For Richer or For Poorer: Three Couples Reveal Their Massive COVID Wedding Savings

A few couples decided, pandemic notwithstanding, to go ahead with their matrimonial plans – and held COVID weddings that netted them huge discounts that’ll make anyone’s jaw drop. From downsizing wedding venues to catering less food for a smaller crowd, some couples have taken advantage of social distancing regulations in the name of happily ever after and netted some huge wedding savings.

(Talk about the phrase ‘In sickness or in health’!)

So, just how much did these couples earn in wedding savings? We talked to a bunch of people over Instagram this week to find out – and to share a bit of good news amid a dreary, draggy 2020.

‘We saved $12,000!’

A couple managed to whittle down their wedding expenses by 50%, saving them a glorious amount of $12,000.

“We cancelled on the first venue we booked during the circuit breaker period,” they told me. “We just weren’t sure what things were going to be like. Afterwards, we booked a cheaper package around the start of Phase 2.”

Later on, when it was announced that weddings could cater up to 100 pax, the couple went ahead with their wedding plans. Their original guest list contained 500 people, but thanks to social distancing regulations, there were only 100 guests in attendance on their special day.

“We sorted it down to who we had met in the last six months, and filtered out those we hadn’t seen in some time. In the end, we were really happy about it,” they said. “And the angbao money almost covered back the cost!”

Their savings are being channelled towards house renovation costs, once they secure a flat from the November BTO launch, as well as bolstering the rainy day fund.

‘Our wedding was originally $63,500’

Another couple who rolled with the punches and went ahead with their wedding saved more than $50,000 – a jaw-dropping number.

“The initial wedding cost us $63,500, but our expenditure for our ‘COVID wedding’ totalled to about $8,000 in the end,” they said.

The only downside to all this was that the couple had to incur a loss of $2,450 due to non-refundable deposits that were made during the course of their wedding planning.

If you ask us, a loss of $2,450 is nothing compared to savings of $55,000!

‘We spent only $3,000 on our wedding’

Prior to the pandemic, Julia and her husband had planned a full-blown wedding – including rings, gowns, photography, and venue – that amounted to a staggering $55,000. But after COVID-19 struck and social distancing regulations were put into place, the couple had no choice but to whittle down their wedding to a simple one over Zoom, and saved $52,000 as a result.

“We managed to save so much,” Julia reflected. She stated that she did not “initially” feel like she had missed out on the original wedding plan, but later started to feel a tinge of longing. “Now I see my friends holding their weddings and it’s definitely made me want to have one in the future.”

Those plans will be far in the future, though, at least until travel restrictions lighten further. “My husband’s parents are living in the UK, so it’ll be a long wait before we go ahead with another wedding with both sides of our parents together.”

But what did Julia and her spouse do with their massive wedding savings?

“We put it all towards our house purchasing funds instead!”

Score.

Weddings are one of the most exorbitant expenses (second, perhaps, only to raising a child) one can bear in Singapore. For better or for worse, the pandemic has changed our lives in more ways than one – even how we approach weddings. What’s essential might not actually be essential after all, like large venues or guest lists bigger than your secondary school cohort.

For those who said ‘I do’ this year in spite of all this uncertainty, it sure seemed like it was worth it. If not for the huge wedding savings, then at least for the happiness achieved in the midst of a tumultuous, almost unredeemable year.