New company will pay for your dream wedding — but only if you stay married

Your wedding is one of the happiest — and most expensive — days of your life.

The cost of the dress, the flowers, and the cake add up quickly: the average wedding costs around $30,000.

But one new startup company out of Seattle, Swanluv, thinks it has the solution to help couples stress less during the planning process: a $10,000 loan.

Swanluv Co-Founder Scott Avy said that couples never have to pay back the loan — as long as they stay married.

But if they get divorced, they pay the whole thing back — plus interest.

The interest rate is determined by the couple’s compatibility. Avy will not reveal how the company will choose couples to receive the loan or what that interest range will be.

But he did say Swanluv will not directly profit from the divorces; instead, the money will go to fund someone else’s wedding.

Angie Diaz is a Colorado Springs bride-to-be feeling the pressure of the cost of a wedding.

“I was shocked. I mean, our venue alone was quoted at $10,000,” Diaz said. “I wondered, ‘Is food included in that? A kidney transplant maybe?'”

Diaz already signed up to hopefully get chosen for the loan in November.

“It would be great because I wouldn’t have to stay up overnight thinking of ways we can pay our bills,” she said.

But divorcee Roger Sieverson is glad the loan wasn’t around when he was getting married for the first time.

“I never saw any warning signs at first but our marriage crumbled after seven years,” Sieverson said.

He wondered what kind of debt he would be in if he had gotten the loan.

“That would’ve just added to the burden of the divorce,” Sieverson said.

Just how much debt could you go into?

Financial Advisor Randy Ward said the loan wouldn’t be worth it.

“The company is banking on the statistic that 50% of couples get divorced, and the typical time is after eight years of marriage,” Ward explained. “If it were only around a 10% interest rate, you would still owe $20,000 after 8 years, or $67,000 after 20 years.”

And with Colorado in the top 10 states for divorce, Ward said the odds don’t look good.

“It’s like in gambling where the house always wins. The company isn’t a non-profit, so it’s designed to make money,” he said. “If you can’t pay for it up front, what makes you think you’ll be able to pay it back years down the road, especially when you have to pay a divorce lawyer and two rents?”

But Marriage Counselor William Gates thought the loan would actually help marriages.

“I think it could give just a little bit of extra incentive to put extra focus on staying together, just one more reason to work on the relationship,” Gates said.

He also said it would take one big burden off of the couple right off the bat: budgeting for the wedding.

It’s a risk Diaz isn’t scared that she took.

“Divorce is not an option for us,” she said. “We’re together until the day we die and we take that very seriously.”

Diaz doesn’t know yet if she will get the loan for her October wedding.

Swanluv started giving out the first loans on Valentine’s Day.