I can haz a special request to fulfil!
This special request came a week back from a darling girl that I've known (online) since my Livejournal days - she is about to join the kakak kakak kahwing network and concerned about where to start and what to expect before she starts on her wedding preparations! Truth be told, you really don't have to fret about where to start, babe - with a little bit of effort, a decent set of research skills, blogs and forums to read and learn from, good friends and good contacts and the right amount of common sense, you'll be on the right track in no time!
Ok, now more about her special request - the request that she made was for a blog entry with some rough figures to start planning out her wedding budget, and what to expect as a newbie bride-to-be. I wasn't so sure about doing this entry, to be honest, but since I have a little bit of information to share and a little bit of time to spare... why not help out another girl who's in a position that I was almost a year ago, right? Right.
But before I do that...
Bapak disclaimer maha bapak disclaimer!!! Must read, must understand, must bakar and telan!!!
- This Is Not An Official Source - I am not a professional. I am not an expert. I am not an insider. I am a regular girl who blogs about her wedding preparation journey for fun and for memories' sake. I do not earn money out of my blogging, save for the clicks via Nuffnang banner ads (please click the ads if you like what I blog about as a form of support! Hehehe), and I am most definitely not blogging on behalf of anyone, any company, what more the whole Malay wedding industry.
- This Is Only A Guideline - This is only a guideline. I did not conduct any official surveys and did not conduct any interviews with professionals or experts or insiders. Everything I write here is based on personal research and experiences as well as friends' recommendations or experiences. I do not and will not claim to know everything because I don't. You can use this as a guideline if you think it is useful for your own personal gauging purposes, but you are also free to disregard it if you do not agree with its content or do not want to base your budget estimation on one person and her friends punya information. The only way you can get confirmed rates is to engage a professional wedding planner... or rely on your own research and ask vendors for their quotes.
- Budget Is Subjective - Budget is subjective. What is reasonable to you may be expensive for me, what is reasonable to me may be expensive to you, etc. It all boils down to our own definition or interpretation, because my definition of 'reasonable' might differ from yours. Just because I think $3500 is reasonable for wedding decor does not mean others feel the same way, just because others think $18 per head is reasonable for wedding catering, that does mean I feel the same way too. (If I were to honestly describe my own wedding budget, I would say it is in the mids - nothing super expensive, but nothing too cheap, either.)
- My Research Methodology May Be Different From Yours - My own research methodology was as such: I shortlisted the vendors I liked for each category, compared their rates with each other, and then moulded my budget accordingly. I did not specifically set a budget or source for vendors who cater to specific budgets, which is why I might not be of much help if you're looking for vendors who charge the lowest rate in the market (there are, however, other lovely and helpful bride-to-be bloggers who have targeted their search based on certain budgets and they'll be more than happy to share their contacts and experiences with you - just read the other blogs on my blogroll to see whose budget seems the most similar to yours!) My research method might not apply to others - you might be more comfortable setting aside a budget first before confirming how much your favourite vendors charge and then tweaking your budget or choosing an alternative vendor thereafter if their rate does not fall within your budget. Similarly, I did not consider vendors with super luxurious works which will naturally come with rocket high prices so I might not be that familiar with high-end vendors.
- Difference in Price Depending on Year - I started some light research during the October 2011 to December 2011 period and only started major research and booking all the heavyweights from January 2012 to March 2012. The quotes and rates that I have on hand may be outdated by now because prices untuk wedding items ni ada sikit macam property prices - asyik go up and up. Macam I ever cakap - satu hari kena bayar wedding vendors pakai CPF and ambik loans segala jugak seh lulz.
- One Day Vs Two Days - My wedding is a 1-day event. There may be differences in price depending on whether you need services for a 1-day event or a 2-days event (especially for services like andaman, photography and videography)... kalau your event 7 hari 7 malam then jangan cakap ah. Tu mesti MAHA difference lah kan haha.
......
Eh siol lah, disclaimer je dah makan tiga hari tiga malam nak draft sak. Hahahahaha.
