India, Aug. 27 -- Most families do not plan a wedding without savings. They plan it with savings, and then discover somewhere in the middle that the budget has moved. A Rs.8 lakh wedding with Rs.5 lakh saved leaves a Rs.3 lakh gap. The instinct is to empty every account and close the shortfall. There is usually a better way. Here is how to fund only the gap without wiping out your financial cushion.

Your emergency fund exists for medical bills, job loss and unexpected repairs. A wedding is a planned expense, not an emergency.

If you empty that fund and something goes wrong three months later, you will end up borrowing anyway, usually at short notice and on worse terms.

Breaking a fixed deposit or redeeming long-term investments carries...