The cost guide you need for planning your wedding in 2022 and 2023

With the relaxation of Covid-19 measures in Singapore, things are going back to normal as clubbing and KTVs are finally allowed to operate!

Not to mention that you are now able to host bigger weddings too.

But…planning a wedding is not easy at all.

I've witnessed first-hand how my sister changed her plans from a small home wedding to a cafe wedding and to a restaurant wedding (for now) because everything is, expensive.

Regardless of what kind of wedding you want to have, we have put together this comprehensive wedding cost guide that would help you estimate the budget for your dream wedding and save up for it.

Here's all you need to know!

Singapore wedding cost guide: How much to save for your dream wedding in 2022 & 2023

Registering at ROM

It doesn’t cost much to get legally married in Singapore. 

If you’re a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident, it’ll cost you just $42 to get registered at the Registry Of Marriage (ROM) and $380 if you both are foreigners.

Really? That’s all?

Yup, that’s all. But that is only if you and your partner are satisfied and both of your parents are fine with this.

Cost of wedding solemnisation & receptions at various venues

But if you would like to hold your solemnisation elsewhere, you will have to pay more.

First, you will need to hire a solemniser.

There's also the venue and reception.

The pandemic has given us a new option of organising a virtual solemnisation.

If you're feeling generous, you can cater some food for the guests at home, or treat them to a buffet after.

This is arguably the cheapest option. But, you might run into such scenarios when you tell your parents and in-laws that you're planning an online wedding:

• "Pandemic over already what, you're our only son/daughter, I don't want to lose face!"
• "It's not just about you and your husband leh, you're the first kid getting married in the family, ah ma and ah gong will want to see their grandchild getting married at a grand hotel!"

If the scenario applies to you, you might have to reconsider your choice of solemnisation venue and reception.

Here is a breakdown of the costs of organising a solemnisation and reception depending on the venue based on the assumption that the couple is inviting 100 pax:

Activities	Hotels	Restaurants	Café and external spaces	Virtual	Church
Solemniser (Ang bao/Donation for worship)	$50 to $120 Note: It is customary to give your solemniser a red packet. On average, people give about $80 – $120. The minimum amount is $50, as per the guidelines on the ROM website.				$0, but encouraged to make a token of appreciation/donation in your house of worship
Venue booking fee	Waived most of the time	Most venues quote a minimum spend on Food & Beverages and if you are able to hit that, they will usually waive any venue booking fee. Rates are based on capacity limit and hours of booking, so call the restaurants or cafes to get a quote.		N/A	$1,000 to $3,000
Reception (100 pax)	$1,742 to $4,054 per table			$5,900 to $18,000	$20.50 Zoom Pro membership	$1,500 to $4,000
Total cost	$17,420 to $40,540	$5,180 to $26,000	$5,950 to $18,120	$70.50 to $140.50	$2,500 to $7,000

Note: Prices were obtained from The Wedding Vows SG and Singapore Brides.

Wedding planner or coordinator

Wedding planners or wedding coordinators are your consultants and co-planners.

These professionals and their team will work closely with you to map out your timeline, pre-wedding procedures and actual day wedding operations.

For these benefits alone, you may find it worthwhile to consider hiring a wedding planner, which may cost you $3,000 to $5,000.

Of course, there are a few options to save costs:

• One-off wedding planner: The planner arranges details just for your wedding day
• Hourly wedding coordination for details where you need the most help. Usually, wedding planners charge an average of $110/ hour, with some as low as $75/ hour.
• Venue coordinators: These coordinators will arrange for the reception and venue, dealing with all your vendors.

Ask your friends and family for help! Your loved ones would likely offer their assistance without you asking. But, be clear with what they are supposed to do so that they will not fumble helplessly.

Wedding bands

In line with our budget-friendly 'average' wedding expectations, a pair of 3mm 18K White Gold wedding bands (without diamond) is $890 to $1,680.

Be sure to also check out periods where there are great promotions such as the Great Singapore Sale (dates have not been confirmed, but it will likely fall between June and July 2022).

If you are within the vicinity of Tiong Bahru Industrial Estate and Lower Delta Road, look out for jeweller workshops and their prices. Some of these workshops are led by master metalsmiths who make rings for big-name brands like Tiffany & Co and Poh Heng.

If you don’t mind the same quality rings without the Tiffany blue box, then you’ll likely find plenty of deals there.

Betrothal gifts and dowry

If your parents or in-laws are Chinese, you’ll have to observe the tradition of giving betrothal gifts and a dowry to the bride’s family.

This is part of the exchanging dowries and gifts process before the actual wedding.

There’s no minimum market rate and it really comes down to understanding what the parents or in-laws are expecting when preparing this gift (be it in gifts, cash, or jewellery).

If both of you are really lucky, the bride’s parents will only take a token sum, say… $8. And give you their blessings. P.S. Treasure those folks.

We’ll hazard a guess and say you can expect to gift: $888 – $3,888

Bridal package

Now, this is where you need to pick correctly based on your ‘wants’ that are within budget.

There is no lack of bridal boutiques in Singapore, and most of us would’ve heard our fair share of horror stories of a bridal boutique.

