• Couples have had to adapt and change their wedding plans along with the changing Covid-19 rules
• Wedding receptions have been permitted from July 12 after a temporary halt
• Some couples are going ahead with their receptions and others are still waiting for the Covid-19 situation to get better
• Couples whose weddings are later this year or next year are holding off plans until closer to the date

SINGAPORE —  Operations manager Amanda Khoo, 27, had just printed her wedding invitations when she learnt that she had to postpone her wedding reception that was to be held in late June. 

Infection control regulations for Covid-19 were extended on June 18 due to the Bukit Merah View market cluster and a rise in community cases that prohibited large gatherings, including wedding receptions, at least until mid-July. 

Such events, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said, were of higher risk since attendees tend to socialise more and over a longer period of time. 

Ms Khoo said: “I was very sad and disappointed... We had already gone down to the hotel to recce and had planned out everything with all the vendors.

“We had to reschedule everything and find a new common date for everyone.”

Ms Khoo and her fiance went ahead with their wedding solemnisation on June 26 but postponed the reception to later this month on July 25.

Last week, the Government’s Covid-19 task force lifted some restrictions for social activities that included allowing wedding receptions and banquets to be held, provided certain conditions are met.

No more than 250 people are allowed and there has to be pre-event testing. If there are 50 guests or fewer, pre-event testing will be required only for the wedding party that should number no more than 20.

Ms Khoo and her fiance decided to go on with the wedding reception instead of waiting for the Covid-19 situation to stabilise further because they do not want to “drag it out” any longer.

“This is supposed to be a dinner to celebrate the union of the couple so it’ll be weird if you drag it for too long. By then we would have been married for a while,” she said.

Another couple who have had to adapt their wedding plans to the changing Covid-19 restrictions were Mr Evan Ong, 35, and Ms Anna Lim, 29. 

Live bands, coconut carts and an after-party supper with a private chef cooking instant noodle Indomie were just part of their plans for their Bali wedding. 

The couple, both self-employed, had been looking forward to the wedding in Indonesia last May, which was to be followed by two other wedding receptions in Singapore.

However, their plans to fly to Bali were derailed when the Covid-19 outbreak in Singapore worsened and the country went into a semi-lockdown.

Ms Lim said that having to tell their friends about the postponement of their Bali wedding was “the worst”.

“They were all quite understanding, except for a small few... who kept pressuring us to get an answer (on when the wedding was going to be held),” she added. 

With global travel restrictions still in place and most borders closed, the couple has postponed their wedding a few times — first to the middle of this year and then to May next year.

“It was a lot of disappointment at the start and fear that the wedding wasn’t going to happen. But at the same time, deep inside, we know that us getting married is just a matter of time,” Ms Lim said.

Mr Ong, who was looking forward to having his parents who live in Australia joining him in Bali, is kept on his toes about the status of the wedding.

“I’m scared to hope... I’ll only let myself get excited when borders really open and we know that it’s going to materialise for sure.”

'VERY STRESSFUL'

Ms Nithiyakamala, 31, a patient service associate who gave only her first name, was two days away from her wedding when Singapore went into a heightened alert phase in mid-May and it was announced that wedding receptions would be prohibited. 

Since she and her husband-to-be had to postpone their wedding reception, the management of the wedding venue told them that they could not use the same function hall for their wedding solemnisation on the same day and shifted the event to a smaller room. 

This room could accommodate just 15 people due to safe distancing rules and Ms Nithiyakamala and her husband had to slash the number of guests.

“It was very stressful having to cut the guest list since I know people would have already booked their makeup artists and gotten their outfits ready… I had to cut out even my bridesmaids (from the guest list)” she said.

She and her husband are holding off on making plans for their wedding reception until the Covid-19 situation stabilises. 

“We don’t want to confirm anything right now until we make sure that there are no Covid-19 clusters and the rules have mostly eased,” she added.

PLANNING CLOSER TO DATE

For one bride-to-be, civil servant Felicia Lee, the fluctuating Covid-19 situation is a concern but the 26-year-old is not too worried about the possible postponement of her wedding next June because “the date is still pretty far away”. 

“It’s not within our control. Everything looked fine before the recent mini lockdown... so the same situation that happened this year might happen next year because of a new variant,” she said, adding that she and her fiance will “see how when it comes”.

What they had to give up though, was a planned trip to New Zealand last December for their pre-wedding photoshoot due to closed borders. 

They had paid a photographer based there a deposit of S$1,000 — a sum they are prepared to lose should borders remain closed and the contract is voided.

“It is a huge disappointment that we have come to terms with,” Ms Lee said. 

Mr Jarren Goh, 27, and Ms Felisa Tan, 28, said that they will only start the bulk of the planning for their January 2022 wedding two or three months before.

“For now, we’re just leaving it because in case there are any changes, all our efforts could go down the drain,” Ms Tan, a financial consultant, said.

The couple wanted to go overseas for their wedding and photoshoot, but said that they could save money and logistics now that borders are closed.

“We weren’t disappointed… there was no choice,” Mr Goh, a human resources officer, said.

Similarly, entrepreneur Natalie Tan, 25, said that she and her fiance have not done much planning for their December wedding this year since things have been too uncertain.

“I feel very uncomfortable because I’m a planner and if I had my way, everything would be planned already,” Ms Tan admitted.

She and her fiance had envisioned a wedding where guests would be “mixing around” more and thought of partnering guests who do not know each other to allow them to get to know new people during the wedding.

With Covid-19, she knows that this would not be possible. “So I think, for us, this ‘chill vibe’ of the wedding is no longer there.”

The good thing is, the planner in her has learnt to be more flexible and adaptable. 

“I wouldn’t say that this (situation) has been a challenge for us... It has become more of ‘us versus Covid-19’ rather than the two of us fighting (with) each other (during planning).”