POPSEOUL!

Actress, Kim Hee-sun (30) just had a picture perfect outdoor wedding with successful business man Park Ju-young (33) on October 19, 2007 at Walker Hill. Have you ever wondered how much does all of this cost?

The cost of the average wedding in Korea has risen to about 130,000 USD (including house rental/deposit) in 2006. Of that expense, 11.5% or on average 15 thousand USD went to wedding hall rental, reception, and honeymoon trip etc. Of course, this cost does not include the “honsu” or trousseau that the bride prepares for her marriage (furniture, dishes, linens, and presents for her new family etc).

Lucky that Kim Hee-sun did not marry a doctor or lawyer. If she did, she would have had to prepare 3 keys.

(1) house key

(2) car key

(3) hospital key/office

as part of the honsu for marrying such an elite moneymaker.That would up the cost of the wedding significantly. Kim Hee-sun is lucky to marry a regular businessman instead. Smart move.

However, if you want to marry in celebrity style, then you will have to pay for it – literally! Check out the cost breakdown of having a glamorous celebrity wedding:

(1) Rental of Wedding Hall and Flowers: 100,000 USD +

Star want their weddings to be closed affairs to keep out the prying eyes of photographers and public. In order to have a private wedding, a celebrity has basically 2 options in Seoul: (1) Aston Hall at Walker Hill Hotel or (2) Dynasty Hall at the Shilla Hotel. Kim Hee-sun chose the smaller, more intimate Aston Hall that houses about 200 people at price of 50 to 200 USD per plate with wine and other drinks not included. The cost of the food alone will consume over 40,000 USD. And we can’t forget the flowers! The gorgeous blooms to decorate the hall will be a pretty penny at over 10,000 USD. And other costs such as the Pae-baek (traditional Korean ceremony for family after the wedding) will raise the total wedding sum to over 100,000 USD. The other choice, Dynasty Hall at the Shilla was location for actress Jeon Do-yeon’s wedding (incidentally also with an English speaking businessman). The hall is for larger weddings and fits 400 to 2000 persons.

(2) Vera Wang Wedding Dress: Up to 30,000 USD

The sought after wedding dress for star brides is none other than U.S. designer, Vera Wang. Shin Eun-ha, Yeom Jung-a, Jeon Do-yeon and Han Chae-young were all outfitted in Vera Wang creations. There is a choice of 3 Vera Wang wedding dress lines in Korea: (1)OPP- 6000 to 12 thousand USD, (2)Collection? 8 to 12 thousand USD and (3) Luxe 20 to 30 thousand USD. This is the cost if you just want to buy the wedding dress only and does not include the price of the Hanbok for pae-baek, the reception outfit, and the pre-wedding photoshoot wedding dress. Most Koreans just rent their wedding dress (rental fee is easily over 2000 USD dollars and this includes a dress person on the day of the wedding, fittings and aforementioned outfits). To save a few dollars, the best bet would be to fly directly to New York, visit friends, shop and purchase the dream wedding dress there! That would certainly be worth the trip there!

(3) Designer Hair and Makeup: 2000 USD

For the perfect wedding hair and makeup, the Cheongdam-Apku area cannot be beat. That is where all the top celebrity makeup artists and hairstylists are concentrated (as well as plastic surgeons). Most Korean brides lean towards an updo that requires hundreds of hair pins strategically placed to ensure that every hair is perfectly set. Also, having the hair up and away from the face is needed for the hanbok change just after the wedding. For makeup, Korean brides these days lean towards a natural look, with shimmery defined eyes and rose colored lips. Kim Hee-sun is no different. Her makeup is flawless and her skin is glowing. The whole process takes about 2 to 3 hours at the cost of 1000 to 2000 USD.

Also in Korea, the groom gets involved in the hair and makeup action alongside the brides. The makeup for men is usually simple and requires a bit of concealer or color lotion (i.e. foundation), and maybe getting their eyebrows groomed. The hair usually doesn’t take that long and they are outfitted into their tux (usually rented) at the hairstylist/makeup shop.

(4) Photographer: 15,000 + USD

The total cost so far of a star style wedding is only 130,000 USD, what’s missing for a picture-perfect wedding is the photographer. Getting the best wedding photographers would eat away another 10 to 15 % of your wedding budget. That’s a big chunk for a perfect wedding but in return you get pictures that will last a lifetime. The price includes pre-wedding pictures in the studio where the bride and groom are outfitted in wedding gear and pose in various indoor or outdoor settings. The better photographers prefer natural type candid shots but remember that most photographers have a set style using the same props. Right now, the photo studio of choice is Kama Studio where Jun Do-yeon, footballer Ahn Jung-hwan, Kim Nam-ju got their wedding portraits done.

Also, another part of the wedding culture that is unique to Korea is that the couples like to get a gigantic poster-sized photo of themselves on their wedding day and they hang this right in the middle of their living room wall. A bit tacky, but hell, you only get married once……..I bet Kim Hee-sun has one hanging on her living room wall.

SUBTOTAL : 147,000 USD

A celebrity wedding will set you back a whopping over 150 thousand USD and that does not include the 2 other big money gobblers: the newlyweds’ new home and ‘honsu’.

If you include both house and honsu, then the total cost of Kim Hee-sun’s dream wedding would be estimated at a minimum of 1.5 million dollars!

TOTAL cost for star-style wedding in Korea: 1.5 million USD

Congratulations, I think.

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