Grooms spend three times more than brides for wedding

When it comes to wedding expenses, men spend more than women in Korea. A nationwide survey on marriage and childbirth for 2012, which was released by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on Thursday, revealed that an average wedding expense of men was 95.88 million won (86,000 U.S. dollars) while that of women was 28.83 million won (25,800 dollars). The survey was conducted of 418 people from families with married women aged between 20 and 44 and family members married within the recent one year.

Grooms were found to carry out 46.3 percent of their marriage expenses while brides pay 50.3 percent, meaning that grooms’ family spend an average 44.43 million won (40,000 dollars) while brides’ family bear expenses of 14.5 million won (13,000 dollars).

The reason why grooms need more money than brides is Korean practice that grooms prepare a house. Preparing a house topped other financial burdens for grooms regarding marriage with 75.0 percent followed by cost of wedding ceremony with 5.8 percent.

Compared to this, most brides, 41.6 percent, answered the biggest financial burden is filling the house with furniture, electronics, tableware and others followed by presents for in-law family (14.7 percent), house (11.6 percent) and wedding ceremony (7.2 percent).

Wedding cost rises according to the age of the couple and the level of education background. An average wedding expense for a couple aged between 20 and 24 was 18.57 million won (16,600 dollars) compared to 34.5 million won (30,800 dollars) of those aged between 25 and 29, 65.37 million won (58,400 dollars) of those between 30 and 34, and 72 million won (64,400 dollars) of those between 35 and 39. Couples with academic background with junior high school or less spent an average of 14.68 million won (13,000 dollars) for marriage, while those with high school diploma spent 28.59 million won (25,600 dollars) and couples with college or higher education expended 52.07 million won (47,000 dollars).

Marriage expense has increased in recent years. In 2010, the average wedding expense was 37.42 million won (33,440 dollars). But it increased to 44.54 million won (40,000 dollars) in 2011 and to 70.58 million won (63,000 dollars) last year.

"Both policies and pan-national efforts are necessary to lower the financial burden of each other’s family to prepare a house and furniture, survey researchers said. "The government should reinforce policy support for newly-weds` housing regardless of the couple’s income level.”