Marriage Central Talk - What is the Price of your Dream Wedding?

Talk: What is the Price of your Dream Wedding

Organised by: Marriage Central

Speaker : Johnathan Goh

Time: 2pm- 3.30pm 

Venue: Jurong Regional Library, 1^st floor, Programme Zone (next to Cafe Galilee)

True enough, most people would have the perception that since a wedding is a once in a lifetime event and it should be the most memorable day of your life, so they would rather spend all the money on it. However, couple should always try to work with the budget on hand rather than splurge into it to get into loans and bad debts just for the preparation of a wedding. As quoted from the speaker, Jonathan, "a wedding lasts a day but a marriage lasts a lifetime." There's enough case study that a married couple might end up getting a divorce over financial problems, and it's sad.

Thus, if possible, there's a need for the Wedding Planner to come in. Their role is to advice couples to spend within the budget, plan out the whole wedding process and execute by sourcing for the things needed for a wedding to be successful. I think that it would be good to attend those marriage preparation courses too which can be found at the Marriage Central website here. 

The wedding costs by category 

Apart from the compulsory $26 registration fee at ROM. 

The percentage are just an estimations. 

Reception: 60%

Consultant (if hired): 3%

Wedding Rings: 5%

Photography/Video: 6.5%

Bridal Gown: 5%

Music: 2%

Flowers: 1.5%

Bridal attendants' apparel: 1.5%

Men's formal wear: 1%

Invitations/Stationery: 0.6%

Ang Baos/Gifts: 1.4%

Chinese Customary: 1.6%

Clergy and ceremony fees: 1%

Limousine: 0.6%

Groom's attire: 2%

Another quote, "If you have a budget of S$50k, set aside S$10k as a buffer to prepare for unexpected expenditure. Also try to divide the items by three categories: the "Must-haves", "Nice-to-have", "Special Treats". From the 3 case studies that Jonathan go through with us, we realized that it's possible to have a decent wedding with a budget of $25k. 

Based on 350 guests:

Budget wedding: At least S$ 15k

Desirable wedding: At least S$ 50k

Extravagant wedding: At least: $136k 

Other points that were mentioned includes the two important elements a couple must have: Compromise and Communication which I agreed totally. 

We got this sweet and lovely folder and post it note from the talk. Thanks marriage central for the informative talk.