My Wedding Budget (part 1)

It was a normal day back from work on the month of June, 2018.

Received a phone call from my now-husband (phone calls are the life savers for long-distance relationships) and randomly talking about getting our wedding ceremony done with ASAP (can't stand this long distance no longer). That very same day, we consulted our colleagues, friends and family. 

"Is it possible to get a wedding done in half a year's time?" 

"Do we have the budget?"

Only two questions we asked.

And BAM! We decided to hold our wedding ceremony on December 2018. 

On that faithful day, 17.12.2018, we were happily pronounced husband and wife. 

Thankfully, half a year's time was indeed more than enough time for us to get away with a simple wedding. Most of the time we were just waiting for responses from our guest. You can refer this as your guideline, but not as your ultimate bible, because everyone's concept of wedding doesn't work out the same. 

1# Wedding Photo-shoots

Had mine taken at Venus Creation Wedding Studio in Seremban. They have a facebook page too, you can search them up to read about the reviews and check out their projects. It is advisable to jot down a detailed list of possible charges (I did) and discuss about it with your specific studio. DO NOT sign any package blindly, there may be hidden charges for all you know. Attached here is a list of questions you need to ask:

Important Things to Consider Before Signing A Wedding Photoshoot Package 

Wedding Photo-shoot Package 

Cost: RM 1899 (Price ranges from lowest RM 999 to highest RM3999, prices may differ as this was given 2 years ago)

Package Included:

• 6 wedding gowns;4 for album and 2 for actual wedding day (most studios require customers to top up additional amount for additional gowns/nicer gowns)
• 32 poses in wedding album (Wedding studios usually go by the number of poses instead of number of pages)
• make-up
• ampoules
• ALL return of edited, original and designed softcopies (most wedding studios we surveyed only allowed limited numbers of softcopies to be given and customers were required to top up an additional amount for extra softcopies)
• custom size photos for guest (forgot how many, around 50 I guess)
• bedside photo (forgot measurement, but it was huge O.O)
• 2 framed tabletop photos
• glass cover album (forgot album measurement)
• indoor and outdoor shots (various locations offered)
• FREE renting of wedding gown for actual wedding day (most studios would require customers to pay additional charges according to the number of days you rent. Eg, let's say you have wedding ceremonies on both you and your husband's side on the same month, so you'll be holding on to the gown for 20 days, thus additional rental fee for 20 days)
• fresh bouquet on actual wedding day
• wedding video

Review: Professional photographer and good service. The whole team was really sweet in offering advices and help. We were allowed to take selfies during our wedding shots. There was no hidden charges at all, we paid the exact price we signed up for. The only downside was the make-up  (not that up to date with the latest make-up trend). All in all, I would give a 5 out of 5, as it met the expectations I wanted. Truth be told, there will always be nicer photo shots out there, or maybe someday you'll stumble upon your friend's wedding photos and exclaimed "Oh wow! How nice! Nicer than mine!" Yeap, there will be days like that *laughs*. But still, no regrets! Your photo will always be perfect as long as you both love it 💖💖💖

 My favourite Greek style! 

I just love flower bands in my hair🌸
Though Mr Tony's coat and trousers doesn't seem to be fitting enough.

The make-up was a little heavy. Still it's okay, pass!

Love this green gown too💚 We selected a lot of these series for our custom sized photos cuz most of  our relatives wanted this, but the younger generations (i.e. those of the same age) thought otherwise 😂

Should have brought me a higher pair of heels.

Candids

 Of sea salt breeze and clear blue skies.

#2 Betrothal and Dowry

In Chinese tradition, the groom's family should present the betrothal or the "Grand Gift"(聘礼/聘金）in appreciation of the girl's parents' effort in raising the girl. Later, the girl's family would send the girl's dowry consisted of jewelry to display love and support for their daughter. The betrothal and dowry are considered to be an important part in sealing the marriage. 

I did a lot of reading in order to write this, and I couldn't help exclaiming about the beauty and significant meaning behind this Chinese tradition. Traditions and cultures had always been beautiful. But the beauty in it gets distorted over time, over generations, as people slowly used traditions and cultures as a way to cover up own's motives. When people misused the meaning behind traditions, instead of portraying a tradition's beauty, it distorted a tradition's image, turning tradition ugly.  Just like how killings happen all in the name of religion when religious teachings had been misused.