Ok, this is how I'm going about this: I'm not going to specify quotes from specific vendors because I don't think that's a very nice thing to do - there might be some kind of unwritten rule or code against publicly listing prices quoted by wedding vendors (unless they themselves list the prices down in their websites or ad banners) - so I'll just give a price range based on whatever research I did.
OK! HERE WE GO!
CATERING
Most quotations I've gotten for local Malay wedding catering is $12 to $16 per head.
The harga will usually depend on what you want in your menu - lagi kurang ajar the selection, lagi kurang ajar the name, lagi kurang ajar the look, lagi kurang ajar the preparation and lagi kurang ajar the taste of the dish, maka lagi kurang ajar lah the price. Also, take note that the lesser the number of guests, the higher the price per head - this is pretty standard, actually, it's the same concept as kalau you buy things in bulk... lagi banyak you beli, lagi cheaper the price per piece.
Sebagai contoh (Contoh je eh!):
Caterer 1
Package A: $9.00 per head for 1000 guests, $10.50 per head for 500 guests
Package B: $10.00 per head for 1000 guests, $11.50 per head for 500 guests
Package C: $11.00 per head for 1000 guests, $12.50 per head for 500 guests
Caterer 2
Package A: $13.00 per head for 1000 guests, $19.00 per head for 500 guests
Package B: $14.00 per head for 1000 guests, $21.00 per head for 500 guests
Package C: $15.00 per head for 1000 guests, $22.00 per head for 500 guests
Assuming your guestlist ada 1000 orang and you ambik average of $14 per head then easily (easily tak easily sangat lah brudder...) you kena fork our $14,000 for wedding food aje. (Some people will argue for that kind of price boleh dapat both decor and catering in packages offered by some wedding vendors - which is true, but more on this later, under All-in-One packages)
Check what your catering package entails. Jangan lupa ensure yang the package you and your tunang chose comes with dishwashers and kendarat segala. Kalau tak nanti your Pak Angah and Mak Busu yang kena tolong sengseh lengan baju berhempas pulas di belakang tabir. And if your parents are particular about "nasi bungkus untuk kasi kasi ahli keluarga", check how many packets your caterer will provide for you to avoid conflict on the day itself (This happened at one of my cousin's wedding reception)
Oh, here's another pointer (or two) - ask your caterer (or your decor company) whether they provide fans! This I learnt from Cik Ruzanna from Few Stolen Seconds, who wrote about it
here. (She also had some of her "inane" questions on other smaller wedding-related items answered
here - truth to be told, I also had the same questions in mind hahaha so this proved useful for me heh) This kipas issue didn't come up for me because my venue package memang dah provide fans (plus we paid extra for coolers), but something else did timbul for me - bridal table crockery. I saw dalam forum someone who considered my wedding caterers bitching about how they don't provide bridal table crockery (kalau nak, kena top up $200 ke $300) and I have since confirmed this fact with their sales manager. Did a check with my decor company and they said that they can provide but only simple and basic crockery, which is fine with me. Of all the things that I'm particular about, bridal table crockery is not anywhere close so ~ not a problem ~
Dalam kesibukkan tengah plan for wedding, mu ada dok pikiaq pasal kipas and pinggan mangkuk tak??? Tak kan??? Tak pikiaq pun kan??? Ok, sekarang mu pergi duduk satu corner, mu pikiaq baik baik pastu mu datang balik baciak the rest of this entry.
Lowest price I've received for a basic decor package: $1,000
Quotes from companies for most of the decor that I liked: $3,000 onwards
Tapi kalau you like decor companies yang buat decor grand grand punya, their services memang jadi rebutan ramai, kerusi chop confirm guarantee pakai chiavari chairs, selubung satu tempat dengan kain kain and renda renda and bunga bunga thennnnnn be ready to fork out $5000+++ onwards.
Some decor companies charge extra for multi-purpose halls or community centres, some charge extra for combined wedding receptions so you might want to clear this with your chosen vendor if it is not already stated clearly in the contract. Also, cheaper might not necessarily mean better because ada packages cheaper sebab they don't have this and they don't have that. Check dulu whether what you require are included in the package. Take into account the additional costs of tentages or planking especially if you're looking at outdoor venues!
