Chinese Wedding At Void Deck In Bukit Panjang Cost Newlyweds About $30K, According To Wedding Guest
There is a touching reason behind the venue choice. And no, it has nothing to do with cost.
Malay weddings at void decks are a familiar sight in Singapore. But a Chinese wedding held at a void deck?
TikToker Sheryl Lim, 27, recently shared clips from a Chinese wedding she attended on May 23 at a Bukit Panjang HDB void deck, revealing that it was the first time she has been to one.
Speaking to 8days.sg, Sheryl, whose dad is friends with the wedding couple, said there were over 20 tables, and the wedding lunch ended at about 3pm.
According to Sheryl, holding the banquet at a void deck gave it a more relaxed vibe, compared to a typical hotel wedding.
“People were dressed much more casually,” she said, adding that there was no rigid schedule to follow.
In fact, the couple was reportedly already mingling with guests from the beginning of the banquet.
"I felt like during a formal setting like a hotel wedding banquet, we only can mingle with one another among the same table, whereas at a void deck wedding, we can walk around freely, and roam around celebrating couple's joy," said Sheryl.
The wedding had all hallmarks of a classic Chinese wedding banquet too: the boisterous yam seng, a live band, and of course, the multi-course Chinese dishes.
Sheryl even made a bold claim about the food. “The food tasted better than that from a hotel banquet," she told 8days.sg.
According to her, dishes were served once most guests had arrived instead of dragging late into the night like some hotel banquets tend to do.
The bride was even spotted hyping up guests with sing-alongs during the banquet.
“There were fans around, and it rained towards the end, so it wasn’t as hot as expected,” she shared, though she hilariously admitted still brought a portable fan.
Sheryl also told 8days.sg that the wedding couple spent about S$30K on the void deck wedding banquet.
But the reason for choosing to have their big day at a void deck wasn't about cost.
In fact, the reason behind it is quite sentimental — the groom’s mother wanted to invite her neighbours that she has been close to since the 1980s, and that most of them are elderly and needed to move about in a wheelchair.
Sheryl also shared that void deck weddings were common during her parents’ era in the ’80s and ’90s. “I always heard about this style of wedding from my parents. They always say they miss those days,” she said.
Reacting to her clip, there were some netizens who questioned whether older relatives might quietly judge the couple for not holding the banquet at a hotel or restaurant.
A troll even wrote: “Is it because they cannot afford a five-star hotel?”
Other netizens pushed back, arguing that weddings should reflect what couples actually value.
Considering wedding banquets in Singapore can cost upwards of S$100K, some may argue that this is probably a wise financial decision in this economy.
One netizen even pointed out: “No traffic jam, easy parking, and better food? Sounds good leh.”
Photos: sheryllim80/TikTok
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