UPTICK IN DEMAND FOR WEDDING SERVICES Despite rising inflation adding to the cost of holding a wedding, couples here who have postponed theirs are still willing to fork out extra money for banquet bookings and other wedding services. Some couples told The Straits Times that what they paid for bookings made before capacity limits on gatherings were eased in end-April would need to be topped up - but added they would be willing to pay to finally be able to celebrate with their families. Pandemic delays and travel restrictions meant that financial planner Carmen Leong, 30, and her partner, 34, who works in the jewellery industry, had to postpone their wedding dinner at the grand ballroom at JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach twice. Originally meant to be held at the start of 2020, it was first moved a year later to 2021. But travel restrictions at the time meant the bride's Malaysian side of the family would not be able to make it, so the couple decided to wait until December this year. In between, they also officially registered their marriage at the start of January 2021 to secure a house. Land borders between Singapore and Malaysia were opened only on April 1. Subsequently, the Government lifted restrictions on group sizes on April 26, freeing up wedding venues here to increase capacity. With their wedding banquet going ahead later this year - and with 200 to 230 people expected to attend - the couple will have to pay an extra $100 per table. The additional costs come as inflationary pressures have driven up the cost of food and manpower, but Ms Leong is unfazed. "It makes sense to have to pay a bit more... we cannot expect the same rates as before, with labour and food costs going up," said Ms Leong, who is expecting to spend about $70,000 to $80,000 on the wedding. But, ultimately, she just wants to be able to finally celebrate with both the Singaporean and Malaysian sides of her family together." This way, I can finally have the wedding I envisioned... it is also the holiday season, so everyone can make it," she added. While the pandemic disrupted nuptials in 2020, there was a sharp rise in marriages last year, according to figures released by the Department of Statistics earlier this month. A total of 28,329 couples tied the knot last year, up 25.1 per cent from 22,651 in 2020. Many of these were weddings that had been postponed from 2020, according to solemnisers. Many postponed weddings are also taking place this year, and hotels across the board said they saw an immediate spike in bookings for wedding venues in the weeks after capacity restrictions were lifted. JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach's grand ballroom - one of the most popular wedding venues in Singapore, even before the pandemic - is booked out with only limited availability for the rest of the year. The group, whose stable of hotels includes The Orchard Hotel Singapore, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel and M Social Singapore, saw an uptick of 10 per cent to 15 per cent in wedding inquiries, due largely to the backlog of many postponed celebrations. Without capacity limits hindering them, many couples also increased their banquet sizes and added more tables, said Mr Er. For the group's larger hotels, like The Orchard Hotel Singapore and Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, where capacity was limited to 250 previously, at least a quarter of wedding couples requested a larger space to cater for up to 600 people. "Given the pandemic-induced cabin that many have experienced, couples are taking this opportunity to throw a big party by inviting everyone to come celebrate their big day with them," he added. The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore also saw a 30 per cent spike in wedding inquiries compared with the past two years. Many of these were for larger weddings, which can be held in its grand ballroom. The ballroom, which was recently refurbished, has three panoramic LED video walls and a high ceiling, and is pillarless, meaning it can accommodate up to 1,000 guests. "For these reasons, it is popular with high-society couples who like to hold larger weddings," said Ms Junya Rumjaroenchai, Director of Catering at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. Besides the easing of restrictions, some hotels like The Regent Singapore also saw a surge in bookings by people looking to get ahead of the goods and services tax going up from 7 per cent to 8 per cent at the start of next year. "The 2022 demand in wedding bookings at Regent Singapore has far surpassed our expectations," said Mr Oscar Postma, General Manager of the hotel. The hotel saw a 100 per cent increase in demand compared with the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, and even a 35 per cent increase compared with the pre-pandemic period of 2019. Wedding planners are also seeing an increase in demand for their services as they seek help not only in planning the details to ensure a perfect wedding, young couples in their 20s who are on a tight budget and are seeking advice how to control the cost. Ms Cheryl Tan, 38, founder of The Wedding Concepteur, said that managing costs is many couples' main worry. "With the GST set to rise to 8 per cent next year, we advised couples to pay for wedding banquets ahead of time, and in full this year even if they only plan to get married next year" said Ms Tan, who added that the firm is seeing more couples wanting to hold larger-scale weddings of at least 200 to 350 people. Caterers also told ST that guests are willing to pay more. "It seems like our guests have been pretty accepting of the new charges, and they are happy to pay if they get excellent event support," said Mr Willie Tan, 52, Chief Executive of Amici Events and Catering, who said that prices have gone up for ingredients, manpower and transport. But some couples, like digital creative Salina Chai, 28, and her partner, business owner John Chung, 30, said the additional costs have been an added strain. "It is really expensive getting married in Singapore and it has been a big strain... we are still young and we have a lot of other expenses, like the house," said Ms Chai, who also registered for marriage mid-pandemic to secure housing. They booked Chinese restaurant Min Jiang at Dempsey last year, but the minimum spend for their wedding dinner taking place in November this year has gone up by $2,000. Their smaller-scale wedding will have about 100 guests. But Ms Chai is just glad to finally celebrate her wedding with the rest of the family. She said: "We could not have done it last year, where there was no intermingling, live music or dancing allowed. Besides capacity restrictions, there was also the need for unnecessary spending in the form of pre-event testing for guests... so it finally feels like a good time to have everyone come together.

q.

dentify and describe any THREE (3) levels of needs that wedding services at Ritz Carlton and Wedding Concepteur aims to satisfy in its product offerings to the target consumers identified in (a).