\n<\/p>\n
The savings allowed them to focus on what they considered more important milestones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to walk into this marriage being financially strong,\u201d Ms Peng told CNA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe prioritised our long-term plans \u2013 housing, building a family, travelling. Those were the major reasons for us to cut back. We didn’t feel that it should be compulsory to spend so much money on a single night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Tan said they had seen friends struggle financially after spending heavily on weddings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a few friends \u2013 they cancelled their honeymoon, pushed back their housing and having a child to have that big wedding solely to satisfy their parents and (relatives),\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them are still paying off their wedding loans. They regret it sometimes (and) would have preferred to have more cash flow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to wedding planners, average guest numbers for Chinese weddings have fallen from around 300 before the COVID-19 pandemic to about 100 today.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Spending on larger weddings has also declined, from approximately S$80,000 to S$40,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some couples are taking their budgets overseas as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Destination weddings are popular in nearby locations such as Bintan, Batam and Bali, where costs can be at least 20 per cent lower than comparable celebrations here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Overseas pre-wedding photoshoots are also gaining traction, with couples attracted by scenic backdrops, lower costs and all-inclusive packages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re going to places like China, where they settle everything for you \u2013 from gowns to photographers to hotels,\u201d said Mr Alex Tan, founder of The Wedding Guru Singapore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA three-day-two-night (package) will cost you less than S$2,000, which is a price you can never ever get in Singapore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In response, wedding planners and venues are increasingly offering tailored packages and forging new partnerships to appeal to a more discerning clientele.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Malay wedding venue operator Lagun Sari has more than doubled its network of wedding partners in recent years, according to its director Trina Ng.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCouples are more particular about what kind of style, which vendor they want to have in their wedding package, so we cannot just fix it as one specific vendor anymore. It has to become more customisable,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the pandemic, Lagun Sari worked with only two or three venue partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today, that number has grown to at least eight. Ms Ng added that younger couples are increasingly allocating their budgets differently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, couples would spend a majority of their budget on the wedding itself. (Now), they’re spending more on other aspects of marriage – maybe housing, honeymoon or other things that have more personal relevance to them,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have realised that a smaller, more intimate wedding would still generate a very memorable experience for them and their guests.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The savings allowed them to focus on what they considered more important milestones.\u00a0 \u201cWe wanted to walk into this marriage being financially strong,\u201d Ms Peng…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--5uwdgXAD--\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/tdy-migration\/unsplash_paul_garcia_marriage_0.jpg?itok=HQecpkT-","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2352,2816,238,2051,3901,25298,1972,5261,40,22,992,2131],"class_list":["post-63164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-appeal","tag-couples","tag-family","tag-focus","tag-housing","tag-lavish","tag-lets","tag-lose","tag-plans","tag-singapore","tag-spend","tag-weddings","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}