6th November 2026 - 5 min read
The average minimum amount a couple needs to spend on a wedding is now RM27,332, up from RM20,047 ten years ago, according to the Sixth Malaysian Population and Family Survey (KPKM-6). The same survey found that 47.2% of single people say money is one of the reasons they’re not married yet.
In our own RinggitPlus Malaysian Financial Literacy Survey (RMFLS) 2026, we asked people aged 25 to 44 whether money had changed their plans in the past five years. Of them, 24.3% delayed or decided against marriage, a wedding, or a first child because of money.
Before you work out a monthly amount, ask both sets of parents what they plan to pay for. Parents often cover their own side’s reception, and some help with the catering or the venue.
How much you need to put aside each month depends on when you’re getting married. If the wedding is a year away, you’d need to save RM2,278 a month between the two of you to reach RM27,332. Give yourselves two years, and that drops to RM1,139 a month, leaving more room for rent and the money you send home. Both amounts assume you’re paying for all of it yourselves.
Keep the wedding fund in a high-interest savings account and set up an automatic transfer on payday, before the month’s spending starts. At 3% p.a., you could earn about RM800 in interest over those two years.
Before you split anything, tell each other what you owe. In our RMFLS 2026, 26% of people who had been married or in a long-term relationship didn’t know their partner’s debt at all before committing.
This can become an issue when couples assume they have the same capacity to save and spend. Car loans, PTPTN and other monthly repayments can leave one person with much less disposable income than the other, even if they earn similar salaries.
Work out what’s left after paying your loans and usual bills before deciding how much each of you puts into the wedding fund.
A 50/50 split can be hard on the partner who earns less. Say one of you takes home RM3,000 a month and the other RM4,500. Half of RM1,139 is RM569 each, which is 19% of the smaller salary and 13% of the larger one. For the person on RM3,000, that can mean saying no to things every month.
Instead, you can split it by income, with one of you paying 40% and the other 60%. That’s RM456 and RM683, or 15% of each salary.
Angpao and duit salam may help offset wedding costs, but they won’t cover upfront expenses. The venue and caterer usually need to be paid before the wedding, while the gifts only come in on the day itself.
If you’re short of money, a personal loan might seem like a way to make up the rest without changing your wedding plans. Borrow RM27,332 over five years at 6% p.a., charged only on what you still owe, and you’d pay RM4,372 in interest altogether. You’d still be paying it off in your fifth year of marriage, when you may be saving for a home.
From 1 January 2027, Bank Negara Malaysia requires new personal loans to charge interest only on what you still owe. Until then, some loans still charge interest on the full amount for the whole loan. These flat-rate loans usually advertise a lower rate. A 3.5% flat-rate loan on the same amount costs RM4,783 in interest, more than the 6% loan above.
To compare loans, look at the effective interest rate. It’s the rate you’d pay if interest was charged only on what you still owe. For that 3.5% flat-rate loan, it’s about 6.5%. The bank has to show it to you before you sign, and our personal loan guide explains how to compare both types.
Once the wedding is over, you’ll also need somewhere to live. Staying with either set of parents for a while costs the least and lets you keep saving. Renting usually means paying two months’ rent as a security deposit, half a month for utilities and the first month’s rent before you get the keys. On a RM1,500 unit, that’s RM5,250.
If you’re planning to buy a home straight after the wedding, you’ll need to save more. Banks usually lend up to 90% of a property’s price, so a RM400,000 home needs a RM40,000 down payment, plus legal fees. If it’s your first home, you won’t pay stamp duty on a home up to RM500,000. Budget 2027 proposes keeping this until the end of 2030.
Add the RM40,000 to the RM27,332 wedding and you’re looking at RM67,332, or RM2,806 a month over two years. Our home loan calculator shows what the monthly instalment on the rest would be.
Try not to spend all your savings on the wedding. You’ll still need money for the deposit on your new place and for furniture. After the wedding, keep the payday transfer running and point it at your home fund, along with any angpao, duit salam and anything left over.
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Christina writes about personal finance with an eye for making the complicated feel straightforward. She is drawn to the everyday money decisions people face and genuinely enjoys finding the clearest way to explain them. Between articles, she is probably napping, on a hiking trail, or terrorising her sister’s cats.
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