Wedding insurance 101 - should I say “I do” to cover?

With the average Australian wedding skyrocketing to a staggering $36,200*, tying the knot can be a massive money drain. To give you peace of mind, some providers have introduced wedding insurance that financially protects your wedding against unforeseen disasters, like severe weather or the vendor going belly up.

While it may sound like a wise idea to sign up with a wedding insurance policy, it’s important to know exactly what you’re covered for and whether it’s right for your big day. AKA is wedding insurance worth getting or is it just another cost to add to the never-ending wedding pile?

Here’s the wedding insurance lowdown to help you decide:

What is wedding insurance?

Wedding insurance from providers like ourweddinginsurance.com.au generally covers cancellation and postponement, rearrangement, failure of suppliers, marquee hire, contract dispute and personal liability. Making wedding mishaps a lot less of a financial bummer.

Let’s give you a scenario. It’s a week until your wedding, you’ve forked out a whole lot of cash for your special day and everything is perfect. BUT then at the last minute you find out your photographer has double booked (eeek!!) and you have to pay an exuberant price for a replacement snapper. That’s where wedding insurance comes in by reimbursing you for your loss.

How much does wedding insurance cost?

With a quick online search, the Mozo team found wedding insurance packages can be anywhere from $190 climbing as high as $1,245, depending on your cover needs. If you do make a claim you’ll generally have to pay excess of around $100*, no matter the premium you pay.

What’s not covered?

While wedding insurance covers a large majority of the typical wedding expenses, unfortunately cold feet ain’t one. So if you’re disinclined to say “I do” you’ll have to foot the bill.

The majority of wedding insurance providers in Australia don’t cover overseas nuptials but there are some wedding policies that are specifically tailored to the globetrotting bride and groom, such as Dream Wedding Insurance’s wedding policy that not only covers weddings within Australia but also provides cover for things like cancellation and vendor insolvency overseas. 

When should I take out wedding insurance cover?

You should sign up with wedding cover as soon as you book your venue and ceremony. Say you’ve found a stunning vineyard to hold both your ceremony and reception and you put down a deposit only to find out a month later the venue has gone into insolvency and you lose your deposit. With wedding insurance you will be reimbursed for your deposit loss because you took the cover out immediately, potentially saving you thousands of dollars.

Do I really need wedding insurance?

Before taking out wedding insurance cover you should consider whether it’s necessary for your day. If you’re having a backyard bash, your home and contents insurance may already cover you for any marital wedding mishaps. Or if you’re hiring a venue that you trust, ask the vendor if it has insurance to cover you against the unexpected.

But consider this - a wedding is potentially the third biggest expense after purchasing a car and buying a house you will ever make. By simply paying a couple of hundred dollars you could save yourself tens of thousands of dollars and a major headache. A good rule of thumb before taking out wedding insurance is to do your homework and weigh up your options by reading the fine print.

* IBISWorld, 'IBISWorld Industry Report X002 Weddings in Australia', April 2012
* AIG wedding insurance prices taken on 10 September