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There is a general notion that having a wedding in Singapore is quite costly. This situation is promoted by the Singaporean wedding culture, a mixture of western and traditional elements. Moreover, the high costs are brought about by hosting a hotel banquet and the need to invite friends from the business circles, rather than the usual paper signing process.

However, there are various ways of how you can avoid spending too much on your wedding. Although some sites, such as https://www.a1credit.sg, have written helpful articles that contain tips for planning a wedding, it can still be a challenge for some others.

If you intend to cut wedding costs, here are 5 essential wedding planning tips that we have for you to consider.

1. Go for Alternative Venues

In Singapore, a significant portion of your wedding cost could be taken up by the banquet. To reduce the amount of money to be spent at your wedding, consider shunning these wedding banquets. Rather, it might be worth hosting your wedding at alternative venues such as parks, restaurants, or event halls. Though it is not a guarantee that these places are cheaper, the prices quoted would provide you with options to make flexible adjustments. From the range of options, you can get a place that provides a suitable wedding reception with romantic themes and in the process, save the extra cash while receiving value-guaranteed services.

Believe it or not, we actually booked and secured our wedding banquet package 3 years before our actual wedding and we saved a lot. I know it sounds kiasu but back then, a table at One Degree 15 Marina Club costs us $888++. Today, I don’t think you can find such a price anymore.

2. Acquire A Bridal Package

This is the most cost-effective method of obtaining all the required wedding services such as photography, suit rentals, gowns, and make-ups. Hence, bridal packages are quite popular in Singapore as the wedding costs could be hiked if couples use separate vendors. There are certain tricks that you can use to benefit optimally from bridal packages. For instance, let your chosen bridal studio comprehensively list down all the items that are included in the bridal package. Then, decide on what is necessary and replace the unwanted items by checking them off the list.

Getting a wedding planner can also be another solution to cutting down extra costs. Though many people believed that hiring a wedding planner can be costly since they do charge additional fees to source the items required and to plan the actual event; wedding planners do have connections with vendors and they can often negotiate for discounts especially for the items that you want. Therefore, when planning to have a large wedding with specific requirements, consider getting a wedding planner to cut down the costs.

For us, we got our bridal package from Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

3. Do It Your Way

This is mostly applicable when you have some creative skills. It helps cut down extra expenses in acquiring some items. For instance, there is no need to splash out hundreds of dollars on things such as wedding favours, decorations, and invitation cards. In fact, you can have all these and other items printed from home.

We actually got our wedding invitation cards printed in China (yes thank God for Taobao) and we had them shipped all the way to Singapore.

When not sufficiently skilled in either of these areas, you can get help from friends who can take care of your actual day wedding photography. Even make-up and hairstyling can also be taken care of by your friends. However, we are not disqualifying the necessity to pay for services from professionals. In fact, for a once in a lifetime event, we recommend that you hire professionals to do the job but if the budget is really a constraint, then these alternatives would help reduce your wedding expenses and go a long way in cutting down unnecessary costs for your wedding. It might even be a creative way of getting your family members and close friends involved in your wedding preparation.

4. Be Selective

In Singapore, everything can really be expensive, especially for events such as weddings. When planning to hold your wedding at relatively lower costs, it is worth being selective with everything you buy as the small things can eventually add up to a huge sum. You can also be selective by screening the list of people whom you intend to invite for your actual wedding event. You do not want to spend a lot buying stuff, only to end with a long list of absentees.

Another vital area that you can be selective about is the wedding menus. Go for food and beverage selections that are wallet-friendly. For instance, instead of hard liquor, serve your guests with wines and beers as that can help you save a considerable amount of money.

5. Use Good Credit Cards

It is not uncommon for newly-weds-to-be to resort to using credit cards in the event their finances take a bitter turn before, during, or after their wedding. This is especially true when buying lavish items and it can sometimes be quite unavoidable in an expensive country like Singapore. To get the most out of your credit card, ensure that the credit card you are using offer discounts at the wedding venues of your choice. A reasonable discount is between 5 and 10% of the reception cost.

Furthermore, you can switch to using cashback cards which allow you to get cash rebates instead. This is quite helpful as you can split the installment payments to cater to the required rebate expenditures. For instance, you can use the UOB One Card which offers a 5% rebate when you spend $2000 monthly for 3 consecutive months. What you get back is a whopping $1,200 in a year. This option is suitable when you shop for wedding items and want to save some cash in return.

If you are planning to accumulate miles for your honeymoon, the American Express® Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card is a card to go for. In fact, we have managed to accumulate business class flights for our trip to New Zealand last year.

Closing Thoughts

The wedding culture in Singapore requires one to have proper planning and you can still have a magnificent wedding in a romantic venue while saving money by following the tips discussed in this article. If you are planning for an upcoming wedding, incorporate some money-saving tricks to avoid spending everything from your own savings.

Weddings are one of the most expensive events you ever have to coordinate and sometimes, it literally pays to find ways to lessen this cost wherever you can. Many people these days are considering a DIY wedding as a way to achieve this. The reason for this is apparent; everything surrounding weddings has become such a slick industry that you are likely to be overcharged for almost everything you do. Take a wedding cake as an example; a simple iced cake cost $15, but a similar 3-tier cake, i.e. a wedding cake can be upwards of $500 when the real cost should be less than $50.

The Location

Dedicated wedding venues offer an all-inclusive service which is excellent if you are looking to save yourself some time. The downside for this convenience is that it can be extremely costly; often in the tens of thousands, as some wedding venues are known to cost almost $15,000 on average

An alternative is to rent a community hall or space and decorate it yourself for a few hundred dollars. Though this might be a fair amount of work, it is well worth the effort.

Transport 

Wedding cars are another area where the cost can seem excessive and considering that they are only seen twice (when you arrive and when you leave), is the high cost justifiable? 

Consider this alternative, ask a friend who has a nice car and it can look just the thing once you put a couple of ribbons on it. Even if you do not have a friend with a nice car, a day’s car rental will be so much cheaper if you get it from a normal hire place rather than a wedding car specialist. 

Catering

The food is one thing that needs to be right. A tasty wedding feast can be knocked up without professional caterers. However, as a word of warning, this can be very time consuming, and it might be one area that you do still hire a professional. Make sure you get an excellent creative catering firm that can make it a special occasion.

The Wedding Dress

Now, this is the one that you are going to want to get right. You will usually have a firm idea of what you want, and this is the first starting point. You can find a few ways to save money that can still look awesome than a pricey new dress. You can buy vintage or second hand from many places, and even a family dress from your mother or grandmother can give a classy and personal touch. 

Flowers

Floral displays can be put together by you and your friends, and they can be a great, memorable and special moment between you and your bridesmaids. This can save you a fortune as it’s easy to get hold of flowers wholesale and put together all of the bunches yourselves. Although it takes time, this can be a memorable time that is well spent, and it will give you something to do rather than just sitting and waiting to get going.

Entertainment

Once the vital part of the wedding is concluded (ceremony, speeches, and the dinner); there is the matter of the entertainment to be considered. I know of one couple (who are very close friends of mine) whose cousin was in a band, and they hired them to play the wedding. Although it was not as slick as a professional wedding band, it added a special touch to the wedding. If you don’t know a musician in the family, many musicians are looking to make a living from music that you can find someone quickly.

The Cake

We mentioned the cake as a prime example of a wedding item that you can be easily ripped off for. As we said, it’s much easier to get a different cake and re-purpose it as a wedding cake. Alternatively, you can get a relative who could bake and then decorate the cake on your own so that you can get what you want.