• Weddings with over 50 attendees will now have to get their guests swabbed
• Some couples reduced number of guests, while some chose to go ahead as planned
• Some venues have offered to absorb part of the cost for swab tests

SINGAPORE — Ms Claudia Marianne Benedict had invited 62 guests to her wedding, thinking that by keeping the number of guests below 100, she would not have to make them undergo Covid-19 swab tests before her event.

On Tuesday (May 4) the authorities revised the rules, reducing the limit to 50, which meant that Ms Benedict has to get them tested if she wants all of them to come.

She chose to uninvite 12.

“It was very embarrassing and very upsetting to have to rescind my invitations to (the 12 guests),” said Ms Benedict, a 25-year-old financial consultant whose wedding is set to take place at Tamarind Hill restaurant on May 15.

“But I felt that it was the easier option, rather than have everyone take a swab test, which also adds additional costs,” said Ms Benedict, who was given a quote of S$50 per swab test.

With the authorities reintroducing more stringent measures in response to rising community Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, some couples here have decided to uninvite guests from their wedding to comply with the stricter pre-event testing rules that kicked in on May 8.

Other couples have chosen to go ahead with their weddings as planned, while a handful have raced against the clock to bring forward their weddings to get around the restrictions.

Earlier this week, the Government task force handling Singapore’s response to the pandemic announced that wedding receptions and marriage solemnisations may still proceed with up to 250 attendees in total, but those with more than 50 guests would need to arrange for swab tests for all attendees, including the wedding couple.

Previously, only wedding receptions with more than 100 guests required all attendees to be swabbed. For marriage solemnisations with more than 100 attendees, only the wedding couple needs to get tested, if unvaccinated.

Another bride caught in a similar situation was Ms Val L.

The 30-year-old healthcare worker, who declined to give her full name, will be getting married at Fullerton Hotel on May 30 — the last day when the new measures will be in effect — and had invited 82 guests.

But she was quoted around S$30 per swab test, so Ms Val decided whittling down her guest list was more prudent as the cost would set her back by almost S$2,500 for an already five-digit-sum wedding.

They considered postponing their wedding, but the couple is keen to start a family soon.

The decision to uninvite some guests comes with the perils of navigating interpersonal and familial relationships.

Ms Val’s parents advised her to uninvite her cousins and have the older generation of relatives present, while her fiance’s family decided to have one member of each relative’s family attend to represent their entire family.

“Even now, I still haven’t worded the best message to uninvite them,” she said.

SOME WENT AHEAD WITH WEDDING PLANS

Then there are couples like Mr Brandon Pang, 28, and his wife, Ms Vanetta Wong, 27, who brought forward their wedding reception to Friday once they heard the news.

They had initially planned to get hitched on Sunday.

“We were panicking because we could not possibly downsize the number of people that we invited to the wedding,” said Mr Pang, an executive financial consultant who had invited 100 guests to the reception.

The couple also felt that it would be logistically impossible to inform and get all their guests to do a pre-event test on Saturday at such short notice.

So they contacted all their guests and vendors to find out if they were available — from the photographers to the solemniser — and also scrambled to find out if the venue, Conrad Centennial Hotel, had an earlier slot available.

The last-minute effort by all parties pulled the wedding off successfully and only two guests could not make it for the Friday reception in the end, said Mr Pang.

“Everyone moved schedules and changed their appointments just to show us their support… Our bridesmaids told us that if we decided to shift the wedding, they would take leave from work just to make it happen,” he said.

Bride-to-be Hilary Tan, who will be getting married on May 15, decided to go ahead with her wedding plans and chose to absorb the cost of pre-event testing for her 100 guests.

When the new measures were announced, the 26-year-old public relations consultant was firm in wanting to carry forward with the wedding, but was concerned about the logistics of getting all her guests swabbed in time for the wedding.

Thankfully, though, the venue was able to allow pre-event testing on site. She was also able to get part of the cost for the swab tests subsidised at about S$20 per person.

SOME WEDDING VENUES OFFER TO ABSORB TESTING COSTS

Some hotels and restaurants told TODAY they are offering to cover some of the cost for pre-event testing for couples affected by the new regulations.

Ms Cinn Tan, chief sales and marketing officer at Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which operates five hotels here, said its hotel, Parkroyal on Beach Road, will absorb half of the pre-event testing cost for weddings held in May with 100 people.

Another hotel under the group, Parkroyal on Kitchener Road, has secured a “preferential rate” from home healthcare service Speedoc for couples who require pre-event testing.

Pan Pacific Hotels Group runs Pan Pacific Singapore, Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, Parkroyal Collection Pickering, Parkroyal on Beach Road and Parkroyal on Kitchener Road.

A spokesperson for restaurant The Summer House, a popular wedding venue, will also absorb a portion of the cost for couples getting married in May.

Mr Garth Simmons, chief executive officer for Accor Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, said one of its hotels, Fairmont Singapore, will cover the cost of pre-event testing for any weddings impacted until May 30.

The group operates 27 hotels in Singapore, including Raffles Hotel Singapore, Sofitel and Novotel.

The hotel operators and restaurants said they have received requests from couples to either cancel, postpone or reduce the number of attendees since the news broke earlier this week.

The Summer House spokesperson said about 40 per cent of wedding couples have requested to postpone their weddings.

Of the remaining couples who have chosen to go ahead with their receptions in May, half have chosen to scale down their guest lists, while the other half have chosen to arrange for pre-event testing for their guests.

Mr Simmons said only a few couples have chosen to reduce the capacity of their receptions, while 30 per cent of couples have asked to cancel or postpone. Some are still deliberating on their decision.

SOME GUESTS HAPPY TO ABSORB TESTING COSTS

Compliance executive Cindy Wong, 30, will be attending a friend’s wedding on May 16 at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and is prepared to pay for the swab.

“Earlier this week, the bride sent us all a video by the hotel on the swabbing procedure… She asked if we are okay with it and if we are still coming. We assured her that we are,” said Ms Wong.

Mr Matthew Ang was set to attend his uncle’s wedding on May 17, but has since been uninvited because of the new rules.

The 20-year-old, who works part-time at Baker & Cook, said the couple chose to prioritise “important and senior members of the family” when deciding who to remove from the guest list.