Singapore wedding planning checklist, month by month

Most Singapore weddings come in two parts: the solemnisation, which most people still call the ROM, and the banquet. Sometimes they’re on the same day, often weeks apart, and each has its own deadlines. This checklist puts both on one timeline, starting about 18 months out. Move things earlier or later to suit you. The dates that really matter are the ROM rules and your venue’s own deadlines.

12 to 18 months before

• Pick a date, or a few. Many families check the almanac for an auspicious date, and many avoid the seventh lunar month. Have two or three options ready before you call venues.
• Book the banquet. Popular dates at hotels and restaurants go first, especially weekends. Ask what the price per table includes and when the final headcount is due.
• Agree the budget and how the two families will share the costs.

9 to 12 months before

• Book the photographer and videographer for the day itself.
• Choose a bridal studio if you want a gown package with a pre-wedding shoot.
• Decide where the solemnisation will be: at ROM, or at your own venue with a licensed solemniser. ROM slots are booked when you submit the application, first come first served, so popular days fill up.

6 to 9 months before

• Pre-wedding shoot, if you’re doing one.
• First draft of the guest list. If the ROM and banquet are on different days, keep two lists. Ask both sets of parents for their lists early, because that’s usually where the numbers grow.
• If either of you isn’t a Singapore citizen or PR, one of you must have spent at least 31 continuous days in Singapore before you can submit the marriage application. It can be an earlier trip.

4 to 6 months before

• Rings, makeup artist and hair.
• Make your wedding website: dates, venues, a map link, the dress code and the RSVP. Guests flying in need it first, to book flights. Here’s what overseas guests need on it.
• The earliest you can submit the ROM application is 6 months before the solemnisation, because it’s valid for 6 months. Submit early if you want first pick of a ROM slot.

3 months before

• Submit the ROM marriage application if you haven’t. (Full steps: how to ROM in Singapore.) You do it together online with Singpass, and it has to be in at least 21 days before the solemnisation date. The fee is $42 if at least one of you is a Singapore citizen or PR. After that you make your declarations, online if you’re eligible or in person at ROM.
• Choose your two witnesses. Both must be over 21 and bring their NRIC or passport.
• Book the bridal car, and start planning gate crash games with your bridesmaids.

2 months before

• Send the invitations with an RSVP link. In Singapore most replies come back on WhatsApp, so a link each guest can answer in a minute keeps every reply in one list. More on collecting RSVPs over WhatsApp.
• Set your RSVP deadline a week or two before the venue’s headcount deadline, so you have time to chase.

2 to 4 weeks before

• Guo da li. Most families hold the betrothal ceremony two to four weeks before the wedding, on a date chosen with the almanac. Customs differ between dialect groups, so check with your elders.
• Chase the guests who haven’t replied, with a short personal message to each rather than a broadcast.
• Give your emcee a one page run sheet: names to pronounce, the march-in, toasts and yam seng.

2 weeks before

• Final headcount to the venue.
• The seating plan. Plan it in a spreadsheet, give tables names guests can find, and let them look up their own seat on their phone. See seating plans for a Singapore banquet.
• Send the day’s timings to the bridal party, helpers and vendors. Here’s a typical Singapore wedding day schedule.

The week of the wedding

• The ang bao box, and one trusted person to look after it. Brief whoever is running the reception table.
• Gate crash props and the tea ceremony set.
• Confirm timings with every vendor.
• Sleep.

After the wedding

• Your solemniser registers the marriage online, and your digital certificate of marriage is emailed to you.
• Collect guests’ photos while they’re still on their phones. Here’s how to collect every photo.
• Send your thank-you messages.

Keep it in one place

On Keep This Day your wedding website, RSVPs and guest list and find-your-seat are free. If you want guests’ photos and wishes in one place, that’s the optional photo sharing. See how it fits a Singapore wedding.

ROM rules change. Always confirm the latest on the Registry of Marriages website. The ROM facts here were checked on 6 November 2026 against ROM’s Overview of Marriage Process (updated October 2026).