Number of couples tying the knot bounces back to pre-pandemic levels

The number of couples who tied the knot in the first seven months of this year has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels.

Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said in a Facebook post yesterday that 14,981 couples got married between January and July this year - similar to pre-Covid-19 levels.

Ms Sun also said more couples said "I do" in the first half of the year, compared with the same period last year. A total of 12,980 couples wed up to June this year, 46 per cent more than the 8,862 couples in the same period last year, a check by The Straits Times found.

Wedding planners interviewed said the number of weddings this year has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels for a few reasons.

For one, some couples had postponed their wedding last year due to the circuit breaker from April 7 to June 1 last year, and limits on the number of guests allowed.

Ms Cheryl Tan, founder of wedding planner The Wedding Concepteur, said: "As we are still stuck in the pandemic after more than a year, many couples prefer to move on with their lives and plans by holding their wedding this year."

Then, there are also the couples who had planned to wed this year.

Ms Zhang Wen Xin, senior principal stylist at The Wedding Stylist, said: "People have also realised that Covid-19 is going to be here for the long term, and there is some fatigue from the changing restrictions. Couples have decided not to wait for restrictions to be completely relaxed... so they are proceeding with their weddings for this year and next."

The rules covering weddings have changed several times since the pandemic struck early last year. For example, most solemnisations scheduled during the circuit breaker had to be postponed as couples were not allowed to solemnise their marriages in person, unless their appeals were successful.

Ms Huang Mei Ling, a 38-year-old analyst, was supposed to marry Mr Saurabh Dutta, 37, last November. The couple, who met three years ago, postponed their nuptials to May this year, hoping border restrictions would be eased after vaccinations are rolled out, making it easier for their family and friends overseas to celebrate their wedding with them.

Mr Dutta, a general manager in an aviation firm, is a Singapore permanent resident from India who has been living here for almost 20 years. His parents flew in from India for the wedding.

Ms Huang's best friend and cousins, who are living overseas and were supposed to be her bridesmaids, ended up attending the wedding virtually on Zoom.

The Singaporean said: "I felt it was too much to ask my bridesmaids to do the 14-day stay-home notice here and back in their country. But we also felt that Covid-19 is not going to go away soon."

She said it was extremely stressful planning a wedding with ever-changing rules. Mr Dutta said that it was also "socially challenging" inviting a guest but not the partner or children due to limits on the maximum number of guests.

Their big day was May 2, with 98 guests attending their solemnisation and lunch banquet at the Regent Singapore. The occasion was live-streamed on Zoom to their relatives and friends overseas.

Educator Kayne Kwa, 42, proposed to Ms Louise Koh, 39, last year and tied the knot on Jan 16.

About 100 guests attended the wedding Mass at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Upper Thomson Road, where the couple had met. They had been dating for about three years. The couple then held a lunch reception at the Chui Huay Lim Teochew Cuisine restaurant in Newton for 30 family members.

Ms Koh, who heads a marketing department, said: "What was important to us was to marry in church with our loved ones around to witness that, rather than to throw a big party."