I Do Means I Due: Wedding Insurance Sales Soar

If you're the proud parents of a daughter, chances are at some point she's going to come calling, expecting you to pony up for the cost of her wedding. Weddings are not cheap, either. But now there's a way to plan with some peace of mind: wedding insurance.

Jack and Mariam Doyle, of Glastonbury, Connecticut are in the thick of wedding planning. Their daughter's big day is Aug. 1.

"Got a little spreadsheet going,” Jack Doyle said.

He needs that to keep track of all the bills. Most vendors want deposits of 30 percent to 50 percent, up front.

"When you've got some costs of $2,000 or $5,000 they start adding up in a hurry," said Jack.

But shelling out all that cash in advance did make these parents a little nervous.

In these tough times what happens if they go broke or don't show up?

They found you can protect yourself even if people don't show by investing in wedding insurance.

Travelers has offered it since February 2007.

"I can tell you, the wedding brochures that we give out, we can't keep them in stock in our warehouse," said Alan Tuvin, Vice President of Product Management at Travelers.

You can get policies to cover the dress, the flowers, the location, even the cost of canceling if a key guest suddenly can't make it.

"That's what wedding insurance really is for -- to protect your wedding's budget from going out of control with things going wrong," said Tuvin.
 
You can give it as a gift or purchase it yourself any time up to two weeks before the wedding. The cost is generally the price of one guest.

"It's very reasonable when you consider the tens of thousands of dollars you're spending on a wedding. To have a three-digit premium for insurance, it's a good bargain," said Jack.

And it’s well worth the peace of mind.

"Now that we have it we feel a lot better," said the father of the bride-to-be.

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