How much to put in the red packet: your seat at what the venue charges for a table, a bit more the closer you are, in an amount that’s customary. Hotel by hotel.
Friend, alone, Saturday dinner at a typical hotel, 2026S$298anywhere from S$268 to S$338
A table at the middle hotel of the 17 we list, Saturday dinner, with service charge and GST
S$2,671
Your seat, a table of 10
S$267
As a friend: × 1.1 (up to × 1.25)
S$294
A customary amount
S$298
Covering your seat is the custom, not a rule: give what you can. A friend usually gives a bit more than the seat.
Customary amounts are even and have no 4 in them (四, four, sounds like 死, death), and 8s (八, sounds like 发, prosper) are welcome.
Ang bao rates, venue by venue
What to give for a Saturday dinner, the dearest slot, at each venue’s own published wedding package. Lunch and weekdays cost the couple less, and so can you: tap a venue for its every day.
Saturday dinner, for one person: a table as the venue prices it (++ is before service charge and GST), a seat with them. At each venue’s own published package for its year (2026 or 2027), checked 2 Nov 2026. As a couple, about twice: tap a venue for every day, lunch or dinner, alone or together.
How we work it out
There’s no official rate. The custom is that your ang bao at least covers what the couple pays for your seat, so that’s where we start:
A table at the venue, at its own published wedding package for that day and meal. Most are “++”: add 10% service charge and then 9% GST, × 1.199 in all.
Your seat is a tenth of that, as tables seat 10. Coming as a couple, it’s two seats.
How close you are: a colleague or acquaintance covers the seat; a friend gives about 10% more, a close friend about 30% and a relative about 50%, each with a range. These steps are our own, not a rule.
A customary amount: the sum rounded to an even amount (one ending in 0 or 8) with no 4 in it, as 四 (four) sounds like 死 (death). The 400s are out altogether, so S$420 becomes S$398 and S$450 becomes S$500. An 8, 八, sounds like 发, to prosper, so S$168, S$188 or S$288 are welcome.
With no dinner (a church wedding, ROM, void deck or a tea ceremony) there’s no seat to cover, so the amounts are smaller, our own sense of what’s usual.
These are typical going rates, not rules. Give what you can afford: no couple should mind, and a heartfelt card counts for more than a few dollars.
Table prices from each venue’s own wedding packages, checked 2 Nov 2026, linked on its page. Venues change their packages every year, and a couple’s own deal may be lower or higher.
Ang bao etiquette
New notes, in a red packet
Use crisp new notes (or good-as-new ones) in a red or gold packet, never a white one, which is for funerals. Fewer, bigger notes are easier for the couple’s friends to count. Banks have wedding and double-happiness (囍) packets, or the couple’s friends may have some at the door.
Write your name on it
Write your full name on the back, the way the couple knows you (“Ah Boy, Dad’s cousin”), and both names if you’re a couple. A short wish is nice: 百年好合 (bǎi nián hǎo hé, a hundred years of harmony) or 永结同心 (yǒng jié tóng xīn, hearts joined for ever), or just “Congratulations!”. The couple’s friends at the reception table write down who gave what so the couple can thank you, and an unnamed packet can’t be thanked.
Give it at the reception table
Hand it over, or drop it in the box, at the reception table when you arrive and sign the guest book. You don’t give it to the couple at the table or on stage. At a Malay wedding you might slip your envelope to the couple or their parents as you shake hands (salam).
PayNow ang bao
More couples now print a PayNow QR code on the reception table or the e-invitation, and it’s fine to use: put your name and “wedding” in the reference so they know it’s yours. Check the QR or number with the couple or a friend first, as scammers copy invitations. To make a PayNow QR of your own, there’s our PayNow QR maker, which works in your browser too. This page asks for no PayNow details at all.
If you can’t come
Say so as early as you can, so the couple can give your seat to someone else. You don’t owe the seat if you’re not in it: a smaller ang bao (the no-dinner amount, or about half) or a gift is kind, sent with a friend who’s going, by PayNow with a note, or with a card. If you said yes and don’t turn up, the couple has paid for your seat, so give what you would have.
Chinese New Year 2027
Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 6 Feb 2027 (day 2 on Sunday 7 Feb, so Monday 8 Feb is a holiday in lieu). Married couples give ang bao to children and unmarried relatives; working adults often give their parents one too. Like a wedding, new notes and no 4s, but the amounts are much smaller:
To
Typical
Friends’ and neighbours’ children
S$6 to S$10
Nieces, nephews and cousins’ children
S$10 to S$20
Close family’s children, godchildren
S$20 to S$50
Your own parents
S$100 and up, as you can
Our own sense of what’s usual, not a rule. Before each Chinese New Year, MAS and the banks let you book new or good-as-new notes to collect, and many give e-ang bao by PayNow or their bank’s app instead. When the holidays are and the best days to take leave: our holiday planner.
Questions
How much ang bao for a hotel wedding in 2026?
For a Saturday dinner at a hotel, about S$298 from a friend coming alone (S$268 to S$338): the middle hotel of the 17 we list charges S$2,671 a table with service charge and GST, S$267 a seat. A colleague gives about S$268, a close friend S$350 and a relative S$398.
How much should a couple give at a wedding?
Two seats’ worth, in one ang bao with both names: at a hotel on a Saturday night, about S$588 for friends, S$538 for colleagues and S$698 for close friends. At a restaurant, about S$370 for friends.
How much for a restaurant wedding?
Less than a hotel: the middle restaurant of the 4 we list charges S$1,682 a table for a Saturday dinner with service charge and GST, S$168 a seat, so about S$188 from a friend coming alone.
Can I give less for a lunch or weekday wedding?
Yes: the venue charges the couple less, so a seat costs less. At the middle hotel a weekday lunch is S$2,288 a table with service charge and GST, so about S$258 from a friend, against S$298 for a Saturday dinner.
Which wedding venue needs the biggest ang bao?
Of the 23 we list, Marina Bay Sands: S$2,880++ a table for a Saturday dinner in 2026, so about S$380 from a friend alone. The least dear hotel is York Hotel Singapore, about S$170.
Does the ang bao have to cover my seat?
No. It’s a custom, not a rule: covering the seat is the usual aim, because the couple has paid for it, but give what you can afford. Students and young guests often give less, and nobody should mind.
Why no 4s, and why even amounts?
四 (four) sounds like 死 (death), so S$40, S$140 or anything in the S$400s is avoided at a wedding. Even amounts are for pairs, a good thing at a wedding, and 8, 八, sounds like 发, to prosper, so S$88, S$168 or S$388 are welcome. Odd amounts are for funerals.
Where do I give the ang bao?
At the reception table when you arrive: hand it to the couple’s friends there, or drop it in the box, and sign the guest book. Write your name on it first so the couple know who to thank.
Can I give the ang bao by PayNow?
Yes, more couples put a PayNow QR code on the reception table or the e-invitation. Put your name and “wedding” in the reference, and check the QR or number with the couple first, as scammers copy invitations.
What if I can’t go to the wedding?
Tell the couple early so they can give your seat away. You don’t owe a seat you’re not in, so a smaller ang bao (about what you’d give with no dinner, or half) or a gift is kind, sent with a friend or by PayNow with a note. If you said yes and don’t turn up, give what you would have: they paid for your seat.
Is anything I pick sent anywhere?
No. It’s all worked out in your browser, and nothing you pick goes into the page’s address.