If you want chiavari chairs for your wedding reception but have to source for them yourself because your chosen decor company doesn't provide them in their packages - then you're looking at $7 to $12 per chair. (The companies that I know yang rent out chiavari chairs are:
XOXO & Co,
Jentayu Gallery and
Wonderland)
If your caterers and decor people are from two separate companies pulak, you've might want to check whether your caterers have worked with your decorators before (or check with your decorators whether they have worked with your caterers, depending on whichever one you book first) so you boleh suss out whether they have chemistry with each other - dah macam nak matchmake orang kan nak kena ada chemistry segala haha! I know some vendors might be miffed or defensive if pengantins-to-be ask such questions but tak salah kan pengantin nak safeguard their own interests plus ensure everyone's working comfort?
I'm saying this based on what I've heard before and something that I myself experienced - I narrowly missed engaging a decorator who apparently cannot work together with one of my choice caterers because of some kind of bad history. Itu pun I found out by chance, because I met the decorator in question at another wedding and after trying to control the twitching on her face after I said I've decided to engage another decor company (haha!), she asked me who we're thinking of engaging as our caterers. After I replied her, blood drained out from her face, and her face scrunched up into a very repulsed expression macam kena telan stokin busuk ah hahahahaha.
Oooookay, man. Korang punya politics, korang punya coli seluardalam, man. Tak kuasz, man.
ANDAMAN
The bridal houses that I was interested in (I only had three - Versari Ade, Chantique and Fatimah Mohsin the Bridal Gallery) quoted me between $2100 to $3000 for 3 pairs of outfits.
You can definitely get quotes that are cheaper than that from other bridal houses who charge from $1250 onwards (try bridals like Peti Solek The Bridal Room, Merah Jambu The Bridal Room, Lyanaz Gallery, Weddingku Gallery or The Wedding Brocade... aiyah you can see more on my
Directory tab lah). There might be smaller bridal houses or freelance mak andams who charge much lower than that but not sure how much lower they go for what kind of outfits.
Bear in mind that some bridal houses punya quotes are only for their normal collections so they might have separate charges for outfits from their exclusive collections. You might have to tokoh tambah if the outfits that you want are from exclusive collections, so don't forget to ask if they have such a thing for their packages. Another thing that you might have to tokok tambah is if you want the owner him/herself (or their star pak/mak andam) to make you up - ask first whether they have such a thing.
Two other things that you should think about before going to your bridal house of choice:
(1) who you want as your make-up artist (MUA) if they have more than 1 MUA - go through their previous works online to see if you like their andaman style or
get reviews from their previous clients (boleh tanya your own friends yang pernah engage their
services atau ask the question in forums or read bride blogs); and
(2) whether you want MUA yang touch-and-go (they will make you up and then leave, their assistant yang
will stay with you throughout the event) or you want MUA yang boleh
stay throughout the whole event.
Some bridal houses allow trial sessions (around $80 to $100++ per session) so you can make use of that opportunity as a form of confirmation as to whether you want a certain MUA to doll you up for your special day.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOGRAPHY
Standard price that I've seen for photography + videography packages offered by companies who offer both services under one roof is more or less $2500.
Separately, the lowest quote I've gotten for basic photography package is $950 but the photographers I seriously considered and enquired with quoted between $1500 (basic) to $2800 (premium) for event coverage. (
Our initial photography choices, in order of preference: Bliss Photocinema, Project Pixel and An Analog Affair. If we had known Zakaria Zainal Wedding & Potrait Photography when we first considered photographers for our wedding, he would have been one of our top choices as well.)
Terus terang I'm not very familiar with separate videography services because I only had two choices in mind (CST Singapore and Bliss Photocinema) and only asked these two companies for their quotes - you're looking at $2000 upwards, yo. From what I've read, there
are other videographers who charge lesser than that (ada yang charge $1200 onwards in the market) so if you don't want to splash so much cash on wedding video alone then set aside budget $1000+++ for videography pun considered ok lah tu.
