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.
Pop in:
Kim Hee Sun’s secret engagement ceremony
Kim Hee Sun is trying to keep her wedding date a secret
Please dress appropriately for weddings
Jun Do-yeon weds
kim hee sun and her hubby looks soo cute together!!!haha! Its good she got married..!! CONGRATS to HER!
interesting, such breakdown of the cost of a Korean wedding
so the girl has bring in a lot of capital into the marriage.
So, it does not cost the boy much? Is that why people prefer to have boys over girls?
holy shitnitz! but still, congrats!
her dress is really pretty! Congrats for her! 1.5 million…
This is probably one of my favorite posts; very informational, to the point, a good read… great job.
They looked cute and her dress is gorgeous…but i have one question….did she had plastic surgery??????
Nice breakdown. I think the biggest shocker is how much it costs to rent a place to hold the wedding. But then again it is really hard to reserve it so I can understand the cost. But wow.
Do you have the link to the original article?
hey what happened to Se7en?!??!?!?! wakakakakka
I guess Se7en missed the flight to attend KHS’s wedding. ㅋㅋ
Se7en was there, but wedding is about the couple, so of course there would be more pictures focusing on them.
Celeb weddings are pricy.. but then when they have divorces.. wouldn’t that be such a huge waste of money? x_x
New writer? Nice job. Congratulations to Kim Hee-sun, even if she is a dirty rag.
they’re so cute!!! i think she made a great move of marrying someone out of the celebrity world because if she did they paparazzis would’nt let them go without a single picture of them everyday!!!!
she look so pretty in the last picture, like a princess
great post…very interesting.
@ Jane.: Why is she a dirty rag? O_o
The bigger question is how long will this marriage last?
Wish her happy. And nice breakdown by the way.
But if I have 1.5 million USD, I would rather not get married and spend on sth else. Hahah
well well well…. that dress is awesome,,his husband is not bad looking… i wish i could get married like that…fantastic…
whoah~ all I hear is kaching kaching!!!
nice load of info! now if only someone will break down what it costs to have a perfect marriage, for 10 years, 20 years, etc. hell, just the first 6 months will do
very informational, thanku Popseoul.
I love the dress she wore.
The success rate of marriages is far worse than even the U.S. … that tells you how few happy marriages exist in Korea.
Almost 100 percent of pretty women in Korea marry a man for his money…”checkbook dating” so to speak.
Not very romantic….
in last pic she looks so pinkish. very pretty
they should just get married in las vegas…there it’s quick, no planning, and way cheaper…and more exciting. ^^
^HAHA Faster & cheaper definitely =) But sometimes there might be minor planning behind it!! lol
Anyways, good on her for wedding the man she loves- you can see the joy in her face ^_______^ It just so happens this joy involved alot of mulah but hey, when you’re rich & famous & gorgeous, anything goes!
Jesus Christ this blog has gone downhill, and I think some of these prices are off.
Her nose looks weird in the last picture.
whoa!that’s a big amount of money. however, the next question is, will their marriage last?
it’s not that much compared to celebs in the us
yay!! so cuteee <33 she looks really pretty^^
congrats!
both of them look great together.
but is the 1.5 million dollars inclusive of the expenses on the bridegroom, the hanbok, her jewellery and all right…?
and what does ‘honsu’ mean?
she looks so happy and pretty..
I am guessing it was all worth it..
wait.. did she get a nose surgery..
her nose looks weird..
cute couple by the way..
woah thats a big amount.
and her vera wang dress is pretty~~
well doh, its vera wang’s! XD
@Cookhwan
very funny-v-;;
@ vannessaly and mylove:
No. kim hee sun did not get any plastic surgery. that is why she is sooo famous (even though she can’t act that well) and is considered “korea’s first beauty”. her nose is naturally very high like that, and her eyes are naturally big like that and she has natural double eyelids. here are some old pics of her.
http://popseoul.com/2007/04/05/koreas-natural-beauties-ii/kim-hee-sungif/
it’s actually a popseoul post. lol.
i love kim hee sun. such a natural beauty. she will be beautiful even when she’s 50! lol.
