Katelyn Tan | A Singapore Beauty, Travel and Lifestyle Blogger

[Wedding 101] How Much Red Packet to Give Your Groomsmen and Bridesmaids?

Saturday 15 February 2020


This is a tricky question, everyone has a different view on this. Personally, I feel that it depends on how much time and money they are spending to help you with your wedding. During my wedding planning, I referenced from an online article by Her World - How much ang bao to give your wedding helpers and vendors, and it said that the market rate is between $48 to $150.

But I have to say, our close friends' participation in our wedding as brothers and sisters is priceless. I am thankful that they took a weekend off to help us, hence we wanted to give them enough to cover whatever cost that might have incurred to them.

So how do you gauge how much to give? You can try asking yourself the below questions and see how much you would deem as a good amount for your groom and bride team. I feel that for every yes, you should increase the amount to help them "cover the cost" cause it is your wedding and they are helping you so they shouldn't have to pay for these.
• Are they taking their own transport to your venue?
• Are they buying their own outfits?
• Are they paying for any alterations?
• Are they taking leave from work to help you?
• Are they flying in to celebrate your wedding?
• Are they booking their own accommodation?
• Are you catering buffet lunch for them?
• Are you assigning a lot of duties to them?

And the list goes on... I know some people do give their brothers and sister different amounts based on how much duties they were assigned. We gave our brothers and sisters the same amount as we felt that they each played an important role in the wedding. We tried not to trouble them before or after the wedding so the duties were all for the actual day. Honestly, every one will be very busy that day and keeping a look out for each other. If certain brothers or sisters went the extra mile to help you with preparations or planning before the wedding, you might want to give them a treat or an additional angbao to thank them for their help.

Wedding Co-ordination Tip: Brides, if you are having a gatecrash, you can consider giving your bridesmaids prior hints on when to stop. I told my girls that the max is 3 angbaos cause that's all we have planned. That way, there wouldn't be a confusion of when to let the groom in amidst all the playing.

For the actual day, I feel that wedding coordinators are the most important, that's why many are willing to spend over $1,000 to engage one. You really need to choose someone with experience and also someone you can trust, especially if you have auspicious timings to follow. You will ultimately have the decision to speed up or slow down but this person has to be there to track the time for you tell you if things are going to over-run.

Wedding Co-ordination Tip: To avoid over-running, do buffer time for your travel, cause you need to walk from the car to your location too. Check the estimated travel time on Google (you can set the date and time), take the longest travel time and add a 10 to 15 mins buffer to it! We buffered quite a bit for our wedding so everything was done earlier than expected. It's better than having to be chased and rushed the whole day, especially if you have auspicious timings to follow!

That said, these are just what I think and eventually, it still depends on what you are comfortable with giving. Also, just remember to be appreciative of their efforts! :)

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