Happily Ever After For Singaporean Couple Who Spent Less Than $4000 On Their Wedding

Weddings have always been seen as an extravagant affair. Not for Amy and Daniel, though.

We've all seen (or heard) our fair share of Singaporeans who went on the highway with the love of their lives, spending five or even six figures just to hold an extravagant wedding.... and then landing in debts.

From wedding planners to flying out photographers, makeup artist and of course, the extra miles across the globe to your dream destination for a wedding shoot; it's no wonder why many take years to get married.

But what if we told you that it's still possible to get married with a budget and it can be just as good, if not better?

Meet Amy and her husband Daniel, a couple who wedded earlier this year and guess what? The whole wedding only totalled $3380!

No. It wasn't just a ROM. It was a legit wedding. We're talking tea ceremony, wedding lunch, white gown and wedding cars... the works.

After dating for 3 years, Amy Chua, a 28-year-old industrial designer and Daniel Liang, a 31-year-old auditor, purchased their first home in a resale HDB flat. Upon the sale completion, they were given a timeframe of only 6 months to register their marriage and that's when they decided to go ahead with a stripped down version of a wedding.

Their theme? Simple and practical. The total cost? $3380.

Keeping It Simple

Amy revealed that she had originally intended for a garden-themed party with their immediate families, close friends and their two dogs... but the plan quickly changed.

Amy expressed: "It was really difficult to put names down, simply because we have too many friends and it was really difficult to draw the line between close, good and simply 'regular' friends."

After a long struggle, the couple's final guest list consisted of only immediate family member- Amy's parents and brother and Daniel's parents and brother.

"We decided to simplify the process and invited only our immediate family members. Just 8 of us. The venue was pretty simple, I wanted our parents to enjoy the meal, so it was a no-brainer - a Chinese restaurant. I asked my close friend who also had an intimate wedding for recommendations and immediately went with one she held hers at because I trusted her."

Wedding Prep

On the morning of their big day, you'd think that there'd be a flurry of activity, especially for the bride. Not for Amy.. or Daniel for that matter.

"We had to be at the restaurant at 9am that Monday morning and the photographer came to my place at 7am just as my makeup and hair were done."

"I decided to do them myself because I did not want to spend at least $500-700 on something I will wash off in half a day's time."

She also joked that she might wash her makeup in tears instead if she paid that much for her makeup and hair. For someone who barely puts on makeup, paying such exorbitant amount doesn't seem logical. Some of us here can probably relate, right?

"I was also slightly worried that a make-up artist might transform me beyond my comfort zone. To prep myself for the big day, I watched a couple of YouTube makeup tutorials and did some trial runs prior to the wedding to make sure I do not look like a disaster on my wedding day."

Outfit

As for her wedding dress, she got it custom made from an online shopping site called Etsy.

"Despite keying in my measurements, the fit was good but it was too long for my liking. The sleeves were too puffy too. The images provided online were all Caucasian models, hence my worries were proven right. Alterations were necessary"

Luckily, her mom who is a seamstress helped her out.

"I am thankful that my mom is a seamstress so she helped to give the dress some nip tucking and it was all good."

As for her husband, he wore an existing $400 tuxedo that was custom made in Bangkok.

Wedding Luncheon

They held their wedding luncheon at Empress @ ACM, a contemporary Chinese restaurant located at the Asian Civilizations Museum. Instead of booking the wedding package, she made arrangements for a private room with lunch menu served after the ROM ceremony in that very same room.

The delicious meal totalled up to $500.

The feast wasn't enough to fulfil the minimum spending of $700 to use that private room. So, they added a $200 bottle of champagne. That sounds perfect for the occasion. An auspicious $700 to perfect the wedding luncheon for the newlywed.  After that, the newly wedded couple took a walk along the Singapore River while their photographer snapped some candid photos for them. The whole event was over by 5pm.

Challenges

The toughest part, according to Amy was that she had to relent control and manage her husband.

"I am a go-getter, I like to get things done efficiently but with the wedding planning and house renovation happening all at once I was really stressed out because I know I cannot do everything on my own. My husband then offered to help and I gave him 2 most important (also boring) tasks: to find a Solemniser and secure the restaurant for our wedding "

"It was not easy because he is generally quite slack so I had to constantly check in on his progress."

Thoughts of Weddings In Singapore

When asked why she went for a rather non-mainstream wedding, she said: "Weddings are held for the couples and it's a representative of who they are and what they stand for. Though the cost was a big factor for us, it wasn't entirely the reason."

"Weddings these days cost way too much. Friends are also pressurised to come up with an ang pow which would cover the cost of their meal at weddings. I do not want my friends to fret over the ang pow, in fact, if I could afford, my guests should come and attend our wedding with no Ang Pow required! It'd be our treat!"

"Unfortunately, we do not have such financial bandwidth so we kept the wedding really small." Amy said with a laugh.

She also mentioned that most couples hold big weddings for the sake of their parents and feels that a wedding is really about the couple.

"I am really fortunate both my parents and in-laws welcomed the idea of a small intimate wedding. I feel it's absolutely unnecessary to live in someone's dream of a big wedding or fulfilling parent’s desires to have a big celebration in the name of your wedding."

Final Thoughts

Whether big or small, a wedding will always be the biggest day of every couple's lives. No matter what, make sure you own your day and truly enjoy your special day.

If you're curious, here's a rough budget breakdown provided by Amy.

Lunch: $700 (Booking of Canton room at Empress@ACM needed a minimum spending of $700.

Token of appreciation for justice of peace: $150

Wedding dress: $400

Groom's suit: Used existing one about $400 (custom made in Bangkok)

Bride's shoes: $20 (taobao)

Groom's shoes: $150 (Same brand of leather shoes he uses for work, so he could use it on daily basis)

Bride's makeup: $80 (DIY with affordable makeup products specially bought from Etude house and Glossier)

Brides' hair and nails: DIY

Bride's bouquet and Groom's corsage:  $80

Bride's accessories: $0 (Earrings and necklace belongs to Amy's mum, Pearl hair pin was borrowed from a friend)

Photographer: 1300 for 1/2 day ROM shoot and 1/2 day post wedding shoot

Car:  $0 (Family car)

Total: $3380

What about you? What's your dream wedding like? 

Photos: Amy Chua
Text by: Girlstyle SG