Minimum guarantee: 218 for course meals, 194 for buffets… Total meal costs vary depending on contracted headcount
Wedding halls and menus are chosen by the bride and groom… The practice of gauging congratulatory money based on meal prices persists

The claim that giving 100,000 won in congratulatory money (juk-u-geum) at a wedding isn’t even enough to cover the meal is frequently heard. The number commonly cited to back this up is 119,000 won per person for the meal. However, this amount is merely the average for wedding halls serving course meals. The average for buffet-style meals is 62,000 won—roughly half that amount.

According to the "February 2026 Wedding Service Price Trend Survey" released by the Korea Consumer Agency on the 21st, 83.2% of 351 wedding halls nationwide offered buffet-style meals. Course meals accounted for 16.2%, and traditional table-setting meals (han-sang-cha-rim) made up 4.6%. Some wedding halls offered multiple dining formats, resulting in overlapping percentages.

The average meal cost per person showed a 57,000-won difference, coming in at 119,000 won for course meals and 62,000 won for buffets.

The average course meal price of 119,000 won cannot be viewed as the standard dining cost for all weddings. Actual meal costs vary depending on the wedding hall and the dining format. The argument that 100,000 won in congratulatory money fails to cover the meal must also be evaluated by taking these differences into account.

◆ 100,000 Won Congratulatory Money: 19,000 Won Short of Course Meals, But 38,000 Won More Than Buffets

When simply comparing 100,000 won in congratulatory money to average meal prices, course meals fall short by 19,000 won. Conversely, buffet meals leave a 38,000-won surplus over the meal cost, while traditional table settings result in a 45,000-won difference.

The price gap between course meals and buffet meals alone is 57,000 won. This means that even when giving the exact same 100,000 won, the gap with the actual meal cost varies significantly depending on which wedding hall you attended.

Even if congratulatory money covers the meal costs, additional wedding expenses remain, such as venue rental fees, floral decoration costs, and various service charges.

◆ Even If Fewer Guests Attend, Meal Costs Remain the Same: The Burden of the Minimum Guaranteed Headcount

The meal costs actually borne by prospective couples depend on the per-person price and the minimum guaranteed headcount. The minimum guaranteed headcount is the minimum number of guests promised for meal payment when contracting with a wedding hall.

If you contracted for a guarantee of 200 people, you must pay for 200 people's meals even if the actual dining headcount is 180, depending on the contract terms. In the Consumer Agency survey, the average minimum guaranteed headcount was 218 for course meals, 199 for traditional table settings, and 194 for buffets.

Because of differences in meal unit prices and guaranteed headcounts, total meal costs by dining format also varied widely. The survey revealed that the average total meal cost was 25.52 million won for course meals, 12.2 million won for buffets, and 11.53 million won for traditional table settings.

The difference in total meal costs between course meals and buffets reaches up to 13.32 million won. This is because not only the per-person meal price, but also the minimum guaranteed headcount differs.

◆ A Difference of 122 People in Minimum Guaranteed Headcount Despite Same Course Meals

Even when comparing course meals alone, regional disparities were significant. The Consumer Agency divided 14 regions nationwide into three groups based on their total course meal cost levels.

The top 5 regions with high total meal costs, including Seoul, had an average meal price of 120,000 won per person and a minimum guaranteed headcount of 224.

On the other hand, the bottom 4 regions, including Busan, showed an average meal price of 102,000 won and a minimum guaranteed headcount of 102. While the difference in per-person meal price is 18,000 won, the minimum guaranteed headcount differs by a staggering 122 people.

Multiplying the average meal price and average guaranteed headcount of the two groups yields approximately 26.88 million won and 10.404 million won, respectively—about a 2.6-fold difference. These are estimated figures calculated by multiplying average meal prices by average minimum guaranteed headcounts and may differ from actual average total meal costs by region.

The Consumer Agency explained that even if the meal price per person is low, total costs can increase if the minimum guaranteed headcount is high, advising couples to budget by considering both conditions together.

◆ Couples Choose the Meal Price, But Must Guests Match Their Congratulatory Money to It?

Let us imagine two colleagues getting married. One chooses a wedding hall with a buffet priced in the 60,000-won range, while the other reserves a wedding hall featuring a course meal in the 120,000-won range. If you gave both of them the exact same 100,000-won congratulatory gift, did you give a sufficient congratulating amount to one and an insufficient one to the other?

Wedding halls, meal menus, and invited guest counts are decided by the bride and groom. Expecting larger congratulatory sums on the grounds of expensive meal prices is essentially passing the wedding expenses of their own choosing onto the guests.

Congratulatory money is determined by considering closeness to the bride and groom, amounts exchanged in past family events, and the guest's financial circumstances. It is difficult to judge the appropriate amount of congratulatory money based solely on the price of the meal.

The burden on prospective couples is also not light. They must handle venue rentals, meal costs, and decoration expenses, and if they fail to meet the minimum guaranteed headcount, costs even arise for people who did not dine. Sometimes, wedding budgets are planned anticipating congratulatory money revenue. How wedding expenses are covered and how much congratulatory money guests should give are entirely separate matters.

The average course meal price of 119,000 won is exclusively the average for wedding halls offering that specific dining method. 83.2% of the surveyed wedding halls offered buffet-style meals.

Meal prices vary depending on the wedding format chosen by the bride and groom. A guest’s congratulatory heart should not be evaluated and judged according to that price tag.

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