Ms. Kim (32), who lives in Incheon, received a message from D Wedding Hall that had made a reservation last month saying, “We are closing our business due to rent issues,” and his heart sank. This is because she had to find her wedding venue once more as the wedding venue went out of business. Kim said, “A month before her wedding, how does she find the wedding venue?
Closing the wedding hall is a fate in an era of declining population. This is the result of a steady decline in the married population over a long period of time. Here, the COVID-19 crisis that broke out in 2020 has pushed wedding venues across the country into a gloomy state. Newlyweds like Kim are also being affected by the unexpected closing of the wedding hall.
Accelerated closing of wedding halls
According to Statistics Korea on the 23rd, the number of marriages last year recorded 193,000, falling below 200,000 for the first time since statistics were compiled in 1981. The number of marriages in the first half of this year was 94,445, down 1.8% from the same period last year.
A key factor here was the sharp decline in the population in their 30s or older, the age of marriage. The 2030 generation decreased 4.7% (662,000) from 14,094,000 in 2018 to 13,431,000 last year. In addition, the spread of awareness of ‘marriage avoidance’ between 2030 and 2030 has cast a shadow on the wedding hall industry. Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer economics at Inha University, said, “The atmosphere is negative for young people who judge that the conditions for marriage due to a surge in house prices, etc., are negative.” said
As a result, the number of wedding venues across the country continues to decrease. The number of wedding venues nationwide decreased by 23.5% from 1013 in 2018 to 775 this year. In Seoul, more than 10 stores close every year.
Last year, 10 wedding venues, including Patio Nine in Gangnam-gu, Maison de B, Meridien Hotel Wedding Hall, Yangjae KW Convention in Seocho-gu, E.will Wedding Hall, and The Vine, were closed. It is known that there are four wedding halls that will close or close this year, including the Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel in Seocho-gu.
In particular, since the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, the decrease in wedding venues has been remarkable. 90% of wedding venue sales come from dining tables, and the stricter restrictions on social distancing between 2020 and 2021 have taken a huge hit.
According to officials, food sales in the industry as a whole have decreased by 20 to 30 percent compared to before the spread of COVID-19. An official from the wedding venue industry said, “With 150 to 200 guests, we cannot afford the fixed cost of a wedding hall in the Gangnam area of Seoul. .
Hotel vs Small Wedding Ceremony Polarization
As public wedding halls are gradually disappearing, the polarization of the wedding market is accelerating. It is converging into two categories: a ‘luxury wedding’ held at a five-star hotel and a ‘cost-performance (price-performance) wedding’ with significantly reduced costs.
The wedding hall of the Shilla Hotel, which is considered a symbol of luxury weddings, is fully booked from 12 to 6 pm on Saturdays until the end of next year. An official from Shilla Hotel said, “As celebrities and influencers’ weddings in luxury hotels spread through Instagram and broadcasts, the general public also prefer weddings in luxury hotels.”
This trend was also influenced by the idea that ‘we can’t go on a honeymoon, let’s invest in sudme (studio dress, makeup)’ while going through the corona virus. Reservations for famous Sudme companies are full for several months, but small businesses are on the verge of losing their customers.
Small and medium-sized companies mainly receive customers in connection with wedding consulting companies. An official from the Korea Wedding Industry Association said, “As consumption polarization has occurred, it has become difficult for small and medium-sized wedding halls to survive.
Bae Jeong-cheol/Hankyung reporter bjc@hankyung.com