How to Put a Ring on It and Save for a House, Too

This article was first published on NerdWallet.com.

Planning a wedding and buying a home are two expensive milestones in adult life. Couples with both of these goals may wonder just how they’ll pay for it all.

While some couples may be fine keeping the wedding small (or skipping it altogether) in order to save for a house, others have their hearts set on something grander and will need to find a way to make the most of their budget.

When deciding whether to prioritize buying a house or having a wedding first, “the better financial decision is to save for a down payment,” says Haley Sacks, a Brooklyn-based content creator known online as Mrs. Dow Jones. “A house is forever, and a wedding is one day.” Still, she concedes that the choices are emotional as well as practical.

By setting smart budgeting strategies and leveraging the wedding to support homebuying goals, couples can go after these dual dreams.

Set priorities to avoid overspending

When planning for the big day, couples can start by refining their list of priorities to avoid getting starry-eyed and upsold on less important expenditures that can eat into their ability to save for a down payment on a house.

So if they’re foodies, for example, “they’re going to spend a large chunk of their budget to make sure guests have an amazing meal experience,” says Brittny Drye, founder and editor-in-chief of the wedding magazine Love Inc. in New York City. That means they may need to make serious concessions elsewhere.

Alvin Carlos, a certified financial planner and managing partner at District Capital Management in Washington, D.C., says that catering for 100 guests alone could easily cost $15,000. That’s nearly half the...