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Your wedding day is meant to be one of the happiest and most important days of your life. You’ve spent months planning every detail and spent thousands of dollars to achieve the perfect day you’ve always envisioned. Despite how meticulously you’ve planned everything out, there’s always the possibility that something will go wrong. Perhaps a tropical storm hits the beach you’re supposed to have your destination wedding on, or your maid of honor slipped and broke her wrist days before the wedding. For these kinds of instances, wedding insurance is the best way to protect you from losing your entire financial investment.
Photo Credit: Leap Year
What Is Wedding Insurance?
Wedding insurance protects a couple’s financial investment in their wedding in a similar way to how car insurance protects owners if something happens to their cars. If things out of your control occur and cause you to have to postpone your wedding or spend excess money out of pocket, your wedding insurance is there to help reimburse these expenses.
Do I Need Wedding Insurance?
The average American wedding costs over $25,000 – most would agree that this is a significant amount of money to spend on a single day’s event. If you’re spending thousands of dollars on this special day, you may want to consider insuring the event so that if anything does happen you won’t lose all of your deposits. Your venue might go bankrupt and have to cancel your wedding without refunding your deposit, or your officiant might not show up, or maybe there’s an unseasonal ice storm that causes roads to be shut down and leave your wedding party stranded. There’s so many different things that could possibly go wrong on your wedding day, and having wedding insurance gives you peace of mind knowing you have this protection.
Photo Credit: Gaudette
Many vendors may already have their own insurance policies. Check with your venue, caterer, photographer, videographer and any other vendors you’re working with to see what their policies cover. This way you can avoid purchasing unnecessary overlapping coverage.
How Much Does Wedding Insurance Cost?
Basic wedding insurance policies are fairly standard throughout the industry. You can get a basic plan that covers loss of nonrefundable deposits and purchases, no-show vendors, damaged wedding attire, damaged gifts, loss of photos or videos and wedding rings from $150 to $500, depending on the amount of coverage you want. To determine the amount of coverage you’d like, consider how much money you stand to lose if you were to reschedule your wedding at the last minute. Make sure you include the costs and the deposits you paid for the venue, wedding dress, wedding rings, caterer, band or DJ, flowers, wedding cake, invitations and anything else that you’ve spent money on. This total is the amount of insurance coverage you should consider getting.
What Does A Wedding Insurance Policy Cover?
Most wedding insurance policies will reimburse you for deposits and purchases for circumstances out of your control that cause you to postpone or cancel your wedding. This includes vendors who go out of business or declare bankruptcy before your event or any vendors who do not show up at all. Other expenses most policies will cover include any unexpected expenses you incur to avoid cancelling or postponing your wedding. For example, if any of your vendors cancel last minute and you have to find a replacement, your insurance will reimburse you for part of the difference in price. Or, if anyone essential in the wedding party unexpectedly falls ill or is injured, causing you to have to reschedule the wedding.
Photo Credit: Events 306
Another great reason to get wedding insurance is to cover the possibility of your photos or video being lost or damaged. Most policies will cover the cost for getting your wedding party together to retake the photos.
If you or your partner are active military and are shipped out prior to the wedding, your plan can cover the postponement of the wedding. This can also apply to a last-minute job-related move, like if your company relocates you to another city.
Other items that many wedding insurance policies cover include damaged gifts, lost or damaged attire and wedding rings. Note that many policies do not cover the engagement rings – only the wedding rings.
It is important to remember that wedding insurance policies are only meant to cover unexpected incidents that cause you to have to cancel or postpone your wedding. Therefore, a change of heart or cold feet will not be covered by any insurance policy.
What Is Liability Insurance And Do I Need It?
Liability insurance is separate from wedding insurance and it covers bodily injury, property damage and personal injuries to third parties at the location of your wedding. Some venues may require you to have liability insurance, so be sure to check with them before your wedding day.
Photo Credit: US News
Having liability insurance is usually not a requirement, but if you’d like to be protected in case a guest injures himself at your wedding, it might be a good idea for you to add liability insurance to your wedding insurance plan.
How Much Does Liability Insurance Cost?
Liability insurance ranges from $150 to $200 based on the amount of coverage you’d like. Most liability insurance policies cover up to $1,000,000 in liability and potentially up to $1,000,000 in property damage. Purchase the amount of liability insurance that is suitable for your event.
When Should I Purchase Wedding Insurance?
You can purchase wedding insurance as early as two years before your event date. Most insurers recommend purchasing a policy as soon as you start making deposits on any of your vendors. You can get a free quote online quickly by answering a few simple questions about your wedding.
Keep in mind that many insurers require you to purchase insurance at least 14 days prior to the wedding to cover weather-related events.
Photo Credit: Insurance Lovers
Common Wedding Insurance Providers
There are many different insurance providers out there, so be sure to do your homework to find the best fit for your wedding. Some of the most popular wedding insurance providers include:
- Wedsure
- WedSafe
- Travelers Wedding Protector Plan
Remember that every wedding is different, so make sure you speak with an insurance agent to ensure you’re getting the best policy for your needs. Your wedding day is not only the most magical day of your life, but a large financial investment as well. Protect your investment with a good insurance policy.