I do know there are those who charge in the hundreds ($700 - $900) for videography services but itu pun it might be reaaaaally basic and you risk getting quality that is as good as you asking your uncle to video the event for you FOC (Not saying all will chop confirm guarantee will be like that but it really is best to see a few works to gauge for yourself whether the quality is up to your standards and liking and always
always triple check reviews from their previous clients)
Newbie photographers and videographers usually charge much lesser so if you have faith in new talents then you'll probably get to pay much lesser than that.
$450 to $750 for deejay services (depending on whether you want karaoke set for your reception)
Traditional Malay ensembles charge from $1600 to $1800 for five to six hours of service.
I have blogged about traditional Malay ensembles
here.
GUBAHAN, SIRIH JUNJUNG, BUNGA RAMPAI + BARANG DULANG
If you tak fussy sangat, no need to have fresh flowers, asalkan cantik and sempurna sudah, $25 per tray should be an okay gauge. But of course if you want exclusive sikit, bling bling mau lebih, and nak tambah fresh flowers segala, it'll be more expensive and might range in the $30++ range.
The really fab ones from Peti Solek, Mariah & Sham, Ola Lola and Jentayu Gallery (in my opinion, at least, and the ones I recommend for higher budgets hur hur) range from $35 to $55 per tray.
Of course paling champion is for you to DIY sendiri. Sytrofoam kat Joo Chiat Complex tingkat dua (Ke tiga eh? Sorry, Mak Na ingat ingat lupa ni) sekeping $4 to $6, fabric $5 to $8 per metre, sequin sequin, ribbon ribbon tu semua baru berapa je. Kalau rajin jejak Malaysia to buy the materials, pun banyak materials to choose from kat sana and lagi murah lagi. Settle.
Sirih junjung is about $100++ per pop, bunga rampai range between $3 to $4 per piece.
Barang dulang gua takleh cakap ah, tu according to masing masing punya diri ah nak letak apa atas dulang.
KOMPANG
$350 to $750 depending on whether 1-way or 2-way service. A fellow bride-to-be blogger Ruzanna scored one for $300 only for her reception (
here) - or more specifically her mother heh - so I guess you can try and get cheaper options if you ask around or research hard enough!
BERKAT (FAVOURS)
Ni depends on what favours you want to give out for your wedding reception ah, but standard budget for wedding favours is between $1 to $2 per piece.
If you want berkat pulut kuning, it ranges from $1.50 to $3.00 per piece (depending on your choice of filings, the container and its decor). If you want special items macam sugar cookies, cupcakes, brownies or macarons, selalunye lagi mahal sikit ranging from $2.50 to $4.50 per piece (for macarons, depending on its size and number).
I've blogged about wedding favours
here,
here and
here.
VENUE
Ah yes. Inilah item yang paling problematic for Malay couples who are planning for their weddings nowadays! If I had a dollar for everytime I receive an email from a btb / hear a girlfriend mengeluh tak sudah about how difficult it is to find a venue suitable for Malay weddings (other than void decks and multi-purpose halls) - especially for combined receptions! - in Singapore, suspect kuat I'd be able to bayar habis the cost of my BTO flat by now hahahahaha
When we first baru berjinak jinak with wedding preparations and tengah considering pros and cons of venues, I blogged about it
here.
Void Deck: Cheap cheap, good good - different void decks located in different areas in Singapore have different charges (I heard it is because of some kind of different drainage system / void deck configuration for the void decks in Singapore punya bendalah, but I don't know what it is specifically) but you'll have to pay at most a few hundred ($500? $600?) for three-day rental. (I know some areas punya void deck rental is $80 per day wtf baru $240 for 3 days!)
Multi-purpose Halls (MPHs): Same same like void decks. The liaison officer for one of the MPHs near my house that I pernah consider (wrote about it
here) told me that the rental was $50 per day. Anjat girl girl, nyah!
Community Centres (CCs): Can range from $1000++ to $3000 depending on location, size and number of hours. For community
centres pun kadang kadang ada dangernye - sometimes the CC itself ada their own events so ada
possibility they will bilang you yang you cannot hold your wedding
reception during the period yang dorang ada their CC activities so you'll
have to tekun check on this. Bear in mind almost all CCs tak boleh cook onsite (the only one I know so far yang boleh masak onsite because the cooking area is just sebelah the hall is Siglap Community Centre) so you'll have to factor in additional costs kena book nearby void deck for cooking purposes.
