“A hotel wedding means 200,000 won? Do wedding guests have to worry about meal costs too?” ... Debate over the “distortion” of wedding cash gifts [What do you think?]
- Input
- 2026-10-16 09:26:43
- Updated
- 2026-10-16 09:26:43
[Financial News] An online debate is underway over whether wedding guests should match their cash gifts to meal costs, as meal costs at wedding venues in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area rise.
“The bride and groom wanted it, so they should handle the meal costs themselves”: Online post
On the 13th, a post titled “But why should wedding guests care about meal costs?” appeared on Blind, an anonymous online community for office workers.
The poster, identified as A, said, “These days, the average meal cost at wedding venues in Seoul is 80,000 won, and people say you should give around 150,000 won as a wedding gift. I see lots of posts saying you should give 200,000 won if the wedding is at a five-star hotel,” and pointed out, “Isn’t it the bride and groom themselves who choose to get married at places like that?”
The poster added, “However much they spend, isn’t that the bride and groom’s own business?” and argued, “Do guests really need to give more just because they’re worrying about the meal costs?”
“They must have chosen a hotel because they can afford it” “Do we have to look up meal prices before deciding how much to give?”: Comments in agreement
People who saw the post responded, “They must be having it there because they can afford it. If they begrudge the cost of feeding people who came to congratulate them, why hold it at a place like that?”; “It’s not something guests should have to worry about”; “Do people who say gifts should match the meal cost think guests have to look up the price every time before going to a wedding?”; “Shouldn’t guests just be there to offer their congratulations?”; and “I don’t know how this turned into a culture where wedding guests worry about money.”
Meanwhile, according to Chamgagyeok, the Korea Consumer Agency’s price information portal, as of August the median per-person meal cost at wedding venues nationwide was 60,000 won, unchanged from the previous year. In Seoul, however, the median was 80,000 won, up 3.9% from 77,000 won a year earlier, while in Gyeonggi and Incheon it rose 3.3%, from 60,000 to 62,000 won.
With wedding venue meal costs rising especially in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area, debate over whether guests should match their cash gifts to meal costs is expected to continue.
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