We know just how stressful this period of time can be - between planning your wedding, balancing the desires of family members, and adjusting to this new stage of life! And it’s all happening on a quick timeline. With everything going on, it’s easy to miss important steps in the process - so we created this to-do list to help you and your partner get through it more easily!
Once you get through the below, Tango is here to help you and your partner with one of the trickiest parts - learning how to work together as a couple financially. You can use Tango to get more comfortable being open about your individual finances, get to know each other’s financial personalities, track all of your separate and shared bank accounts, communicate about expenses, set shared goals, and view your shared inflows and outflows to see how much you’re spending and saving each month. Download the app here!
💵 Create a budget for your wedding and decide how you will pay for it and what (if anything) family may be able to contribute
👰Plan a wedding ceremony & reception (we recommend Zola!)
🤑 Consolidate each of your finances and share them in full to make sure you’re both aware of each other’s financial situation including credit scores, any debt, and assets.
This can be overwhelming, so seek support of an advisor or counselor if needed
💰Determine how you will manage your finances after marriage (fully combine, create a “yours, mine, and ours” set-up, or keep fully separate finances). Take our quiz here to find out what makes the most sense for your relationship!
🏦 If you choose to open up a shared account and shared card, research & decide which bank you’d like to work with and which cards offer you the most attractive rewards programs.
If you’re looking for help navigating this, our financial therapist Erika can help you. Click here to book a session with her!
📜 Decide if a prenuptial agreement is right for you
Hire lawyers to complete the prenuptial agreement or check out HelloPrenup to save some money by doing it yourself. Get this done at least one week before the wedding!
🏝️ Book your honeymoon (check out honeymoons.com for ideas!)
📝 Get a marriage license in the state where you plan to get married
📝 Decide whether one or both of you want to change your names and fill out appropriate state and government forms. It’s usually easiest to do this at the courthouse when getting a marriage license, the state will automate a lot of it for you. Check out NewlyNamed for help!
Notify institutions you work with on your name change (your employer, bank, credit cards, voter registration, apartment lease, etc.)
📝 Add your spouse as a beneficiary to your retirement account and life insurance
🏦 Open up new joint cards & bank accounts if applicable and transfer money into them
🏥 Determine whether one of you wants to switch to the other’s health insurance provider
👵🏻 Review any workplace retirement plans that one or both of you have. If one has a plan with higher matching, consider allocating combined funds to that plan to maximize matching.
🏢 Make sure you’re both covered under your insurance policies: renter’s insurance, homeowner’s insurance, auto insurance, etc.
📝 Consider purchasing life insurance policies if you don’t have one yet, we recommend using Ladder!
📝 Create or update a will and add your spouse as a beneficiary - we recommend using Trust & Will!
📝 Consider additional legal documents including a Power of Attorney or Health Directive so your spouse can make medical decisions for you if you become incapacitated.
🔐 Create a repository of shared important documents (ex. Copies of your passports, social security numbers & cards, driver’s licenses, marriage certificate, etc.)
📝 Decide how you will file taxes (jointly or separately). This calculator can help you see which is more beneficial!