There are two types of boutiques – one-stop service and exclusive designer bridal boutique.

To put it simply, a designer bridal boutique’s focus is often on creating the wedding gown and groom’s suit, and may or may not offer related services such as hair and make-up, unlike a one-stop boutique which can offer a full list of wedding-related services from bridal gowns to makeup and photography.

So, how do you decide if you should go a la carte or a one-stop service?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you want to rent or buy the wedding gown/suit?
• Do you want a brand new gown made to measure your size or an off-the-rack gown?
• Do you want to deal with lesser vendors?
• Are you going to rent accessories from the boutique? Will there be an additional cost if you do?
• Do you want both pre-wedding and actual day wedding photography or just one of the two?
• Do you want more photos than the package states?
• Are you able to remove some of the unnecessary services from a one-stop package, and bargain for items such as more photos, changing the make-up artist etc.

1. Wedding gown & suit

Either one-stop or ala carte, be prepared to fork out $3,000 to $5,000 to get your hands on a good quality wedding gown and suit.

If you do not own a suit and will need to wear one sometime in the future, consider buying one that can double up as your go-to suit for anything from company dinners, a wedding anniversary dinner, or a friend’s wedding.

Make sure to check out fashion stores, rental shops as these places also have suit options:

• Online shops like ASOS, Marks & Spencer, Everlane SG have suit options starting as low as $96
• Rental shops offer a variety of suits and their prices start from $200 to $500
• Visiting Thailand for a vacation any time soon? You can pick up a bespoke suit for about $300.

For the ladies, unless you really want to keep your dress and alter it for another occasion, you can buy the dress, but this will definitely cost more.

If you are in the camp of dress rental as you will not wear it in your lifetime again, the price of renting a gown ranges widely, starting from as low as $399 to higher-end at $4,000.

Remember that we’re looking at an 'average' wedding where the bride gets at least one gown change, so we’re looking at renting two gowns minimally.

While we’re on this, I have also come across stories of beautiful brides who have picked bridal-like dresses from online stores so that they can save costs.

You will be able to get off all these items from stores such as Taobao, but the downside is that you will not be able to see these things until they are shipped to your place.

When you’re checking out, remember to use a cashback card to clock some savings!

2. Make-up & hair

Personally, I think this is non-negotiable unless you’re a make-up artist yourself, or have trusted friends/relatives who can execute the make-up look and feel you want.

If you’re a guy reading this, I’m sure you will want your lady to look her best too. But for everyone else, erm… They can just do their own makeup lah, the focus is not on them anyway.

Based on those I’ve spoken to, it is extremely important to go for a make-up trial as you may not end up looking like how you envisioned yourself to be.

This may set you back anywhere from $80 to $300.

Next, pick an experienced bridal hair and make-up artist who can also do actual day groom hairstyling with minimal make-up (guys, think about it, you deserve to look good too). With all the gate crashing and Singapore’s humid weather, both of you may end up sweating buckets and this will require touch-ups.

Pick a bundle/package that includes a trial, two looks (actual day), and bridal makeup & hair: $480 to $988

3. Pre-wedding photography

If you have a close friend who is a photography enthusiast, you can probably do this for no charge – remember to buy him or her a good meal though, or prepare a small token of appreciation (aka ang bao).

But if it’s your significant other’s fervent wish to immortalise his or her mug in a photoshoot where you both look like you’re in some Korean drama… Then tough.

A realistic expectation for pre-wedding photography: $2,000 to $5,000.

4. Actual day photography & videography

Compared to pre-wed shoots, actual day photography and videography are usually more expensive, and this is mainly due to the equipment and expertise involved in capturing the special moments of the entire wedding ceremony.

Similar to bridal makeup and hair, you’ll want to get a professional wedding photographer/videographer, and a wedding would likely require an average of eight to 10-hour coverage.

According to Singapore Bride‘s latest price list, The price is expected to range from $2,000 to $4,480.

If the price is much lower than expected, there may be hidden costs that you’re unaware of, or that the number of hours quoted is lesser than eight hours.

Flowers

Flowers refer to the bouquet that the bride will be holding when marching in. A mini bouquet will cost you $30 to $200.

Aside from that, flowers are commonly used for decorating a wedding (commonly known as 'table centrepieces').

The flowers will dress up the event’s look and feel, but they also cost an arm and leg, at $100 to $200 per table.

A wedding that has 100 pax will cost you $1,000 to $2,000 just for flowers!

Alternatively, you can also consider getting fake flowers from Taobao too.

Bridal car rental

Here’s a novel idea for those who wish to skip renting a bridal car and your other half is totally cool with this.

Negotiate with the hotel for an extra night’s stay – by the way, they’re totally expecting you to do this for everything from more complimentary car park tickets to no corkage charges if you decide to bring your own wine for the event.

The bride will be able to stay at the hotel the day before the wedding. And since she’s already at the hotel, you don’t have to rent a bridal car to “fetch the bride”.

