Wedding insurance isn't the most romantic subject to discuss when you're planning your wedding, but for most couples it is now a necessity. Anyone whose wedding was postponed by the pandemic will tell you why. You wouldn't consider buying a house or a car without insuring it, and the investment in your wedding may be of a similar scale, so making sure you have good insurance is essential.
Many people used to see wedding insurance as something you only use if the bride or groom gets cold feet, and they were certain that they wouldn't need it, but actually wedding insurance is used to cover circumstances that are usually beyond your control. Here are some examples of when your wedding insurance might come in useful:
- The venue you are using closes down, loses its license, or is affected by fire damage or flooding
- Your suppliers fail to deliver their promises and you have to find costly last minute alternatives
- Extreme weather means that you, your guests, or your marriage celebrant can't make it to the wedding
- Equipment such as furniture you have hired for the wedding gets damaged during the reception
- An accident or illness of the bride or groom means you have to rearrange the wedding
- The bride's wedding dress gets torn at the final fitting and needs emergency repairs before the big day
- Delays with official documentation mean that the wedding can't be legalized and has to be postponed
Short answer: yes, take it out. The cost of a basic policy is small relative to the risk, and the scenarios above aren't rare.
The Cost of Wedding Insurance
It is easy to see wedding insurance as just another cost at a time when you're already paying out a lot for wedding arrangements. However, basic wedding insurance is actually a reasonably low one-off payment, which is well worth it when you think of the risk involved in not having it. Make sure you have your wedding insurance in place before you start spending large amounts on things like the venue, photographer, and catering.
Most insurance companies will provide standard packages that are tailored to different size weddings. When you're deciding which to go for be realistic with yourself and try to calculate the entire cost of your wedding, including the honeymoon. If you had to postpone your wedding how much would it really cost to rearrange? What is your actual spend on all the wedding outfits including attendants?
Taking out Extra Insurance
When you're planning on getting married there may be extra insurance policies you need to take out, or specific additions to your wedding policy.
The first thing you should already have considered is insurance for the engagement ring. Rings are easy to lose, especially in the first few weeks after the engagement when it may not fit perfectly and may need to be altered. Insuring your engagement ring, either through the retailer you bought it from, or independently, will protect you if it gets lost, damaged, or stolen.
The second consideration is whether you will need specific extras on your wedding insurance. Things that may need coverage of their own include:
- A hired marquee, which can be damaged easily by high winds or fire and is expensive to replace
- Something particularly special in your wedding celebrations, such as a precious family heirloom
- A pandemic, which most policies exclude unless you ask
Finally you should make sure you don't overlook travel insurance for your honeymoon. The cost of rearranging your honeymoon if necessary may be covered in your wedding insurance package, but your actual travel insurance while you're away will not be so make sure you are both covered.
