28th November 2022 – (Hong Kong) ESDlife, Hong Kong’s local wedding media, released the “Wedding Survey 2022”. According to the survey, there has been no increment in the total amount given via Chinese marriage red envelopes at wedding banquets this year.
The reasonable amount to be given for attending wedding banquets at high-end hotels and general hotels are HK$1,500 and HK$1,000 respectively. The median amount to attending wedding banquets at private clubhouses and special venues is maintained at HK$1,000 and the median amount to attend wedding dinners/lunches held in restaurants and western restaurants is also maintained at HK$800. However, in recent years, due to the COVID-19 epidemic, more couples choose to hold wedding receptions instead, and the median amount has increased from HK$600 last year to HK$800 this year, an increase of 33%.
The amount given in red packets for invitations to attend registration of marriage at marriage registries or church ceremonies has risen from HK$300 last year to HK$800, a sharp increase of 66%, and the amount given in red packets for receiving wedding invitations without attending has doubled, from HK$100 to HK$300.
The survey was conducted from September to November this year. Around 1,226 couples who will marry between this year and 2024 were interviewed. It was found that as the COVID-19 epidemic measures were gradually relaxed, the wedding consumer market and the scale of wedding banquets gradually returned to pre-epidemic levels. The number of marriages this year was about 29,320, an increase of about 9% from last year’s 26,899. The total value of the overall wedding consumer market is estimated at HK$9.98 billion, an increase of 24% over last year. According to the survey, the average total cost of marriage for each couple is approximately HK$384,366, a year-on-year increase of 9%, of which “wedding banquets” accounted HK$149,044, a year-on-year increase of 3%. As for “wedding photography”, “wedding jewellery and wedding rings” and “honeymoon travel”, there was a double-digit increase in spending, of which wedding photography increased by 28% to HK$25,000.