Good-looking couple. Her hubby looks like Song Il-kook.
Yeah, she and her hubby look fabulous together. My god, a celebrity wedding in Korea can cost so much.
Thanks Popseoul for the detailed explanation.
I guess one of the bonuses of having a VIP wedding, is that you also get VIP and wealthy guests. This is not only an opportunity to solidify business contacts, but also to recoup most of your wedding costs. Some even come out with more than they spent.
my heesun is beautiful i love her sooooo much she always pretty and she is natural beauty her nose is natural and eyes is natural double eyelids.my hee sun i wish you always be happy and pleaseeeeeeee come back
Impressive. it should take lots of research. good work!
one more thing, She didn’t have a plastic surgery. she debuted when she was so young. she was even more prettier than she is now.
Wow….. Nice breakdown….. Thanks for that…..
I like her gown….. Nice!!!!!
They look cute together….. As I can see, her husband is cute….. Hahaha!!!!! LOL Well, Congrats to both of them!!!!!
aww! her hubby is hot!
i’d spend 1.5 mil for a guy like hime! ^.~
but yeah… dang that’s a lotta money, but i suppose it’s worth it….
so kim hee sun got married already..goodluck!!!!!!!!!
may dey live happy ever after……heheheeheh………
god bless your family……..
love the gown and makeup, and her hair is perfect! but what i don’t get is why the photog posed her on a dirty ladder?
Okay, so Korean brides will wear a wedding gown to take pre-wedding photos (in a studio or elsewhere), then wear a different gown on their actual wedding day? I guess all that extra make-up and hair-styling is figured into the cost of the photo session, too? Wow, so elaborate! Thanks for the informative article, Popseoul! I enjoyed reading it.
Wow, thats quite a laundry list of expenses! Well, “smoke em if you got em” I guess…or is that used wrong? Anyway, has any celebrity ever chosen a cheaper, more private route? Or is all the image and “face-saving” required there?
Hee Seon is as gorgeous as ever. May you be happilyarried for ever.
In Korea, Gal suppose to pay for wedding expenses? Then guy can just get married without paying any cent?? Why can’t they follow western style. everything up to man! Hehe..
i though only indian got this kind of culture in this world. If they get divource, how? Will gal get back anything?
In england, wife get 50% of properties $ plus life long support if she is earning less than 20k pounds/yr.
I m very new to korean culture. where shall i learn? Can someone give me the weblink that i can study? Becoz of CP (Gong yoo), i am curious about korean now.
KHS looked so beautiful in those pics! and she looked so happy too! congratulations to the happy couple! wish them all the best and hope they have a happy life together!
Great post! thanks for the info and pictures. No matter what it costs, i hee-seon and her husband would be happy ever after. we all love this girl in myanmar, so all the best to the couple.
they look good together! Congratulations to her! She’s like a princess on her wedding day! She really looks very happy! GREAT FOR HER! Best Wishes!
omg..ididnt even know she got married or was seeing anyone..good luck for her and her marrage..
She looked very beautiful! and they look good together too. Wish them Happiness!^^
Just wondering, is it a hotel where Hotelier was made? Bae Yong Jun first hit drama?
The groom is very handsome. Lucky of her.. With all his charms and money, it’s a pity if the marriage will last shortly. So wish them all the best.
what a lucky woman, may their marriage long lasting n happily ever after…
umm..her wedding is cheaper than my moms!!
wow. love her wedding gown and veil.
she does look like a princess.
her beau looks nice too. is he an actor?
congrats to both of them!
wow shes so pretty!
she looks gorgeous! they look good together
Damn…we have it made in the U.S. when it comes to getting married.
1.5 Mil would go a very long way here.