Most of the focus here has been on the wedding expense. However, living in California at 40k annual in finance with a masters and 3-5 years of experience? Get some confidence with interviews, have some friends help out with your résumé, call a few head hunters and get a 30-50% raise! Then the wedding hurt won't feel so bad.
This is the next problem to tackle and I've devised an extensive but potentially risky plan.
Background
I currently work at a the US branch of a multinational financial firm. There are just 2 employees at their only US branch: my supervisor and I.
I'm also pursuing the CFA charter (think of CFA as the equivalent of CPA for Finance.) The CFA's code of Ethics requires us to get permission our employers if we do anything that is Finance-related in our spare time (more on the relevance of this late.)
The Plan
My plan carries the risk of potentially losing my current job and putting in a ton of hours outside of work.. the reward = building new connections that'll hopefully lead to a better job/career.
Charlie Hoehn, a 2009 college graduate, used the tactic of offering to work for free at many different companies to build his extensive network and land his dream job rapidly.
I'm planning something similar:
Step 1: Find Financial firms I'd be interested in and do extensive research including what projects/issues they may be facing.
Step 2: Go to local Networking Events or search on LinkedIn to find managers at these firms. Contact them, maybe meet them for coffee, and make a proposal to help them by working for free.
Step 3: Note that the CFA ethics requires me to seek permission from my boss before working part time for another company (even if for free.) Now, at a normal company with multiple employees and being paid a fair wage, this would immediately put my job at jeopardy. However, since I'm the only employee in the office and am being paid far below my market value, it affords some leeway. It's likely gonna be an awkward conversation with my supervisor and he will likely refuse.
Step 4a: If my supervisor refuses my request for permission to work part time (for free), then I'll ask for another raise in a few days. Hopefully, after doing this a few times, he'll get the picture.
Step 4b: If my supervisor grants permission, then it's off to the races.
Thoughts?