At a glance
Venue: Restaurant JAG, Singapore
Guest count: 9 (including the couple)
Planning timeline: 2 months
Key decision: Spending on what was genuinely meaningful, and not spending on what wasn’t
Primary lesson: A small budget doesn’t mean a small wedding
The morning of Charmaine Yap and Theodore Tan’s wedding began quietly. They had coffee, went to the gym, and eased into the day like they would on any other weekend. By the afternoon, nine people were gathered around a sunlit table at Restaurant JAG. There, Charmaine and Theodore exchanged their vows, held a tea ceremony, listened to a prayer from Theodore’s mother, and shared a vegetable-focused lunch with the people closest to them. Their total spend came in comfortably under $5,000.
They walked away from the day without a single regret.
Their celebration was not driven by sacrifice or by trying to hack the system. It started much earlier, with a simple, honest question between the two of them: what is this day really for? Only after they answered that did any conversation with vendors begin. “We decided on the things that were meaningful to us and only spent on those things,” Theodore says. That clarity did more for their wedding than any money-saving trick could have.
Know what the day is actually for
Many of Charmaine and Theodore’s choices make sense only when you understand the values behind them. Both of them wore Uniqlo. There was no makeup artist, no wedding cake, no stationery, no live band, and no planner. These were not last-minute cuts or half-hearted compromises. They were deliberate decisions made by two people who knew themselves well enough to step away from anything that did not feel like them.
What they did fund was very specific: a venue whose food philosophy resonated with Charmaine’s pescatarian lifestyle, a photographer whose eye they trusted completely, and florals that felt personally significant instead of purely decorative. Every item in their budget earned its place because it meant something to them. Nothing was added just because weddings are “supposed” to include it.
Instead of beginning with a typical budget spreadsheet filled with categories, they started with a different kind of question: what would we be most disappointed not to have? The answers pointed directly toward their priorities. Once those were clear, it became surprisingly easy to leave everything else out.
Choose your venue for alignment, not aesthetics alone
Charmaine and Theodore visited four venues on a single Saturday in early March and made their final choice by the end of that afternoon. Restaurant JAG did not simply feel like the prettiest option. Its focus on seasonal, vegetable-forward cuisine matched Charmaine’s own values. “It meant a lot to find a restaurant with a gently thoughtful menu,” she says.
The decision was helped along by the warmth of the team, led by Maryjoy, and the presence of Chef Jeremy in the space. The people, the food philosophy, and the atmosphere all pointed in the same direction, and the couple could feel it.
When you choose a venue that already reflects what you care about, the day holds together in an easy, natural way. The food becomes part of the story you are telling, not just something that sits around it.
For couples working within a modest budget, a private dining room in a restaurant you genuinely love is one of the most overlooked options in Singapore. You gain an intimate space, a professional service team, and a kitchen that is already confident in what it does. Often, the per-person cost is lower than a traditional banquet. The scale of the room also tends to match the guest list better, which means you do not have to work as hard to make a large ballroom feel cosy.
Book your photographer first and let everything else follow
The first vendor Charmaine and Theodore booked was not the venue. It was their photographer, Melvin Wong of Yet Another Boring Day. They chose him because of the way he photographs ordinary moments as they are, rather than arranging everything to fit a polished ideal.
Charmaine had already worked with Melvin when she proposed to Theodore, so there was a sense of ease and familiarity from the beginning. “We wanted a photographer who can capture the wedding as it actually is,” she explains.
Through Melvin, they found their videographer, Maxx Chew of For The Misfits. The friendship between the two creatives added another layer of warmth to the day. It is a simple example of how one trusted photographer referral can quietly solve another major vendor decision.
There is also something to be said about the order in which they planned. Photography is one of the few things that stays with you long after the day is over. Couples who start by choosing their photographer often discover that the rest of the planning can form around that choice. When your photographer truly understands what you are trying to create, they naturally point you toward other vendors who share the same approach.
Let meaning do the decorating
With only nine people in the room, there was no need to fill space and no way to hide from each other. The size of the guest list created its own kind of atmosphere. What Charmaine and Theodore found is that intimacy, on its own, can feel like decoration.
Florist Amanda from Studio Wilt designed the table arrangements using vegetables from Restaurant JAG’s kitchen, such as artichokes and greens, and paired them with a few carefully chosen flowers. She also worked egg cartons into the design, not because they looked a certain way, but because they carried a story. Charmaine’s father regularly delivers eggs to her, a small, ongoing act of care. By bringing the egg cartons to the table, Amanda made his quiet devotion part of the room.
During his speech, Charmaine’s father took out a small car mirror charm she had made for him when she was three years old. He had kept it in every car he had owned since then. There is no line item in a budget that can purchase a moment like that. What made it possible was a wedding small and calm enough for everyone present to absorb it fully.
Charmaine and Theodore also prepared bouquets for each of their mothers. Amanda designed them to reflect each woman’s personality. In a gathering of seven guests, this was not a side gesture. It became one of the central scenes of the day.
What a $5,000 wedding actually costs
Charmaine and Theodore’s wedding did not end up being affordable by coincidence. It stayed within budget because they were honest with themselves about what they valued, and they did not spend beyond that.
Photography, venue, and florals received the funding they needed because there were no competing “just in case” expenses. Every dollar went toward something with a clear purpose.
For couples planning their own celebrations, the most helpful question may not be “How do we spend less?” A more useful starting point is, “What would we be most disappointed not to have?” Once that answer is clear, you can allocate money toward those priorities and treat everything else as optional until it proves essential.
A wedding planned this way does not feel like a smaller version of a grander event. It feels finished, whole, and fully itself.
Charmaine and Theodore’s wedding was photographed by Melvin Wong of Yet Another Boring Day. Florals and décor by Amanda of Studio Wilt. Videography by Maxx Chew of For The Misfits.
Read the full feature: -> Charmaine & Theodore’s Quiet Celebration at Restaurant JAG
