The epidemic has plagued Hong Kong for nearly three years. The changing epidemic prevention measures not only affect daily life, but also change the consumption pattern of marriage. The 2022 Hong Kong-wide marriage consumption survey conducted by the marriage information media Ease Life found that the median amount of most favors remained unchanged from the past two years. Wedding expenses rebounded for the first time after the epidemic, rising 9% year-on-year to RMB 384,000, surpassing the 2019 figure of RMB 369,000. Among them, wedding photography expenses increased by 28% year-on-year to RMB 25,000.
The survey interviewed 1,226 prospective couples who will get married between this year and 2024 from September to November this year, and found that the median number of favors for “only cake cards, no invitation to the wedding/wedding banquet” has the highest year-on-year increase, doubling from 100 yuan to 300 yuan; due to the epidemic prevention restrictions, the reception that more couples choose and the favor of “signing ceremony at the marriage registration office/church by invitation only” have risen to 800 yuan and 500 yuan respectively. However, high-end hotels and ordinary hotels maintain the price at 1,500 yuan and 1,000 yuan, while restaurants, lunchtime wedding banquets and western restaurants maintain the price at 800 yuan. Zhou Zhuoying, director of the business and marketing department of Easy Life Media, pointed out that the economy has not improved, and the favors have not changed significantly. However, only cake cards or simple weddings involve relatively low amounts of money, and Hong Kong people are more generous in giving favors.
Wedding photography and wedding jewelry saw the highest growth
After two consecutive years of falling wedding expenses, this year surpassed the 369,000 yuan in 2019 before the epidemic to reach 384,000 yuan. Ma Zongjie, CEO of E-Life, pointed out that the high-consumption wedding items are still “wedding banquets”, and the average spending of new couples has increased by 3% to about 150,000 yuan. The commemorative value of “wedding photography” and value-preserving “wedding jewelry and rings” have the highest increase. They rose 28% to about 26,000 yuan and 17% to more than 100,000 yuan, reflecting that couples are now more willing to invest in valuable wedding projects.
In terms of venue selection, 54% of couples choose hotels to hold their weddings, while less than 30% choose restaurants. Ma Zongjie believes that the hotel’s anti-epidemic measures are more reassuring, and they provide 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 booths is on a downward trend, from 20 in 2018 to 16 this year. Last year, the gift money rose against the market from 50,000 yuan to 60,000 yuan, and this year it increased to 68,000 yuan.
Ma believes that under the epidemic situation in the future, parents still have certain expectations for the amount of gift money, and the prospective 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 overseas, which increases wedding photography expenses compared to last year. Couples are also impatient to travel abroad, and honeymoon travel is even more willing to spend, up 11% to 45,000 yuan.
More than 40% of men say that their wives are good-looking, good-looking and have good bodies
In recent years, Hong Kong people have generally delayed marriage. Last year, the median age of first marriage was 31.9 for men and 30.4 for women. When the couples were asked about the factors that contributed to their decision to marry, the top three were “marriageable age” (72%), “emotional stability” (61%), and “existing financial foundation” (55%). And the criteria for choosing a good wife or husband: Over 40% of men think that a good wife needs to 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 it reflects that men obviously have more requirements on appearance and figure than women.
Originally published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/Local/Public-price favors only send cake cards doubled – hotels and restaurants unchanged – wedding expenses increased by 9 – to 384,000, exceeding pre-epidemic levels / 350181?utm_source=yahoorss&utm_medium= referral