy, 25-year old Ampumuza recalls how much they spent and as though the millions of Shillings expended do not bother her, she says: “It was worth it. We had planned for it and we got the results we hoped for.”
According to their wedding budget, the young couple spent about Shs57m to cover the day’s expenses!
Today, this is characteristic of young couples, especially in the middle income class. Local wedding planner at Gold Groove Events, Ms Ruth Ssenyonjo, says couples marrying in Uganda are splashing between Shs10m to more than Shs100m to say “I do.”
But what eats up big portions of the wedding budget?
Ms Ssenyonjo notes that food, décor and photography are at the forefront and Ms Ampumuza easily relates to this.
Ms Ampumuza notes that she spent Shs18m on the venue inclusive of food, ushers, tables and chairs. She also spent Shs4.5m on décor and Shs4m on photography.

Spend-big trend
Ms Racheal Ogwang, an events organiser, is particularly acquainted with this type of trend among Ugandans. Marrying couples are increasingly sucked into big budget spending.
“Weddings are expensive but you find that very few couples want to do a small wedding. Most want to do unique weddings and when you define unique, it comes at a high cost,” Ms Ogwang explains.
Unfortunately, some couples are left in debt. Local wedding planner at Wedding 256, Mr Habib Walusimbi, recollects a time when one of his clients turned to last minute borrowing.
“Last June, one of the ladies reached the last wedding meeting when the budget was short of Shs6m. Luckily, a friend rescued them through a loan since they had made most of the bookings,” Mr Walusimbi narrates. He attributes such cases to poor planning among couples.
According to business development manager at Enterprise Uganda, Mr Ronald Mukasa, whether one spends Shs10m or Shs100m is a matter of the wedding they want and the one they can afford. However, he quickly notes that starting a marriage in debt is a painful situation to be in.
The challenge is that couples usually wrestle with finding the balance between those two weddings.
A wedding is possibly the first financial project couples do together and indeed have to agree on every financial decision because money is fundamentally central in marriage.
“Some book the service providers and the question they start to ask is how they meet the budget. The reason for this is that from the onset, you did not have the discussion of which wedding you want and the one you can afford. This is generally because couples do not want to discuss a wedding as a financial decision,” he says.
Sometimes it is a competition between what other people want and have done, and while this kind of pressure has real financial implications, Mr Mukasa says couples must set standards.

Avoiding debt
As couples fantasise about a self-drive classy wedding car and a parasol wedding setting, they have to think about the wedding they can afford and answer the question of what percentage of the wedding budget they can cover.
Mr Walusimbi says couples should plan earlier, even a year before. “What makes a good wedding even when you have good ideas is money. Put aside good resources for your day early enough because then you get good service providers,” he says.
Last year, Mr Sam Lubowa decided he would walk down the aisle in early February 2017. In August 2016, he embarked on planning for the D-day. After rough estimations with a local wedding planner, he knew he would part with Shs45m if his dream wedding was to translate into reality. He began saving money right away because his goal was to fund 70 per cent of the budget. On the wedding eve, he had cleared about 96 per cent of his budget.
Mr Walusimbi says a budget is compulsory and that couples should slowly save to meet it together. When the moment for making the guest list arrives, invite guests you can afford to cater for.
For Ms Ssenyonjo, if you can secure your rings and church fee, you are good to go. If you must have a reception, be disciplined with your finances and start depositing money with service providers as early as six months.
Ms Ampumuza cautions partners on relying on pledges. “We received three quarters of the pledges on the wedding eve. Some pledges came after the wedding but we had cleared all bills,” she shares.
ADVICE
If couples are to guard against debts.
Mr Mukasa, business manager in Kampala, advises couples on cost-cutting choices.

Choices of venues and size of wedding are the starting point because they drive costs higher.

Equally vital is shopping around for different service providers to get good but cheap deals.