This photo shows a street of wedding dress shops in Seoul on March 17, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) — A 27-year-old office worker surnamed Kim has been ‘bombed’ with three wedding invitations.
Now, he has to give out 300,000 won (US$233) in cash as gifts.
“There were almost no weddings happening during the pandemic era, so I didn’t have to spend as much,” he said. “Now, though, wedding invitations are flowing in, and I feel like I’m paying for two years of gifts all at once.”
As more people are getting married following the pandemic, office workers are increasingly frustrated about how much they have to disburse for cash gifts at weddings.
Major luxury hotels in Seoul said their wedding halls are fully booked until next April and May.
“We’re getting waves of inquiries about reservations ever since social distancing measures were lifted last month,” a hotel industry official said. “We’re getting lots of inquiries about large wedding halls that can accommodate hundreds of people.”
Those who are invited to the weddings, however, aren’t always happy about being invited because of the ‘wedding rush’ and the custom of giving cash gifts.
“During the pandemic, people tended to hold small weddings where they didn’t send out invitations to mere acquaintances and had the ceremony with their family members,” said a 30-year-old teacher surnamed Jang.
“Now, they seem to give out invitations to pretty much everyone they know, and I feel kind of pushed to give a cash gift to return the gesture.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
