Save Money On Your Wedding Banquet: Credit Cards You Should be Using!
Faith Iraâ—Ź
Prices of weddings in Singapore could range between $30,000 and $60,000 and that is if you keep it simple.
Based on personal research and experience, a fellow Seedly writer covered the breakdown of how much an average wedding in Singapore costs, and it is estimated that an average of $30,000 alone can be spent on the wedding banquet.
With the banquet taking up more than half of the wedding expenses, all the more reason we should find ways to save money when we can! Here are some credit cards that you can benefit from:
TLDR; – Best Credit Cards For Different Rewards
- Earning Miles: Citi Premier miles visa card
- High Rebates: UOB One Card
- Weekend Dining: CIMB Visa Signature Card
- Redeeming Vouchers: HSBC Advance Visa Platinum
- All In One: American Express True Cashback
| Credit Card | Rebates | Annual Income of Card Holder | Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| CIMB Visa Signature | 0.2% cash rebate (No monthly minimum or cap) 10% on weekend dinning (Capped at $60 per month) | $30,000 | 0% Admin fee on foreign currency transactions |
| HSBC Advance Visa Platinum | 2.5% cash back for monthly spending of $2000 | $30,000 | $1 spent = 1 HSBC Point used to redeem shopping and dining vouchers. |
| UOB One Card | 5% rebate on retail spending of $2000 per month for 3 months 3.33% on spending $500/$1000 per month for each quarter | $30,000 | Higher rebates based on how much you spend |
| Citi Premier Miles Visa Card | 10% rebate at over 300 locations in Singapore | $50,000 | $1 Spent = 1.2 Miles which can be spent on online flights and hotels |
| American Express True Cashback card | 3% on total spending of $5000 within first 6 months Subsequently, 1.5% rebate | $30,000 | Multiple promotions from merchants all over the world. |
PSST! Want to know the best cashback cards for working adults? Take a look at this guide to the best cashback cards!
American Express True Cashback
The American Express True Cashback Card is the ideal card to use not only for your wedding banquet but also for the full expense of your wedding. This card has no cap on the cash back except for the first 6 months which is at 3% on up to a total of $5000. Subsequently, it drops to 1.5% so be sure to plan your expenses properly.
With partners all over the world, American Express has promotions available everywhere which allows you to benefit and save some money after all that spending on your wedding.
CIMB Visa Signature Card
CIMB Visa Signature Card may not have the highest rebate going at 0.2% but this card is ideal to use when spending on your wedding dinner as they provide a 10% rebate on weekend dining capped at $60 a month, with 8 monthly transactions. So by paying in installments for your wedding dinner, you will be able to earn some cash back every month.
Also, if you charge your full travel fees you will get travel accident insurance coverage as well as travel inconveniences. This card also has a 0% admin fee on foreign currency transactions when you use it overseas.
HSBC Advance Visa Platinum
A card that keeps on giving! 1 HSBC point is earned for every dollar spent which you can then use to redeem rewards such as shopping vouchers and dining vouchers. Not only that but there’s also a 2.5% cash back for monthly spending above $2000!
With such great discounts, use this card to pay for your wedding banquet and reap the rewards in your day to day life.
UOB One Card
Living up to its title as “Singapore’s most generous rebate card”, it has a 5% cash rebate on retail spending of $2000 per month for 3 consecutive months and 3.33% rebate for spending between $500-$1000 per month for each quarter.
There are many hotels that provide complimentary gifts or discounts for UOB cards. You can use your UOB card at Parkroyal hotel to enjoy a $88 discount per table for a table of 10, so be sure check with hotels that you are considering if they provide such discounts.
Citi Premier Miles Visa Card
Honeymoons can take up a big chunk of your finances but with the Citi Premier miles visa card, you can spend money on your banquet and earn mileage to use for your honeymoon.
For every $1 spent, you earn 1.2 miles which can be redeemed for flights and hotel transactions. Not only that but for any amount spent within the first 3 months, you get 15,000 miles. If you plan your expenses correctly, you can earn up to 42,000 miles!
Cost Cutting Tips
Now that you have an idea of which credit you might want to use, here are some other tips that could possibly help you cut costs:
1.Hold Your Dinner At Restaurants/ Cafes
There are many perks when having a dinner at a restaurant, you are free to choose a restaurant that suits your style as well as your food preference.
Opting for a restaurant to hold your wedding could cut costs by 50%! However, this depends on how much space you are taking up if you intend on booking the whole restaurant for the night, be prepared to pay for the amount the restaurant could be losing.
2.Lunch Instead Of Dinner
Whether you decide to hold your wedding reception at a ballroom or a restaurant, you will be cutting off 20 to 30 percent of the cost when choosing the lunch menu. On top of that, guests are more likely to consume less alcohol during lunch which saves you from paying for more bottles.
3.Go Easy On The Alcohol
If your wedding banquet is going to have alcohol, take not because your cost could skyrocket if you don’t manage this element well enough. Ensure that drinks are not served until the reception has started which will save you on a few bottles.
Find out if your guests like to drink liquor if there’s a handful of them, set aside a few bottles or you can easily switch liquor for beer which prevents you from having excess alcohol after the banquet.
4.Practical Wedding Favors
Let’s be real, we are not going to keep magnets or an ornament of some kind for a long time. Make your wedding favors something simple that your guests will use. Pinterest has so many ideas such as DIY gifts or cookies which your guests will definitely find some reason to enjoy.
What Else?
A wedding is one of the biggest days of our lives, on top of cutting costs on the banquet read up on some hacks to save money on your wedding. With that said, don’t hold back on having fun or making it memorable. Join our community for money saving tips which could help you in the future!
