Study participants had rather a pessimistic view towards the excessive spending typical of Korean weddings. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Shedding new light on the high economic standards often required of couples tying the knot, a study by wedding consulting firm DuoWed revealed that the average couple spends over 263 million won ($230,000) on their wedding.
The figure was a 4 percent decline from 2016, and includes the cost of housing for the newlyweds, which accounted for 70.8 percent (186.4 million won) of the total, and honeymoon expenses at an average of 4.96 million won.
Other expenses included renting a wedding hall, which came to an average of 19.05 million won, “yemul” (gift given by the bride and groom to each other) at 17.98 million won, “yedan” (gifts from the bride to the groom’s family) at 17.67 million won, other marriage supplies (for the new home) at 14.17 million won, and wedding essentials (including dress, photo shoot, etc.) at 3.09 million won.
Of the 263 million won in total expenses, the groom covered roughly 65 percent (171.16 million), and the bride, 35 percent (92.16 million).
Housing costs were most onerous for Seoulites, at 216.34 million won, followed by Gyeonggi Province (182 million), Gangwon Province (177.61 million), Jeolla provinces (172.82 million), Chungcheong provinces (169.51 million), and Gyeongsang provinces (165.81 million).
Interestingly, however, housing expenses declined as the age of the couple increased, with 20-somethings at 212.2 million won, 30-somethings at 183.79 million won, and 40-somethings at 167.71 million won.
Study participants had rather a pessimistic view towards the excessive spending typical of Korean weddings.
Of the respondents, 65.3 percent said they would try to lower costs to a minimum if they could go back, with a reduction in yedan highlighted as the easiest way to cut costs at 33.8 percent.
The study was based on 491 brides and 509 grooms who were married in the past two years.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
