Will you barter for your dream wedding?

Getting married soon? Planning the wedding affair of the century? Drooling over that PERFECT wedding dress in the magazine? Fretting over the huge amounts of money that you and your fiancé have to fork out? Waiting a few years just so you can save up enough to get married and make babies?

In this day and age where prices are inflated and outrageously expensive, a wedding effectively throws everyone into the debt chasm. Especially Chinese weddings. Just think, a typical Chinese wedding requires a lavish wedding banquet, preferably held in a 5 (or 6!!) star hotel complete with a ten course dinner. Throw in the wedding gown, tea gown, wedding photos etc etc etc and you get a major financial crises on your pretty manicured hands.

Does getting married seriously have to be so darn expensive? Does having 100 tables at the wedding banquet let you have more "face" (prestige in Singaporean terms) so to speak? When did getting married, which was a personal thing between the couple to begin with, turn into something where your relatives start keeping score on who has the more lavish wedding?

Yes, the wedding day is very important to the modern woman. But getting married doesn't mean you have to go bankrupt either. Why, one woman even bartered her way to her dream wedding~!

How cool is that!



She even has a website so go check her out.

But ultimately, it's a decision you have to make. Limit your budget, enjoy a less extravagant wedding and have some money left over. OR go all out with your dream wedding, take a bank loan and land yourself in debt for possibly the rest of your life. =x

So what's a recessionista got to do?

Well, I once read a really useful article from a financial magazine so I thought I'll share some of the tips with you here. =3

Set a budget
If you can do that for your daily expenses, why not for your wedding? Do research and make decisions based on your budget. If you can't afford to pay to take wedding photos overseas, then don't. Singapore has beautiful scenery too! I bet an experienced wedding photographer knows or is willing to source for ideal sports (like my friend, Thomas, for his cosplay photoshoots).

In short, plan and work within your budget. Don't spend what you don't have. There's a reason why the recent economic crisis came about. And you wouldn't want to be quarreling with your hubby about money matters so early into your marriage. =x

If I remember correctly, the article proposed a sum of approximately $15k for a modest wedding. Hmm but that's a few years back so the amount may have increased since then. But whatever the case, DO YOUR MATH.

Set your expectations "lower"
Now, I'm not asking you to anyhow settle for some budget hotel wedding banquet in the name of saving money. What I'm proposing instead, is to widen your scope. Why limit your wedding meal to hotels when you can have it in a park? Explore the range of parks NParks has for you to choose from.

Yes I know the argument about wedding dinners fetching a fatter angbao from your guests but hey, if you spent well within your budget, the angbaos are just an added bonus. Simply put, don't reach for the sky when you don't have a ladder. A really long ladder.

Keep the guest list to family and close friends
Limit the guest list to family and close friends to keep costs low. You don't have to invite the entire world to your wedding, just the ones who are close to your heart. =)

Go for packages that basically covers what you need
If possible, sign for packages that has everything you need. Make-up, hair, gown etc all in one. Unless you're Fann Wong, it doesn't make financial sense to have a variety of people do you on your wedding day. As long as the package is by a reliable, affordable place with good reviews, then go for it.

Don't worry, be happy
Enjoy planning your wedding. Don't go biting your "jie-meis", bridesmaids or hubby-to-be just coz you were in a bad mood. If there are some things that just cannot be done YOUR WAY NOW, leave it for later or take an alternative. The Earth won't stop spinning just coz your wedding can't have 9999 pink flowers like you always dreamt of. Your fiancé is marrying YOU for YOU and NOT BECAUSE you have Martha Steward's ability to multi-task, plan and do.

To help you in your research, Singapore Brides has compiled useful listings that you can utilise. And here's 10 more ways you can stay on budget. =3

And there you go, some tips I hope you'll find useful. If you have some wedding planning tips worthy of a recessionista, do share them in the comments~! Have a fun time planning your wedding the RECESSIONISTA way. =3

Wedding couple photo credit: Fran Flores


Love,
Lilian