Candle Making Workshop on Orchard Road: Happy Together

Happy Together, at 181 Orchard Rd #04-27/28, Singapore 238896, teaches hobby candle making on the fourth floor of Orchard Central, a short walk from Somerset MRT. Its artisan candle making workshop costs S$103.55 including GST, runs about 90 minutes to two hours, and sends you home with one dried flower or cocktail candle plus a Polaroid photo of your work.

Happy Together is better known in Singapore as Happy Together Academy, a SkillsFuture course provider. Most of its timetable is for adults retraining or starting a small business: courses on TikTok selling, AI tools, product demonstrations and branding sit alongside craft topics such as soap, perfume, cosmetics, floral styling and candles. It says it has trained more than 250 participants and reports a 95 percent positive feedback rating.

The hobby workshops are the short, unsubsidised side of that operation. The homepage describes them as 90-minute, beginner-friendly sessions in candle, soap, perfume or cosmetic making with all materials included. The school uses two venues, the Orchard Central studio and a second room at One Commonwealth, but its candle classes are listed at Orchard Central only.

Candles are one of several crafts on the same menu. Other hobby sessions include an artisan soap and bath bomb class, a DIY perfume workshop where you design a signature scent, a perfume journey called Layers of Time that draws on Singapore, a cosmetic making class and a personal makeup lesson. If one person in a group wants candles and another wants perfume, it is worth asking whether the sessions can run on the same day.

The class is laid out in four steps. First come the basics: the different wax types, the vessels and the essential tools. Then you explore scent notes and blend your own fragrance. The third step covers pouring technique for a smooth, professional finish. Finally you make one candle to take home, choosing between a dried flower candle and a cocktail candle, and a Polaroid photo is part of the package.

The cocktail candle is the more unusual pick, styled after a mixed drink rather than a plain jar. The dried flower version is the safer gift. The FAQ is clear that the session is fully hands-on, covering melting, pouring and scent blending throughout, and that whatever you make is yours to take home that day.

Wax and vessel choice is where beginners learn the most. The first part of the class compares wax types and containers, which matters because a poor match is a common reason home candles tunnel or crack, and the fragrance step lets you smell single notes before you mix them. Bring a sense of the scent you like at home, whether woody, floral or citrus, and the blending goes faster.

A second candle class, the Soda Candle Workshop, costs the same S$103.55 and also runs 90 minutes to two hours at Orchard Central. Instead of a classic scent palette, it uses fragrance oils inspired by fizzy drinks, fruity blends and sweet, nostalgic flavors. You blend fruity, fizzy, creamy and sweet notes into a scent of your own, learn the pouring technique, then finish the candle with your own touches. The take-home is again one candle and one Polaroid.

Pick soda if you are booking with teenagers or friends who would rather have something playful on a shelf. Pick the artisan class if you want to learn the steps you could repeat at home, since it spends more time on wax and vessel choices.

The hobby workshops are not subsidised. The page lists S$103.55 including GST as a one-time payment, open to all nationalities. That makes it one of the dearer candle classes in Singapore, though it sits in a central mall and comes with the photo.

Neither candle page shows open dates at the moment, so booking works by message. Use the enrolment button, the contact form or WhatsApp, and expect a reply within one to two working days. Groups and companies can ask for a private team-bonding session.

If candles might become a business, the school's SkillsFuture course, Secrets to Successful Branding (Candle), runs for 24 hours over three days and covers making a signature candle, designing a logo and building brand guidelines. The full fee is S$1,438.80. Eligible Singaporeans and PRs pay S$778.80 after the 50 percent baseline subsidy, or S$514.80 with the enhanced subsidy for those aged 40 and over. A run is listed at Orchard Central for October 2026, and the course stays fundable until 18 March 2027.

Orchard Central is one of the taller malls on the Somerset stretch of Orchard Road, and its rooftop garden is a quiet place to sit after class with the city spread out below. Across the road, Emerald Hill keeps a row of restored Peranakan terrace houses with carved doors and painted tiles, now home to bars and private homes, and makes a short detour from the shopping strip.

Somerset MRT sits a block east, with 313@somerset and Orchard Gateway linked over the road for food courts and coffee. Walk west and you reach the bigger department stores toward Orchard MRT, or head down to the Singapore River at Clarke Quay if you would rather finish by the water.

Timing matters on Orchard Road. Weekend afternoons are crowded at street level and in the linked malls, so a morning or weekday slot makes the walk between Somerset and Emerald Hill far calmer. Carry the finished candle upright in its bag for the first hour, because a freshly poured top can still mark if it tips.

Address: Happy Together, 181 Orchard Rd #04-27/28, Orchard Central, Singapore 238896. Email: info@happytogetherparty.com. Nearest MRT: Somerset. Workshops: 90 minutes to two hours, S$103.55 including GST, one candle and one Polaroid each, materials included. Booking by WhatsApp or the contact form, with replies in one to two working days. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for dinner near Emerald Hill after your class.