Wedding price tag: Under $900

Who: Mr Larry Ho, 37, an assistant sales manager in a chemical firm, and Ms Chia Sin Nee, 30, a relationship manager in a bank

When: April last year

Where: Their four-room HDB flat in Marine Terrace

Food: About $300

Stools: Less than $60

Flowers: Less than $50

Paper bunting & lights: Less than $50

Photography: $400

After weeks of considering various venues for their wedding ceremony, Ms Chia Sin Nee and Mr Larry Ho realised that the perfect setting had been right in front of them the whole time.

The couple decided to hold the ceremony in their four-room HDB flat in Marine Terrace, which was newly renovated to the tune of $50,000. "We wanted the ceremony to be warm and cosy. We had just moved in and realised it was the perfect setting for an intimate party," says Ms Chia.

Their solemnisation ceremony, officiated by a Justice of the Peace, took place in April last year in front of 30 friends and family members.

The couple, whose combined income is about $10,000 a month, spent just under $900 on the event, paying only for food, photography and decorative items. They bought 15 white stools from Ikea that cost $3.90 each and decorated the flat with fairy lights and bunting made with paper bought from a craft store. All the flowers used that day - gerberas, daisies and baby's breath - were bought from a wet market nearby for less than $50.

Mr Ho, whose parents are retired, put together his outfit with existing pieces in his wardrobe, while Ms Chia wore a short white dress with a faux-fur collar she had bought some time ago but never wore. They catered food from their favourite nasi padang stall in Kandahar Street, placing the food outside the flat.

Their families pitched in too. Ms Chia's older brother paid for the champagne.

One of the best parts about holding the wedding bash at home was that their guests could go barefoot and relax, she says. "People made themselves comfortable in every corner of the house."

Her mother, Madam Yvonne Chow, 56, says she was not at all disappointed by the small-scale ceremony.

"I thought it was very meaningful to have it in their own home with just a few relatives and close friends," says the accountant. Ms Chia's father is retired. "Besides, a marriage is about the two of them, so whatever they feel comfortable with, I am comfortable with too."

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