A survey found that couples married in the past 2 years spent an average of 18.42 million won on wedding venue rentals, photography studios, wedding dresses, and makeup. Among these, the wedding venue rental expense accounted for 14.01 million won, representing 76% of the total. There are comments saying, "The venue expense is too high."
Accordingly, local governments are renting cafes for free as wedding venues or allowing the use of outdoor squares for just 10,000 won. This is to enable couples to utilize the money saved from the wedding venue expense for essential needs.
◇ Seoul Seocho District offers two free wedding venues to 16 couples this year
Seoul's Seocho District plans to provide free wedding venues to 16 couples who will get married within this year. They will rent two cafes in the area as wedding venues. Each venue can accommodate about 50 to 100 guests. The cost of renting the cafes will be fully covered by Seocho District, allowing couples to save on expenses. A district official noted, "We hope this will help resolve the low birth rate issue."
Already, the city of Seoul operates 25 public venues. As part of the "Birth Support Seoul Project," public facilities such as parks and traditional houses have been opened as wedding venues since 2022. With two exceptions, all venues can be used for free. Some venues are fully booked for rentals until next year.
Gwangju Metropolitan City has also opened outdoor and indoor spaces at the city hall as wedding venues starting this year. The first wedding took place outdoors on the 12th of this month. Outdoor weddings are planned for May and September as well. The rental expense for outdoor spaces is 10,000 won per day, while the indoor space costs 10,000 won per hour (excluding heating and cooling fees).
◇ "Wedding venue rental expense increased by 5.05 million won in 4 years"
The wedding venue expense has increased significantly since the COVID-19 outbreak. According to a report released by the wedding information company Duo this year, the average wedding venue rental expense is 14.01 million won. This report is based on a survey of 1,000 newlywed couples within 1 to 2 years of marriage conducted annually. Four years ago, the 2021 report indicated that the average wedding venue rental expense was 8.96 million won.
This was influenced by the simultaneous effects of declining wedding venues and increasing marriages. During the pandemic, wedding ceremonies decreased due to bans on gatherings, leading to more venues shutting down. The number of wedding venues, which was 890 in 2019, dropped to 714 last year. While the supply of wedding venues has decreased, demand is rising again. The number of marriages last year was 222,412, surpassing 200,000 for the first time in four years since 2020 (213,502). In the years 2021 to 2023, the number of marriages was limited to around 190,000 each year.