Outdoor parks: A few hundred dollars, usually in the higher range between $700 to $900, save for the stage pavillion at Bottle Tree Park which is about $3600++. My entry on outdoor parks:
here.
Sentosa Beach: $1500 onwards for the beaches (ni belum masuk tentage.) Kalau nak their shaded area yang Sapphire Pavillion tu, must set aside budget of $6000 onwards. My entry about weddings by the beach
here.
Function halls, Country clubs, Grassroots clubs, Burkhill Hall, Museums: Get ready to set aside $4000++ and above. Again, Bear in mind this kind of venue selalunya tak boleh cook onsite so you might have to factor in
additional costs kena book nearby void deck for cooking purposes.
Alkaff Mansion: I have had several queries about Alkaff Mansion as well after blogging about it previously but you can only consider this awesome venue if you can set aside a five-digit budget for venue alone.
Ladies and gentlemen, at this juncture, I would just like to say that there is a
reason why
most of your kawan kawan and sedara sebaya tak buat majlis
kahwin dorang kat tempat tempat gaya mutu keunggulan macam for example, Alkaff Mansion or Gardens By The Bay (blogged about it
here) - it is because most likely than not the price is not something that most people are willing to fork out for. Kalau harga senang to make it, mesti you dah dapat kad jemputan for majlis at those kind of places front back left right centre, kan?
When my
mamat and I first started talking about weddings, one of the venues
that we talked about was D'Marquee at Pasir Ris Downtown East, but the
first thing that came to us was "
Apesal tak pernah dapat kad jemputan orang kahwin kat D'Marquee eh? Mesti harga biadap" and true to our suspicions, the amount was sungguh the tak berbaloi, in our opinion, at least, considering what was included in the package was not what we wanted. Kalau nak jual aku peh ginjal pun takde maknanye, guys.)
I've also gotten this question on venues before: when to book venue. Pasal bila to book venue ni pun depends on your venue. For some venues like void
decks and multi-purpose halls (MPHs), you can book 3 to 6 months in advance,
depending on the guidelines by your town councils - same goes for
community centres. Most community centres pun boleh book only 3 to 6 months
before your wedding reception... but you'll have to check with the community
centre that you're interested in just in case boleh buat special arrangements, for example, when I asked Tampines North CC for their booking duration early last year, I was informed that the booking period is 3 months before
but I can opt to leave my name in the waiting list 1 year in advance. Things like that, y'know? Different CCs might have different arrangements so you'll have to ask to know for sure.
Some other venues like function halls, grassroots clubs, country clubs,
etc pun ada their own guidelines, ada 1 year in advance, ada you can
book anytime you want so it is best you approach the liaison persons for
all the venues directly to confirm their guidelines on venue booking.
DESSERT TABLE
If you want to consider having dessert table at your wedding reception, then you need to look at setting aside budget of $1000+++ onwards for dessert table, depending on number of pax. Prices are usually based per pax.
PHOTOBOOTH
Based on my own research (blogged about it
here), most companies charge between $600 to $800 for 4-hour photobooth sessions, depending on number of hours, quality of shots and complexity of setup. (I know two companies who charge higher, ranging from $800 to $1800 depending on number of hours, because of their setup and quality). There might be additional charges for extra prints or delivery charges so you'll have to check the cost for that.
If you still want something fun like a photobooth for your friends and family to kecoh kecoh together and enjoy but tak nak waste so much money on something that can be considered optional for a Malay wedding then you can consider snap and print services! The difference is most of them takde backdrop but the cute props and good clear shots are all there, and you can get them at half the cost! $250 to $450 gitu dah boleh dapat.
