Whether you intended to have a big wedding or it just turned out that way, it left you starting your marriage off in the hole, so to speak, if you had to cover the whole thing yourselves. Debt, of any kind, can kill a relationship. According to a recent survey, though, wedding debt is particularly bad on relationships.

Wanting your wedding day to be special is understandable. Few people tend to think of the long-term consequences of taking on debt to make it so, however. A LendingTree survey asked participants if the debt caused problems in their marriages, and if they felt it was worth it in the end. Here is what the numbers had to say.

Survey results

Based on participant answers, it was determined that:

• About 45% of newlyweds opted to go into debt to have big wedding celebrations and lavish honeymoons.
• Approximately 76% of these couples have found themselves fighting about the debt.
• Roughly 47% of those with wedding debt have pondered getting a divorce.

Wondering how this compares to couples who did not go into debt for their weddings? Here are those numbers:

• About 9% of couples who wed without going into debt have considered divorce.
• Only 11% of these couples find themselves fighting about money.

As you can see, wedding debt drastically increases the odds that a marriage will fail. So, if you find yourself struggling in your relationship because of wedding debt, you are not alone. A lot of couples in New York are in the same position.

What can you do about it?

At the end of the day, you have a few options: you can figure out a plan to get out of debt and work on it together, you can keep fighting about it but stay together, or you can choose to end the relationship. There is no right or wrong answer here. You have to do what you think is best for you. You deserve to be happy.

When the relationship is over

If you feel that your marital relationship is beyond repair, you can start the process of dissolving the marriage. It may not prove an easy task. It can be emotionally and financially exhausting. With assistance, though, you can get through it and walk away with a fair and balanced divorce settlement that includes an equitable division of debt.