hankyoreh

By Yu Sun-hui
　　　
32-year-old bride-to-be Lee Hye-yeong, who is getting married in April, recently had an awkward experience during pre-wedding photo shoot. Studio sessions normally involve taking at least 100 shots initially, after which the couple chooses 20-30 of their favorites editing and the production of an album. The studio, however, demanded that Lee spend 200,000 won each on two CDs containing both the original and the edited photos. “The studio kept on insisting, saying, ‘If you buy the originals together with the edited shots you can have a 100,000 won discount and get both CDs for 300,000 won ($268)’,” said Lee. “Putting my photos on a CD and demanding an extra 300,000 won was absurd, but I couldn’t give up photos full of memories because of money, so I just paid.”
Brides-to-be are frequently left fuming because of demands for “additional costs” in the process of preparing their weddings. Most women reserve studio shoots, dress choosing and bridal makeup as a single package, but companies are burdening them with all kinds of additional costs on top of the agreed upon price.
A 30-year-old woman by the name of Jeong, who got married last December, is indignant as she recalls being charged 30,000-50,000 under the guise of a “fitting fee” by every dress shop where she tried on a dress while choosing one for her wedding. “It was absurd, but I didn’t make an issue of it as I thought it would just spoil my mood,” she said. “They seem to make excessive profits by skillfully exploiting this mindset on the part of new brides.”
Last October, faced with a rapid increase in such complaints, the Fair Trade Commission issued a correction order to the Seoul Wedding Dress Association, which had ordered companies to charge uniform fitting fees of 30,000 won and levied a fine of 11 million won. Since then, however, there has been no change in the practices of these companies; on the contrary, fitting fees have shot up from 30,000 won to around 50,000 won.
These are not the only additional costs faced by brides-to-be. A series of extra costs of around 100,000 to 200,000 won pop up. These include charges for bridal assistants at the wedding ceremony, wig use, hair cuts, wedding photography, assistants at the traditional post-wedding pyebaek ceremony, and shoes. As a result, initial contract costs of around 2.5 million end up costing 3-4 million won.
“Some say there are many bubbles in wedding preparation costs themselves, but in fact the profits must be shared with wedding planners and consulting firms, and harsh competition in the industry means that it’s hard for firms to stay afloat if they don’t charge extra fees,” said one official at a professional wedding photography firm. “Recently a lot of firms selling luxury imported dresses and famous photography firms are taking the lead in encouraging the raising of additional costs.”
　
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