Considering your wedding day is one of the most important moments in your life, it’s understandable that the celebration can turn pricey. In Canada, the average cost of a wedding is $32,000, according to 2026 estimates. This is a considerable chunk of change that most people don’t have lying about, which is why many turn to wedding loans in Canada.
Even if you aren’t planning an expensive wedding, it may be worth considering event financing to help you create a day you’ll remember. In today’s blog, our team at Smarter Loans shares how Canadians can borrow for wedding expenses.
We have spoken about the types of wedding loans in Canada, how to compare rates, and repayment tips. We hope it helps you bring the wedding you’ve always dreamed of to life.
What Are Wedding Loans
In Canada, there is no formal lending product legally classified as a ‘wedding loan.’ Banks and credit unions don’t have a special category for wedding financing as they do for mortgages and auto loans. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t secure financing to fund your wedding.
There are quite a few avenues to explore to obtain financing for your wedding, but they all generally fall under a type of personal loan. Additionally, in Canada, wedding financing is offered by banks, credit unions, and online lenders.
You can also use the financing you secure for your wedding to cover various costs. These could include catering, venue hire, photography, videography, guest gifts, and even your honeymoon. However, before you get too excited about wedding financing, keep in mind that you need to consider factors like loan terms, interest rates, and your credit score.
In most situations, the more favourable your financial situation and credit profile, the better your terms will be and the chances of approval.
Loan Options for Weddings
As you now know, loans can be secured through banks, credit unions, and various Canadian online lenders, and most financing falls under the personal loan category. So with this in mind, here’s a look at the types of personal loans you could apply for to secure the funding for your big day.
Unsecured Personal Loans
Most people getting married look into unsecured personal loans for weddings. These loans don’t require you to have collateral. So you don’t need to use your car or your home to secure the financing. Given this, most couples in Canada can access unsecured loans.
Additionally, when it comes to how much you could secure, it’s best to plan for between $1,000 and $50,000. You should also expect repayment terms of 2 to 7 years, with interest rates of 6% to 35% depending on credit.
Unsecured personal loans can take from minutes to days to secure, and online lenders offer the most competitive rates with flexible qualifications.
Secured Personal Loans
When couples can’t qualify for unsecured loans or want low-interest loans, they can consider secured personal loans. These loans require collateral, meaning you’ll need to put up your savings, car, home, or another acceptable asset. You can apply for between $300 and $50,000, depending on your credit profile.
Typically, with secured personal loans, you can expect interest rates of between 2% and 5%, which are markedly lower than those for unsecured loans. Additionally, secured loans offer higher approval odds even if you and your partner have a less-than-stellar credit score.
However, the significant risk is that you can lose your collateral if you or your partner defaults on loan repayments, and this is not something you want to go through when you’re recently married.
Credit Union Wedding Loans
Some credit unions in Canada provide personal loans that they market as ‘wedding loans’ to couples. These are usually only available to members and are part of their benefits. So if you belong to a credit union and are looking into wedding loans in Canada, you may want to ask your union.
Also, these loans generally come with lower interest rates because credit unions are non-profit organizations. How much you can borrow also varies. It’s also worth noting that these wedding loans offer flexible approval criteria, and factors beyond your credit score may influence your approval chances.
Comparing Rates
As you’ve likely gathered at this point, interest rates on loans can vary according to different factors. That’s why it’s essential to compare rates before deciding to go with one wedding loan over the other.
Usually, if you want lower rates, a secured loan or a credit union personal loan is worth considering. However, if you don’t want to put up collateral or don’t belong to a union, you can look into unsecured personal loans, which unfortunately have higher interest rates.
So make sure you shop around and debate all your options before committing. After all, this is your big day. You don’t want to take on unnecessary financial risks when there are more favourable loan options.
Repayment Tips for Wedding Loans in Canada
If you want to go into borrowing wisely before your wedding, we recommend keeping in mind the following repayment tips:
- You should include loan repayments in your joint budget after you get married. This will help you prioritize the loan obligation.
- Consider setting up automatic payments. This can help you avoid late fees and damage to your credit score from missed payments.
- Try to make bi-weekly payments instead of monthly payments. This can help you make extra payments and reduce interest.
You can also consider using any wedding gift money to pay off your loan principal and reduce the balance and interest.
Responsible Borrowing
Taking out a loan to finance your wedding can be a wise decision. It can help you bring your wedding plans to life and create the day you’ll remember for years to come.
However, if you don’t borrow wedding loans in Canada responsibly, you can put yourself into a sticky situation. This is not something you’ll want to do as soon as you’ve entered into holy matrimony.
We suggest you begin by building a realistic budget. With a budget, you can set limits on venue, attire, food, and other wedding expenses. This helps ensure you don’t borrow more than you need, avoiding unnecessary debt.
We also suggest you try to build wedding expenses into your budget, including honeymoon costs. This can also help ensure you take out the right amount of money.
Besides budgeting, you also need to avoid borrowing for ‘optional extras.’ It’s usually best to stick to essentials when financing, even when borrowing for your wedding day. These extras can inflate your loan and make repayments after the wedding tough to wrangle.
In addition, before you even begin wedding planning and looking into wedding loans in Canada, factor in what you already owe. You don’t want to overencumber yourself or your partner by adding to an already heavy debt load.
Key Takeaways
Considering the cost of a wedding can be incredibly high, and you likely don’t want to take a hard hit to your pockets, the solution could be financing. We hope the wedding loans in Canada we discussed help you better understand your options.
If this is something that you want to explore, you can take a look at the potential loans you could apply for at Smarter Loans. We aggregate all the best loan providers in one place, so you’re bound to find a personal loan that meets your wedding finance needs. Just remember to borrow responsibly and keep repayment at the forefront of your mind post-wedding.
Written by:
Amy Orr is a professional writer and editor with over 10 years of experience in the Canadian, U.S. and U.K. financial markets. She has written for numerous publications on topics as diverse as economic literacy, corporate finance, and technical analysis of numerical data. Prior to transitioning to full-time writing, she worked in the hedge fund sector. Her academic background is astrophysics, and she has a Masters in Finance from the University of Edinburgh Business School.
