Planning a wedding can be a journey full of surprises. However, these surprises can also come in forms that are not very welcomed like hidden wedding costs and surcharges. These unexpected costs add up quickly and can come up to a hefty sum – which you probably rather not have come at you as a surprise.
So here’s a heads up on some costs to look out for:
- Additional Rental
- Alterations
- Auspicious Day Charge
- Cakeage
- Cleaning Charges
- Early or Late Night Charge
- Parking
- Public Holiday Charge
- Split-Day Surcharge
- Vendors’ Meals
Additional Rental
Not all wedding venues come equipped with full audio-visual (AV) systems. If you’ve chosen to go with an alternative wedding venue, you may have to rent AV systems and hire sound people. This applies to big venues as well where you might need additional speakers to ensure guests can hear your speech and live band from all corners.
Alterations
Wedding attires can be expensive and you may opt to purchase them online at a fraction of the price. However, we have seen far too many instances of couples receiving attires that do not fit and having to spend a sum altering it!
Auspicious Day Charge
Hardly seen now but we have seen it before! If you believe tying the knot on an auspicious day is important, you may want to take note of this one. Due to higher demand on these HUAT days, some venues may charge an ‘auspicious day’ fee because they can.
Cakeage
Put simply, ‘Cakeage’ is Cake Corkage. Some venues charge this fee if you bring your own wedding cake and have them slice and serve it to your guests during the reception. Check on this before ordering your cake as this fee can be quite a sum – yeah we know, not sweet at all!
Cleaning Charges
Confetti lovers take note! Popping confetti may add to the mood of your wedding and make your photos look great but check with your venue in advance if this is allowed. Especially if your venue has expensive chandeliers overhead, you don’t want to have to pay to get confetti out of them after the wedding (or worst, having to repair them)! The same goes for fresh flower petals that may stain flooring and carpets.
Early or Late Night Charge
We all know taxi rides in Singapore between 00:00 and 05:59 comes with a midnight surcharge. Likewise, vendors may have this fee to account for their additional transport costs during such times. Check with your vendor on their policy because what’s considered “early morning” and “late night” differs from vendor to vendor. This applies to venues as well – some of them charge an overtime fee beyond certain hours.
Parking
Most venues provide complimentary parking for up to a certain percentage of your guest count. However, if you’re expecting a huge number of guests driving to your celebration and you would like to make parking complimentary for all of them, it is wise to check with the venue how much additional parking coupons would cost.
Public Holiday Charge
This is self-explanatory because even buffets and hotel stays cost more on weekends and public holidays. It is the same for weddings due to the higher manpower costs.
Split-Day Surcharge
This is most common if your celebration is spread across several days. Even if you’re only utilizing a few hours of your vendors’ service each day, they may charge a split-day fee. For example, your wedding festivities take place during the first half of Saturday and the second half of Sunday. Even if the total hours you engage your photographer is 10 hours across both days, your photographer may charge an additional split-day fee. This is because there is an opportunity cost for your photographer as they will not be able to take up another job on either day when they normally could.
Vendors’ Meals
While this is not always the case, some vendors may insist that a meal be provided for them during the wedding. Even if they don’t, it is a nice gesture to order something for your wedding team as they are the ones seeing to it that your dream day comes to reality.
This list of hidden wedding costs is not meant to be exhaustive, but we hope it shed some light on potential extra costs you may not have budgeted for. Anything we miss that should be added to the list? Send us a message at hello@thewedmag.com.