once in a lifetime
experience
a lifetime debt
For a once-in-a-lifetime wedding, you have to go all out to make it
count right? That's the mentality that put this couple in debt
after their matrimony.
Mr Cayden Lee and his wife are still struggling to make ends meet
after incurring their lavish $110,000k wedding back in October
2012.
The wedding was all they ever dreamed of. Their more extravagant
spendings included a $12,000 bridal arch consisting of 999 fresh
tulips from Holland, and a wedding banquet of 45 tables at the
Marina Bay Area, each costing $1,688++.
That, on top of bridal photography, makeup, hair styling and other
wedding frivolities, added to Mrs Lee's depression and sleep
loss.
According to AsiaOne, they borrowed $45,000 from a financial
institution with a repayment period of two years. They also
borrowed $4,000 from a licensed moneylender and $11,000 from a
relative. On top of that, they pumped in their entire savings of
$20,000 and charged another $30,000 to their individual credit
cards.
"Our relatives are mostly ordinary people, not highly educated, and
I think that is also why the hongbao collected eventually did not
cover some of the table costs," Mr Lee shared why they could not
break even on the cost of the wedding.
He added, "I think we have had more fights since we got married
than in the six years that we were dating," saying that they mostly
blamed each other for the situation.
Due to the debt, the couple had to put off their honeymoon in
Europe and swapped it for Genting Highlands, as well as spend
leisure time at home watching television.
They have learned from their lesson, and are advising others
against doing the same.
Mrs Lee told a mutual friend's daughter who was planning a lavish
wedding:
"Look at me, I went down the path like a fool and I am still paying
for the expensive lesson. Why walk down the same road as us?"
stomp