How much does it really cost to hold a wedding in Singapore? (with Tips!)

Unless you are born with a platinum spoon in your toothless mouth or you have full sponsorships, you would probably wonder the costs of a wedding at some point in your life. A year before the big day, we sat down, had our expectations penned down, and had an estimation of how much we would need for our wedding. I wouldn't kid you, our expectations were kinda different, and that night, we argued. To be honest, despite the minor heartbreaks, I wouldn't want it another way.

Here's a tip: Productive arguments are good in a relationship. Get as many expectations and values aligned with your partner way before marriage.

Months before our big day, we sat down, had slightly more idea after some research, and discussed the topic again. We had our preliminary budget worked out. "Preliminary" - because there are some items we forgot to factor and so many hidden costs, but don't worry, limpeh got you covered in this post.

As you would know, if you haven't, let me tell you - Singapore is not a cheap place to hold your fairytale wedding. An average wedding can easily cost $50-70k. I want to be careful of the word "average" here - in this case, it refers to our research results from our good friends and several online sources. Ultimately, what is "average" is largely dependant on your expectations. A wedding at a lower-end hotel or restaurant with only your close ones may cost $20-30k, while an extravagant one at a luxury hotel with your whole kampong would cost more than $100k. For this post, I share about our weddings costs.

孟想陈真 - Wedding blooms from A Better Florist

A Better Florist. Everyone knows about them, especially after last year's Valentine's Day, where orders either came out wrong or late. We were one of them, as we waited in the office when everyone had left and we were still waiting for our phantom bouquet - almost an hour after the promised delivery time. The flowers did not arrive in the end, and I was more disappointed than my ex-girlfriend (well she's my wife now). You can't blame my scepticism when A Better Florist approached me last November to write an article in exchange for a bouquet. I thought everyone deserves a second chance and I said okay (who would mind a free bouquet anyway), but honestly, asking them to sponsor my bridal bouquet is a huge step of faith.

孟想陈真 - Thomas' and Lydia's Fullerton Hotel Wedding (with Wedding Tips!)

It is official – we are married!

This year’s February 10 marks the day when the love of my life, aka Lady M and well, yours truly, tied the knot – after 5 months of preparation. The wedding process itself is like an FYP (final year project), one which we did most of the planning, coordinating, sourcing for ideas, decorations, food, you get the gist. Well, you may opt to get a wedding coordinator who could do most of the work for you, but we thought that it gives more meaning that we do it ourselves (just kidding – budget issues). Depending on your expectations, you may face various levels of stress. I mean, a basic wedding with minimal decoration and the standard program versus a celebrity-like wedding with all the glams and booms. Got it?

Wedding Food Tasting at Fullerton Hotel

As the wedding bells are soon to ring, we are trying to check off as many to-dos' on our list, one of them which is to get our banquet food tasted. Most banquet venues offer food tasting as part of the package. This process is more important than you think, don't think of it as a free meal for 6-10 people. Think of it as a responsibility as guests will be eating the food on the actual day, so it is one of your duties to make sure that the food is up to standard. After all, Singaporeans love to eat, and after all, you don't want to serve subpar food.

Here are some general tips for your food tasting session: Take photos of the presentation. Evaluate the food. Take notes. Feedback to the chef/coordinator. Ask questions. Finalise. 

It's not the first time our family met each other, and we really thank God that everyone got along pretty well and had a great time chatting over dinner. Although the actual venue was at the main ballroom at Fullerton Hotel, the food tasting was hosted at Jade Restaurant - a really exquisite and cosy Cantonese restaurant which has been operating at Fullerton for almost a decade. It is helmed by the hotel's executive chef, Chef Leong Chee Yeng, who is also the in-charge for our wedding menu.