Perhaps you've heard the statistic that 50 percent of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. Experts debate that statistic, saying it's misleading to compare the new marriages in a given year with the total number of divorces filed.

However, the fact is that most divorced couples report money problems as a large factor in the failure of their relationship.

Plan for the Future

Think of your wedding budget as one of the first times you and your fiancé will discuss your attitudes about money, plan expenditures, and work together to execute your plan. It's the perfect place to lay a strong foundation for a successful financial union.

Even if one of you is doing most of the planning and spending, it's important that you both agree on how this will be done. That spirit of budgetary responsibility will reflect itself in marital harmony.

Making your financial decisions — for the wedding and for life — through discussion, compromise, and sound budget principles will set you up for success. Apply these principles to your wedding expenses, and you will know what to expect for your financial future together.

What Is Your Money Personality?

People deal with money in vastly different ways. It helps to figure out how you and your fiancé each handle money and how your strategies differ. From there you can work together to find a way to handle your finances in a way that suits both of you. Most people are a combination of the following personality types:

• Impulsive Spender: A stressful day at the office drives you to frivolous spending at the mall or an expensive dinner at a restaurant on the way home. You feel you work hard and deserve to have what you want. After all, you only live once.

• Frugal (Non-)Spender: Save, save, save! You adhere to the philosophy that you never know when you might need some extra cash. You find it hard to spend money, and you give every potential purchase so much thought that others squirm when they're out shopping with you.

• Bingeing Consumer: You save money for a long time, then go on a spending spree.

• Ostrich: You avoid thinking about money. You spend it, of course, but you don't keep a balanced checkbook, and you have made a few financial missteps that have cost you in late fees or other penalties.

• Worrier: You stress over your finances constantly. You are meticulous about organizing financial records, paying your bills on time, and keeping your checkbook balanced.

It's hardest — but not impossible — for two extremes to work together. For example, impulsive spenders and frugal spenders who marry face challenges simply because their attitudes toward money vary so drastically. In any case, be sensitive to your fiancé's money personality as the two of you plan your wedding together.

Personal Stories

“My parents are divorced,” recounts Susan, “and I can remember hearing a lot of arguments about money. I don't want that with Nick, so we've done a lot of talking about how we'll deal with money issues when we're married. We're not going to get into a lot of debt to get married — partly because we want a house within the next year or two, and partly because we feel like we've already gotten into a lot of debt getting our college degrees. We hope we'll have good jobs very soon, but we do want to be careful.”

Kylie's parents have a long-lasting marriage and are co-owners of a business. They make money decisions in both their marriage and their business with ease. Sean's parents often disagree about how to spend money; however, they find ways to compromise. Both Kylie and Sean feel their parents have been good role models for how couples should handle money.

Lynn reports that she often heads to the mall or tunes in to the TV shopping channels when she's had an unusually tiring and stressful day. She has had to consciously work on not making impulsive purchases.

“John tends to make impulsive purchases, too, but it happens more because he sees a good deal, not because he's stressed,” Lynn says. “I don't think either of us makes decisions about money based on how our parents handled money issues. I think it's more that we have to have a faster-paced way of making money decisions given our careers and the work that we do.”

Lynn also knows that despite having money set aside for a lavish wedding, expenses can spiral out of control if she falls into her habitual pattern of spending impulsively when she's tired and stressed.

Susan and Nick, Kylie and Sean, and Lynn and John all understand how their attitudes toward money will affect their wedding planning and their lives together. Lynn recognizes her spending personality and knows how it can affect the wedding budget. The other couples realize that communication is the key to making their budgets work.