Wedding Insurance: Is It Worth It? What It Actually Covers (2025)
Friend of mine had her wedding venue go bankrupt three weeks before her wedding. Just gone. Doors locked, phones disconnected, $15,000 deposit vanished. She’d been planning this wedding for 18 months.
She didn’t have wedding insurance. Didn’t even know it was a thing. Lost the deposit, scrambled to find a new venue, ended up spending thousands more than planned on a backup location that wasn’t what she wanted. Wedding was fine I guess but the whole thing was traumatic.
Another friend had her photographer no-show on the wedding day. Just didn’t turn up. Phone went straight to voicemail. She had wedding insurance that covered vendor no-shows. Got a check that helped pay for an emergency replacement photographer someone found on Instagram that morning plus additional editing costs.
Wedding insurance is one of those things most people don’t think about because who plans for their wedding to go wrong? But weddings involve a lot of money, a lot of vendors, and a lot of things that can go sideways.
What wedding insurance covers
Two main types:
Cancellation/postponement coverage. You have to cancel or postpone for reasons beyond your control. Venue closes. Vendor goes out of business. Extreme weather. Illness or injury to key family members. Military deployment. Some policies even cover if the couple calls off the engagement (though usually only for specific reasons and with limitations).
Liability coverage. Someone gets hurt at your wedding, property gets damaged. Guest trips on the dance floor and breaks their ankle. Your drunk uncle knocks over an antique vase at the venue. You’re responsible—liability coverage insurance covers it.
Some policies include extras like coverage for wedding gifts that get stolen, lost wedding rings, damaged attire, photography do-over if the photos are unusable.
What it doesn’t cover
Change of heart. You just decide you don’t want to get married anymore. Most policies don’t cover voluntary cancellation without a qualifying reason.
Pre-existing situations. If the venue was already having financial trouble when you bought the policy, probably won’t cover their eventual closure.
Weather that doesn’t actually prevent the wedding. Rainy day for your outdoor wedding but you could still technically have it? Probably not covered unless it’s genuinely severe.
Read the policy carefully. “Covered reasons” are usually specifically listed.
Why venues sometimes require liability
Many venues require you to have liability coverage to book. It protects them. If someone gets hurt at your event, the venue wants to know you have insurance to cover it so they don’t get sued.
Typical requirement is $1 million in liability coverage. Wedding liability policies specifically for this cost around $100-300 depending on guest count and coverage level.
Even if venue doesn’t require it, having liability coverage protects you from potentially massive legal bills if something goes wrong.
What it costs
Liability only: $100-300
Cancellation coverage: depends on wedding cost and coverage amount. A $50,000 wedding with full cancellation coverage might be $500-1,000+. A $20,000 wedding might be $200-400.
Usually somewhere between 1-3% of your total wedding budget.
When it makes sense
Expensive wedding. Spending $30,000+? That’s a lot to lose if something goes wrong. Insurance is small percentage of total cost for peace of mind.
Destination wedding. More moving parts. More vendor risk. Weather issues. Travel complications. Higher chance something derails plans.
Off-season or outdoor wedding. Weather is bigger factor.
You’re worried about specific vendors. That photographer who seems slightly flaky? That caterer you found on Yelp? Insurance is backup plan.
Venue requires liability coverage. Then you need it regardless.
Where to buy
Wedsafe and Wedding Protector Plan are the main wedding insurance providers. Some general insurers offer it too. Compare coverage carefully—the specifics of what’s covered vary.
Buy early. Can’t insure after problems start. Get it when you start making deposits.
That first friend now
She tells everyone to get wedding insurance. “It’s like $300,” she says. “I lost $15,000. Do the math.” She’s not wrong.
Liability just walked across my keyboard and typed “jjjjjjjjj” which I’ll leave in as a wedding blessing I guess—but seriously if you’re spending significant money on a wedding, insurance is cheap peace of mind. The venues that go bankrupt, the vendors that vanish, the weather that ruins everything—it happens more than people realize. $300 to not lose $15,000 is pretty good math.
