You’ve spent the last few months sending out thank-you notes to family and friends, and now you and your partner are back from your honeymoon and settling into married life. You sit down at your kitchen table to check your bank account online, half expecting to see that your balance is back down to where it was before you got married. Instead, you’re surprised to see that it’s higher than you expected, a result of all the cash you received as wedding gifts.

Receiving money from your wedding is wonderful. So often we think of generosity in terms of physical gifts, and yes, that’s wonderful too, but it’s just as exciting to receive financial help at this unique point in your life. It’s a rare instance where someone hands you a financial jump-start.

However, without proper planning, this money can very quickly disappear.

As a newylwed couple, figuring out your joint finances and dealing with cash from weddings is important. You want to enjoy your excess cash but be smart with it.

Here’s how to turn that wedding cash into a solid financial foundation for your future, without giving up all the fun in the present.

Pause Before You Spend

The money left over from your wedding can be tempting to spend right away. Before you use it to upgrade your home with high-end decor, book a new vacation, or buy new kitchen gadgets, take some time to think about how you can best use it.

Just wait 30 days.

Put the money in a high-yield savings account and wait 30 days before making any major purchases. This will help you avoid spending it impulsively and give you time to talk and come to an agreement on what your priorities are right now. It will also give you time to figure out what you really want and need.

Money is a sensitive topic, so having these conversations early helps. They’re not that hard to have. Just give each other space to want what you want and build from there.

Build Your Financial Shield

Once the initial high of getting all that cash wears off, it’s time to turn your attention to building a financial safety net for whatever comes next.

Start by paying off high-interest debt first. Doing this can save you thousands of dollars over time, and there’s no better time than when extra cash is flowing into your accounts. The return is guaranteed and typically higher than what you’d earn investing in a typical stock or mutual fund.

After you’ve covered the high-interest debt, put some of the funds toward your emergency fund. It doesn’t have to be everything, and you don’t have to build a huge emergency fund immediately. An emergency fund of three to six months of essential expenses, held in an easy-to-access account, means you can handle car repairs, medical emergencies, and the like without pulling from your current income.

Most couples would benefit from sitting down with an AI financial planner and mapping out a budget together, then setting a savings target based on what you actually spend. The biggest challenge in financial planning is usually making it simple enough that you’ll actually stick with it.

Invest in Your Shared Future

With your financial shield in place, you can move on to your long-term financial goals, like retirement savings, while still enjoying your daily life along the way.

Saving for retirement using funds from your wedding gifts is also a smart move. The money you save in a Roth IRA or traditional IRA compounds over time. By retirement, it adds up to real breathing room for the two of you.

Lastly, in the short term, could the money go toward your future home? Consider placing the funds in a short-term CD or a high-yield savings account until you’re ready to make an offer.

Upgrade Your Daily Living Space

Your wedding money is for you to enjoy in the time between your wedding and your first anniversary. Use it on experiences, travel, or something you’ve both wanted but haven’t been able to afford.

One of the best ways to spend money on home improvement is on a home’s “finishes.” That includes things like flooring, paint, lighting, and kitchen and bath fixtures, the details that pull a home’s whole look together.

Upgrading the flooring in your home with durable hardwood, or even a modern luxury vinyl option, can immediately improve your home’s look and add lasting comfort to your daily life. New floors also raise your home’s value, which can benefit you down the line.

Of all the ways to spend the fun portion of this money, home improvement, whether it’s replacing outdated carpet, redoing a home office, or buying energy-efficient appliances, tends to have the best return: added resale value plus the day-to-day comfort you get out of it.

Save a Portion for Shared Joy

While it’s important to manage your finances during this stretch, don’t forget your wedding gifts were given to celebrate your love. Find ways to have fun with what’s left after you’ve handled the essentials.

A simple rule of thumb: save 80 percent of what’s left for the essentials, debt, your emergency fund, shared investments, and home improvements. Set aside the other 20 percent for whatever makes you happy, the anniversary trip, the piece of art you both love, or finally buying that espresso machine you looked at three times on your wedding registry.

Aligning Your Vision as a Couple

The value of your wedding gift money goes beyond its face value. Working through how to use it gives you one of your first real financial conversations as a newlywed couple.

Plan a financial date night. Go out for coffee or order takeout and sit down with a spreadsheet or even just a notebook. Decide how you want to split your wedding money between savings, investments, home improvement projects, and things that bring you enjoyment. Talk through your views on the subject and look for a middle ground. Listen to each other and try to see things from the other person’s perspective. Work through your differences and find a way of handling your finances that works for both of you.

Going through your finances together like this, early on, builds the habits you’ll need to grow together as a couple for the long run.

This is a partner post.