Months of planning wasted after Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon disrupts multiple weddings

A year of meticulous planning for a couple's special day went down the drain after guests and vendors alike failed to turn up on time for their wedding on Nov 30.

The reason?

Road closures throughout the city thanks to the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.

Although the previous 17 iterations of the race were held in the morning, organiser Ironman Asia changed this year's flag off time to 6pm in order to boost the appeal of the race. It also hoped to be inducted into the Abbott World Marathon Majors club — a series of the world's largest and most prestigious races.

Unfortunately for Jianming Lee, that meant the roads leading to his wedding venue at Marina Mandarin were closed off from as early as 1.30pm.

In a post on Facebook, Lee shared how his wedding, originally scheduled to start at 7pm, was devoid of guests, including his own parents.

"I went down at 7.10pm and saw nobody at the cocktail area," he told Mothership.

Due to traffic congestion, the vendors Lee hired were only able to turn up two hours past the scheduled timing.

His wife was inconsolable seeing her efforts gone into engaging various photographers and stylists gone to waste.

It was 9pm by the time dinner was served, and 11.45 pm when the meal ended. Fortunately for the couple, the vendors waived the additional charges they would have incurred from the extra hours.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/zendenz/posts/10162717935545607[/embed]

Lee and his wife weren't the only ones affected by the road closures.

He pointed out how Nov 30 happened to be an auspicious date for weddings, and various hotels had told him the demand for wedding venues for that particular weekend was high.

Vance Loh, who held his banquet over at The Ritz-Carlton that day, told TodayOnline that only half his guests were able to arrive on time. However, the ballroom was still empty and devoid of any decor as his vendors were caught in traffic.

Wedding emcee Bevlyn Khoo turned up to her event late after her 40-minute long journey turned into two hours.

According to Bevlyn, several of her colleagues were late for other weddings that day as many of them had to transport heavy instruments without the use of a car.

A musician told TodayOnline that although the marathon was held over a weekend, event organisers would still need to consider that people were still working in the city area.

"Not everybody is shopping … There are people working all over the island, especially on a Saturday evening, when there are events and weddings," he said. "It's just very inconvenient for them."

The marathon caused so many issues that day, it shot up to third place as the World's Worst Marathon in a marathon study conducted by UK-based trainer website The Sole Supplier on Dec 4.

In the wake of the backlash received, Ironman Asia's managing director Geoff Meyer told The Straits Times that "overall the feedback has been positive."

"But can we do better? Always, we can."

In a public apology on Dec 4, race organisers said they were sorry for the inconvenience caused and thanked members of the public for their feedback. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/SGmarathon/posts/2620363124677246[/embed]

rainercheung@asiaone.com