How much to save for an average wedding in Singapore?

To be honest, we were very thrifty when it came to our wedding, after all, the marriage is what is worth us working our ass off to sustain for a lifetime.

Banquet: We were not “ban tang” to host the banquet in April. Generally, the trick is to host the wedding in April or August if both the parents and relatives don’t mind. We chose a hotel in Singapore. Due to the overwhelming no. of friends of my dad, we had a huge banquet, 42 tables and we spent around ~ 1.1k per table. Because of the sheer number of tables we had, we also had a lot of perks offered to us, including a 2-day stay at the suite + 1-day room for the bridal party.

Tips: Source for a wine/hard liquor distributor and purchase the extra wines from them if you can negotiate free corkage with the restaurant/ hotel! It will save u a lot of money!

MUA: Found a portfolio I liked on Instagram and I spent < S$500/ day.

Tips: Arrange the trial makeup on the day you go for your pre-wed shoot.

Pre wed shoot: Engaged a budding photographer who offered $500 for 3 hours and we were still pleased with the results!

Tips: Since she was a budding photographer, she had collaborations with budding MUA as well. As I split the 3 hours into morning and afternoon, I had 2 MUAs to help with 2 trial make-ups that I get for free on the day!

Photographer: Loved our friend’s photographer and we spent about 2k for 10 hours, including a photo shoot with all the bridal party. Less can be anticipated if shorter hours are required.

Tips! Find a photographer you love and meet them in advance to see if they make you feel comfortable. This is especially important for the men amongst us who can get a bit awkward when it comes to the photoshoot!

Bridal Gown & Suit: I spent <1k for 2 gowns back in 2019, and my husband got a store-bought full suit at <$250.

Tips! Choose something that YOU love and not what others thinks is nice! <3 You are the princess of the day!

Ring: BEST PLACE TO SAVE FROM! <1.2k for both mine and my husband’s ring.

Tips: Stay off shopping mall brands and go for local jewelers or friend’s recommendations! (:

Prewedding video and actual day video: We really invested in this and all the guests loved this video, and we still watch them every now and then. 1k +1.8k (Prewed).

Hope this helps! We were lucky to have generous friends and family members so our wedding expenses were almost covered. To be honest, if we had fewer tables by my dad we may save more money. But if the wedding is a good chance to bring a family together then why not! All the best on planning your wedding!​​​

With the current covid situation, i have many friends who "postponed" their wedding and done a simple ROM ceremony instead. Been many months and never heard of any subsequent plans. Perhaps this pandemic has raised the questions on the need for grand weddings?​​​

The spending is really depending on you and your partner's expectations. For me, we are frugal so we spend like 21k. Our summary is as follows:
Proposal ring: $600
Wedding bands: $1400
Photoshoot + outfit rental: $1600
Banquet Photographer: $750
Banquet (100pax 4 star hotel): $10000
Banquet accomodation: $1500 (SRV used here)
Angbao: $5000
Miscellaneous: $650

We saved money by making our own videos, editing our own photos. There is no car as we are living at our banquet hotel.

Technically the cheapest price is $42 for ROM signing. Do set a budget and work together towards it. Managing expectations is also important too to have a memorable and affordable wedding too. Good luck!

I budgeted about 100K in total for house + wedding, so that's me and my partner's saving goal for the next 1-2 years!