The epidemic has been plaguing Hong Kong for nearly three years, and the changing epidemic prevention measures not only affect daily life, but also change the consumption pattern of marriage. The 2022 Hong Kong-wide wedding consumption survey conducted by wedding news outlet Ease Life found that the average amount of most favors remained unchanged from the past two years. Wedding expenses rebounded for the first time since the epidemic, increasing 9% year-on-year to RMB 384,000, surpassing 2019’s figure of RMB 369,000. Among them, wedding photography expenses increased by 28%. on an annual basis to RMB 25,000.
The survey polled 1,226 potential couples who will get married between this year and 2024 from September to November this year and found that the average number of wedding favors for “business cards only, no wedding invitations/wedding banquet” was the highest year-to-year increase, doubling from 100 yuan to 300 yuan; due to epidemic prevention restrictions, the reception more couples choose and the favor of “invitation-only marriage registration office/church signing ceremony” have risen to 800 yuan and 500 yuan respectively. However, high-end hotels and ordinary hotels keep the price at 1,500 yuan and 1,000 yuan, while restaurants, lunchtime wedding banquets, and Western restaurants keep the price at 800 yuan. Zhou Zhuoying, director of commercial and marketing department of Easy Life Media, pointed out that the economy has not improved and favors have not changed significantly. However, only cake cards or simple weddings involve relatively small amounts of money, and Hong Kong people are more generous in giving favors.
Wedding photography and wedding jewelry recorded the fastest growth
After two consecutive years of decline in wedding expenses, this year it exceeded 369,000 yuan in 2019 before the epidemic to reach 384,000 yuan. Ma Zongjie, CEO of E-Life, stressed that high-consumption wedding items are still “wedding banquet”, and the average spending of new couples increased by 3% to about 150,000 yuan. The commemorative value of “wedding photography” and value-preserving “jewelry and wedding rings” had the steepest increase: they rose 28% to around 26,000 yuan and 17% to over 100,000 yuan, showing that couples are now more willing to invest in valuable wedding plans.
As regards the selection of the location, 54% of couples choose hotels to celebrate their weddings, while less than 30% choose restaurants. Ma Zongjie believes that the hotel’s anti-epidemic measures are more reassuring, and provides lunchtime wedding banquets and outdoor weddings that have emerged in recent years. However, due to the impact of epidemic prevention measures and the wave of immigration, the average number of wine shops is decreasing from 20 in 2018 to 16 this year. Last year, the gift money increased from 50,000 yuan to 60,000 yuan compared to the market, and this year it increased to 68,000 yuan.
But he believes that given the future epidemic situation, parents still have certain expectations for the amount of money given, and the future son-in-law is also willing to cooperate to show his sincerity. Entry and exit restrictions have been eased in recent months. Couples may plan to take wedding photos abroad, which increases wedding photography expenses compared to last year. Couples are also eager to travel abroad and honeymooners are even more willing to spend, up 11 percent to 45,000 yuan.
More than 40% of men say their wives are beautiful, good looking and have nice bodies
In recent years, Hong Kong people have generally delayed getting married: last year, the median age of first marriage was 31.9 years for men and 30.4 years for women. When couples were asked about factors that contributed to their decision to marry, the top three were ‘marriageable age’ (72%), ’emotional stability’ (61%) and ‘existing financial basis’ (55% ). And the criteria for choosing a good wife or husband: over 40% of men think that a good wife should be “beautiful” (46%) and “good looking” (44%), while only 17% and 12% of women think “beautiful” and “big”: it is the condition for choosing a good husband. Ma Zongjie believes that he reflects that men obviously have more requirements in terms of appearance and figure than women.
Originally released on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/Local/Public-price favors send cake tickets only doubled – hotels and restaurants unchanged – wedding expenses increased by 9 – to 384,000, exceeding pre-epidemic levels / 350181?utm_source =yahoorss&utm_medium= referral
