Pricing on the cake: Hong Kong wedding expenses reach 5-year high, surpassing HK$400,000 for first time since 2019

Average wedding expenses in Hong Kong have reached a five-year high, surpassing HK$400,000 (US$51,323) for the first time since 2019, but the number of people getting married is expected to drop in 2024, a survey has found.

Following a rebound in 2022, average wedding costs rose by a further 9 per cent to a record-breaking HK$419,751 this year, according to the findings released on Monday by e-commerce website ESDlife, a joint venture of CK Hutchison and Hewlett-Packard Hong Kong.

The survey polled 1,033 people from September to November tying the knot between this year and 2025.

Average wedding expenses have risen by a further 9 per cent to a record-breaking HK$419,751 this year. Photo: Sam Tsang

Wedding banquets remained the largest expense, surging by 15 per cent to HK$170,866 year on year, followed by spending on rings and other jewellery, which amounted to an average of HK$114,247, a 5 per cent increase over 2022.

With Covid-19 restrictions on banquets lifted in December last year, the average number of wedding tables returned to pre-pandemic levels, rising from 16 last year to 19 in 2023.

“Wedding banquet plans have gradually resumed to pre-pandemic levels without constraints,” ESDlife CEO Tony Ma Chung-kit said.

“This indicates that the industry needs to up the ante on products and services. People are also showing their willingness and ability to spend on weddings even though they may be sponsored by their parents.”

Meanwhile, newlyweds spent 4 to 9 per cent more on average on honeymoons, pre-wedding photography and videography, gowns and tuxedos, as well as make-up and hairstyling.

The median amount of betrothal money, a Chinese tradition in which the groom-to-be gives cash to his future parents-in-law, has been on the rise for three years in a row, reaching HK$68,888 in 2023.

The city recorded 29,983 marriages in 2022, according to official data. The survey estimated that the total figure would reach 42,247 this year, a 41 per cent year-on-year increase that was slightly lower than 2019, based on data recorded in the first three quarters of 2023.

Ma said that 2023 featuring a “double spring and leap month” in the lunar calendar and heightened demand for weddings following the pandemic had boosted expenses this year, but he predicted a potential drop in the number of marriages in 2024 as it would be a “blind year”.

The city recorded 29,983 marriages in 2022, according to official data. Photo: Sam Tsang

According to Chinese tradition, the “double spring” lunar year, which occurs every three years, is considered an auspicious time to get married, while a “blind year” is seen as an ominous period for tying the knot or starting a business.

“There is a declining number of young people, ageing population and low birth rates in the city and emigration trends resulting in people about to get married and their friends and relatives moving overseas,” Ma said. “It will be challenging for the number of marriages in Hong Kong to surpass 50,000 next year.”

The survey predicted that the total value of the city’s wedding consumer market this year would reach HK$16.1 billion, a 58 percent increase from last year and a 6 per cent rise compared with 2019. The figure was based on an estimation covering 42,247 couples who got married this year.

The average cash gift amount from guests attending banquets remained the same for four years, with HK$1,500 for premium hotels and HK$1,000 for standard hotels, HK$800 for restaurants and HK$1,000 for clubhouses and other special wedding venues.