ALL-IN-ONE PACKAGES
There is a wide range of prices for all-in-one packages so ni susah sikit nak cakap - you're looking at anything between $10,000 to $30,000 depending on items in the package, quality of services, and brand name of the wedding company. Most times dalam package will have decor, catering, photography and videography, kalau lebih sikit mungkin ada wedding cake, gubahan for dulangs and wedding cards... so all-in-one packages are good and ideal for people who nak fuss free planning!
I
have seen super cheap all-in-one packages ranging from $7999 to $9999 siap masuk catering and decor segala (Tak caya, gi tengok ads dalam Majalah Perkahwinan and Berita Harian classifieds, ada the ads ok!) but of course more often then not the stuff included are really no-frills.
You can also consider restaurants like Lagun Sari, Desa Kartika, D'Pelangi, Gurame or Warung in the East that will provide simple pelamin and decor + catering so you can focus your attention and budget on other things - last I checked, they ranged between $13 to $18 per head.
(My thoughts on All-in-One packages blogged
here)
Having said alllllll that, I'd just like to add on about something else that is related - I have had some people asking me when to start booking vendors, which
categories to book first and which items to splurge on and what I have to say to that is this: It is really up to you and your preferences, my dear. If you are very fussy pasal
bridal then research and book your MUA/bridal house dulu lor. If makanan
more important than decor then you might want to spend more on good
quality food and scrimp on your decor costs. It is
your wedding,
you decide on what
you consider important and which style of photography and videography, which type of decor and which bridal andaman look
you like. (And then you run through your choices with your future spouse, your parents and future in-laws to see whether they like your choices as well hahahahaha)
When you need to book vendors depends on how choosy you are when it comes to wedding vendors. Personally and truthfully I was picky about vendors so I started booking major vendors like decor, catering, photography, videography and andaman (my mat and I considered these
our first five major vendors to book) during the January 2012 to March 2012 period for my November 2013
wedding - that's
almost 2 years in advance ah.
Some brides-to-be I know book 2 years in advance because they want to
save on costs
- in 2013, the price might be $XX but the price might become
$XX + X in 2014, then $XX + $XX in 2015... like I mentioned earlier, wedding vendors do increase their
prices from time to time.
You can always start your research early but when it comes to actual bookings, my girlfriends and I have realized that 2 years in advance is safe (especially if you know you will stick to your decisions most of the time), but
kalau tak kiasu sangat then 1 and a half years plus minus gitu pun
ok. Actually kalau you want to cowboy macam my mamat punya cousin and his tunang and book a few months (for him, it was 9 months before, to be specific) before the wedding pun memang boleh, siapa cakap tak boleh? It will work if you don't have specific vendors that you want and tak kisah choose from whichever vendors that are available on your wedding date. Add a little bit of doa and luck and your wedding will be as good and sempurna as everyone else's, insya Allah!
Bear in mind book siang siang pun kadang kadang no good because:
(1) You might regret because ternampak another vendor that you prefer after booking one of your choices;
(2) You might miss out on good promos down the road kalau you book too siang;
(3)
Anything might happen to the vendor within the next 2 years. The
vendor might become outdated or standards drop but lagi worse is: boleh
tutop, boleh lingkup, boleh bungkus. Kadang kadang takut jugak kena
macam tu, tapi this one kena pandai pandai follow instinct ah haha. Of
course the safest best is to take vendors yang memang established because at least
the probability (of the company kena bungkus) is not as high.
Ok dah tu je nak cakap.
AMACIAM CIK AMALINA?! All the sweat, tears and 4994 words (I checked through Microsoft word count hur hur) specially crafted thanks to you. Cukup info for you to start your preparations for now tak??? Hehehehehe.
*****
Oh, in case anyone's looking for a budget template to kickstart your wedding preparations - I'm currently using a budget template lifted from Dear Dyan with my own tweaks (blogged about it
here) but if you want something else, Eleventh October has also very kindly uploaded and shared her template
here.
Ok, dah swee eh? Swee.
To end off this super lengthy entry, I'd just like to apologize from the deepest recesses of my heart kalau tersalah comment, terkasar bahasa or terpijak kaki. Please feel free to correct me and my errors or add on to this blog entry by giving your comments below or giving me an email if you're shy shy cat! Meow! (Which means, bye!)
