Lau Tian Ai,
If $42k still not enough, I strongly think u should revise your budget. I strongly think the amt mounting up your expenditure is e ping jing u gonna gif ur mom? I feel that nth such as 'brought u up so big liao blah blah blah'.. Unless you are telling me that after you marry off, you wont be financially supporting ur parents le (which in reality is not e case. U and me know jolly well that even after marry off, we will still financially support our own family. In e past why ping jing big big is bcos after the daughter is marry off, she wont earn back $ for her niang jia liao. Thus the ping jing applies here to pay off her parents' hard work for bringing her up. Which is so different from now.)
My BS is very ex $8888. (i don tink anyone can more ex unless those super star or whatever tai tai la..), to a normal person i believe should consider quite a lavish de liao. (summore needa go HK take the shoot spend another $4k on air fare, accomodation etc)
My AD VG, PG, Animation etc $3800.
5* Hotel Banquet set at 20 tables ard $18k.
Total: <$35k.
I tink u needa work out something le.. I dono isit you gt many tables or isit bcos u choose very expensive de hotel as banquet venue that is why your xps so high...
I found a good formula u try used c can a not la.
You take your banquet full xps: eg: $20k, you divide by 2 = $10k (this is on the basis that you can get back half of the banquet xps which I think shouldnt be a problem la).
Den add your BS, AD VG & PG etc etc.. Den you c how much lo..
But really a word of advice, I really tink don needa gif parents so much de.. Jus a yi si yi si lo.. If my mom really dare ask from me, I will really shoot her far far away lo.. I hope u don mind me saying this, yes she brought me up, i'll repay her using my whole life.. Not a small amount $10k or $100k during ping jing is enough to repay the love she gaven me..
So... I tink it all boils down to whether you wanna please everyone (which is impossible to please EVERYONE) and push back your wedding in order to have more savings. Or to please yourself. I always tot and think that yes wedding is not just the 2 of us. But the main factor and criteria is the both of us. If parents don even know how to respect us. I feel no need to respect them with the obligations they set making us more and more uncomfy. Why we have dinner? To make them happy. If they don appreciate, den so be it.. Do they tink we enjoy goin thru the hassle of a banquet dinner (well i do admit i enjoy the planning process, lol!!)?