I set up Love My Dress purely to inspire readers, be it with beautiful bridal wear, pretty and original wedding decor ideas to make your special day look unique and fabulous, or inspirational photography to get your creative juices flowing. And that's all well and good, but all that pretty lovely stuff aside, weddings are serious businesses and today, I'd like to address, albeit briefly, something that is of extreme importance to ANYONE planning their own wedding. Because every now and then, I think it's important to give some good old-fashioned advice too.
Did you know, the UK wedding industry is worth an estimated £5.5 Billion per year? Thats a WHOLE lotta money. Your money infact. We invest in expensive items and many of us store them at home where we can find space. We book venues, and services and suppliers and many of us do these things without a second thought for, 'what if anything went wrong'? We are so focused on the planning and organising, wanting our special days to be perfect.
Two weeks ago, I discovered that a close Wedding Blogger friend of mine was facing the crisis of her Scottish Wedding venue having been burnt down. Another Bride I know stored her dress at home, only to accidentally but permanently mark it during one of those sneaky 'trying on' sessions. I've heard other horror stories through the grapevine, dogs tearing apart bridal wear stored at home, fires, theft etc, you name it. For many of us, these disaster scenarios barely enter our thoughts prior to our wedding, or if they do, it is but for a fleeting moment, before we cocoon ourselves once more in the flurry and excitement of planning our weddings. It's as if we are investing, subconsciously, into the faith that 'everything will be OK'. But what it…?
Now before you start rolling your eyes at the subject matter here, stop and think for a moment and answer this…
Have you taken out a wedding insurance policy?
If not, then try to visualise me on my knees begging you to read on! I spoke with Louise Tillotson, financial author for comparison site Moneysupermarket.com,
who regularly writes money and insurance guides
for websites, and here's what she had to say.
I happy to admit my wedding dress cost a small fortune, I'm so glad I insured it against loss, theft or damage!
All Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Karen
McGowran
"Your wedding day is probably one of the happiest and yet most stressful days of your adult life. If you’re like most brides, you’ll pore over every detail, thinking of anything and everything which could go wrong and setting countless contingency plans in place. You can never be too prepared on what is possibly the most expensive event you’ve ever organised.
But if you forget about insurance, then all that planning and preparation could be in vain. The average wedding costs well in excess of £15,000, which is a lot of money to lose if things go wrong. Wedding insurance will cover situations like your dress being ruined, or the caterer or venue cancelling, so it’s always a good idea to take out a relatively inexpensive policy a few months prior to the big day. It’s recommended that you start to look at insurance once you know how much the venue, ceremony and outfits are going to cost, then you can use this as a guide for the level of cover needed."
Some of the items covered by my wedding insurance. Vintage cufflinks by Magpie Vintage and a vintage art-deco wedding ring.
"Don’t forget about your wedding gifts (as if you would!). Couples about to be married are a prime target for thieves; all those gaily wrapped toasters and dinner services fetch quite a bit of money when stolen and fenced. Because of this, your house insurance provider will need to be informed of your intention to marry well in advance of the name change if you’re planning on keeping your gifts, outfits and other wedding paraphernalia in your home.
It’s difficult to predict just how much money your kindly guests will be spending on your gift (unless you’ve done a wedding list then of course you’ll already know), but a good rule of thumb is to multiply 75 (the average cost of a wedding gift) by the number of guests you expect. Quote this figure to your insurer and see if they will provide a temporary increase in cover for a raised premium. Usually these last one month before and one month after the wedding."
We all want our wedding days to end on a high ~ a wedding insurance policy can provide peace of mind…
"Having expensive items like a wedding dress or lots of gifts may increase your home insurance, but if you have to make a claim for theft or damages and haven’t informed your insurer of the new contents, you could find your claim dismissed. And as with any insurance policy, make sure you read the small print and ask questions to make sure you understand fully what is and isn’t covered."
And the moral of this feature? If you love your dress, then pop on over to MoneySupermarket.com now and get your wedding insurance policy sorted out. Don't be the Bride that never got round to doing it, only to risk having your dream day ruined.
Thanks for taking the time to read this 'serious' feature 🙂 I genuinely felt it important to share my thougts on this really important issue, alongside the advice of an expert, however, I promise I'll be putting plenty of wedding-day pretty back your way come tomorrow 🙂
Thanks so much to Louise Tillotson and colleagues Laura Dutton and Rachel Miller of MoneySupermarket.com for their support and assistance in compiling this feature.
♥