I'd read news about how lovebird ended up separated because of the sky rocketed amount of betrothal which the groom could not afford to pay. I'd seen people around me delaying weddings or marrying late all because they were frantically saving up for more. I'd heard stories of how newly-weds divorce just bacause they do not have enough to sustain marriage life, that they'd used up most of their savings on the "Grand Gift" or the betrothal or the dowry. The "Grand Gift" could be in the form of houses, cars, gold bars, or money values amounting to RM9999 - RM100K (this is only the lowest starting point).  Up to this point, if you felt uncomfortable reading this, congratulations, this is the start of change. Does this tradition still feels beautiful to you? I'm boldly striking a sensitive nerve here: people cover up their motive for greed and wealth, all in the name of tradition.

I have parents who raised me to question the motives and meanings behind every traditions. I have a supportive family who gave me all 100% to help us break free of this traditional bondage. For this I am forever grateful and proud. We did not ask for anything from the groom's side, but my dear groom still insisted on paying an amount (RM 7000), which later on we gave back in the form of gifts. Not a single cent was taken. I know I am one of the few fortunate ones having supportive family, for there are many out there who are not given the freedom to make a choice. But I can assure you, even though the choice is not yours to make now, you still get a second chance, to make a choice for your children. Make a choice to break the chains of misused traditional beliefs. Your children will thank you for that. Society will thank you for that. The money saved up could help you get through a few open-houses, even a few honeymoon trips, a beautiful house with nice furniture, and most importantly, a financially stable marriage life. Changes starts with us, it starts small, but with rippling effect.

Cost: RM0.00

3#Wedding Invitations

We sent out online RSVPs to our invited guest (guest of our age) and traditional invitation cards to the older generations (mostly the groom side as many could not accept online invitation mode yet). Online RSVPs are quite common nowadays as they are highly convenient. You get to upload your wedding album in there for your guest to see and the website automatically calculates the number of guest attending for you. Simply google it and a few websites would pop out. If designing RSVPs seems hard, you may opt for invitations in the form of whatsapp messages. I'm sure people who matters to you would support you in whichever decision you make no worries. And if there are people who truly felt offended with online RSVPs, well just drop them an invitation card (after all they just make up a small number). 

Cost for online RSVPs: RM 0.00
Cost for invitation card: RM 0.99 per card (RM 0.99 X 50 guest= RM 49.50)

Some banquet halls include free invitation cards, you can enquire about it and make sure you get a black and white agreement, no kidding! In our case, the banquet hall promised us invitation cards for free, but in the end, we were told LAST MINUTE that the free invitation cards were just blank cards, and that we needed to add on a RM0.99 per card to print on the wordings. Yeah, if we were told about this change earlier we could have easily canceled the booking and ordered for invitations via Taobao which would be much cheaper! 

4#Banquets Before Actual Wedding Day

A simple luncheon was held at the girl's side, only a group of close friends and relatives were invited, to simply come empty handed to eat. We truly, sincerely just want to bless our friends with good food without the burden of  choking up angpaus (We came up with this idea because we understand the financial burden people receive when attending weddings, I mean, I truly would, haha. Guess you're well off if you did not feel the pinch). A day before wedding, the groom's side had open house and all the guest were invited to eat and just be merry! So how did we cover up with the cost? With the money saved from betrothal of course!

Rule number 1 for guest invitation: keep your circle of guest as small as possible. Undeniably, the more you invite, the more money you're going to choke up. Don't ever feel guilty if you did not get to invite every single friend or relative you know, I'd been through that. After all, reality is you still need to consider your financial ability. Those who care for you would understand, and those who did not understand, it's okay. *Hugs*

Luncheon cost: RM600 per table (RM600X 6 tables= RM3600)

Sarikei open house estimated cost: RM500+ 

High school friends

Relatives

Dear Fionn managed to squeeze her time haha!

5#Rings

Proposal ring (for fiancée only, fiancé tak payah waste of money): RM 250

Wedding ring (a pair): RM 1400  

 

You may use back the same rings for both events, that way you can save a lot. Why didn't I thought of this before?

6# The Bride's Self-Preparation Before Wedding

Wedding heels: RM 35 (Bought from Seremban Terminal 2 Bus Stop kakaka~)

Nu bra: RM 50 (Bought from the same wedding studio)

Manicures: tak payah

Pedicures: tak payah

Dye hair: tak payah

Facial: tak payah

Sometimes I truly thank God for my happy-go-lucky personality. It definitely did save me from a lot of useless worries and money spending attempt. 😂

Picture highlight: wedding heels👠

Cheap, affordable, comfortable, and still wearing it today hahaha~

Total estimated cost for my wedding budget (part 1): RM 7783.50(+/-)

Thanks to Mr Tony for leaving a detailed copy of expenses.

And thanks to myself for making this improvised version 👏

💒To be continued.