The benefits of doing this are as follows:

• The couple saves on the rental fee for an ostentatious bridal vehicle
• The bride gets to enjoy the hotel room and does not have to wake up at a ridiculous time just to get her hair and makeup done since she’s already at the hotel.
• The hotel room is the perfect venue for a Hen’s Party (read: Savings) where she can invite her best friends over for an intimate party. Think hotel staycation with manicures, chilling by the poolside with drinks, etc.
• Should the best friends – who should also be the bridesmaids – stay over for the night, they can save on taxi surcharges (read: Savings) and the stress of having to reach the bride’s place in the wee hours of the morning.

While we’re talking about reaching in the wee hours of the morning, consider scrapping the morning gatecrash as it wastes time and money. Why? Simple.

The bridesmaids have to wake up extra early to think of creative ways to torture the groom and his bunch of merry men.

While the groomsmen have to contort themselves into unrealistic yoga poses because it somehow reaffirms the groom’s willingness to overcome any obstacle to be with his significant other…

And seriously, haven’t we all seen enough cliched footage of men in matching bowties and white shirts, going through games that demonstrate the joys and sorrows of life.

In fact, your photographer or videographer might thank you for skipping the gatecrash as it frees up their time to capture the special moments between you and your loved ones on your wedding day.

You might be going, “Hmmm… But the groom still has to make his way to the hotel what…”

This is where you can exercise your imagination.

Instead of pulling up in a rented bridal car to “fetch the bride”, you can:

• Borrow a rich relative or family member’s car and dress it up as the bridal car
• Borrow a groomsman’s car and have your bro chauffeur you (the understanding here is that you’ll do the same for him when his time comes)
• Dress your own personal car up as the bridal car and have your bro chauffeur you (make sure you do the same for him when it’s his turn)

But if you really have to rely on a rented bridal car, be prepared to fork out: $600 to $700.

Wedding invites

Come on, it’s time to focus on sustainability and ditch the one-off paper usage.

In fact, this is a trend I’ve witnessed among my friends as it doesn’t only save costs and the environment, but they can also easily track their guests’ attendance, and send reminders.

Cost of sending out wedding e-invites: $0

Miscellaneous

1. Ang bao

Think of this as a fund for stuff like ang baos that you need to gift for eg. for your bridesmaids, groomsmen, hotel staff, banquet manager, helpers, etc. as well as for anything that you might not have thought of. Trust me on this, you’re going to need some wiggle room for things like matching bridesmaid’s dresses if your significant other cares about stuff like that.

Prepare at least: $1,000 – $2,000

2. Entertainment

For wedding entertainment, if you’re keen, skip the live band that can cost you $450 to $4,500 and play some live games instead!

Some games I’ve played at weddings include Kahoot and Bingo. These games are free and everyone can participate.

3. Emcee

If you have a friend or relative who can speak dialects, English and has an entertaining character, he or she is a treasure.

You must get that friend to emcee for you and gift him/her a red packet before or after the wedding as a token of appreciation.

But, if you don’t know anyone who is comfortable in emceeing, getting a professional one will cost you about $550 to $880.

4. Wedding cake

For bakeries, it depends on the number of tiers and level of skills required. Remember to factor an extra $80 to $1,500.

Unique wedding ideas

Weddings are celebrations and I believe every couple intends to create a unique experience that is completely different.

This leads us to some ideas that are uncommon but have been done before – holding your reception at a kopitiam, zoo, or night safari. Most recently, a couple held their wedding at Gongcha (Australia), what?!

It is indeed possible to do the above, and these venues would be cheaper, but there will be a limitation to the capacity for sure as these places are smaller.

On a brighter note, this also means that you can scale down your event.

So how much does an 'average' wedding cost?

Let’s assume that you wish to get married exactly one year from the date of your engagement. How much would a couple need to put aside every month in order to afford their dream 'average' wedding in one year’s time?

Here’s the breakdown:

• Average hotel wedding: At least $26,708 (note: This could be really minimum)
• The time you have to save for your wedding is exactly one year’s time from your engagement date: 12 months
• Assuming no interest accrued on your savings, the amount you need to save every month: $26,708 ÷ 12 months = $2,226 a month

Before you exclaim "huh, so expensive?!", we’re also here to remind you that Singapore’s Goods and Services Tax will be increasing from seven per cent to eight per cent in 2023, and to nine per cent in 2024.

So, if you want to skip this increment, try to organise your wedding this year.

If not, you can use these budgeting tips:

1. First, draw out how much you intend to spend on a wedding, say, set aside $20,000
2. Next, match this amount to the places available – a five-star hotel will be a long shot, but you can still try, perhaps keep the number of guests small; start considering cafes and restaurants
3. Once you have narrowed down the place, re-evaluate your budget if need be. Buffer an extra 10 per cent for unexpected costs e.g., damages to wedding gowns, top-up for alcohol
4. Ask friends and families for help if they are in any of these wedding-related businesses – they can do it for free or at a discounted price

Hopefully, this will help you get a sense of the costs involved.

At the end of the day, always remember that wedding is a happy occasion for you and your partner. Both of you should feel happy with your choices, and the marriage is off to a good start

ALSO READ: Planning a wedding? Here's how to earn the most miles possible

This article was first published in Seedly.