SHANGHAI/HONG KONG听–听COVID wasn’t kind to听飞别诲诲颈苍驳听planners in China, where marriages are traditionally elaborate, expensive affairs, but the听颈苍诲耻蝉迟谤测听estimated at almost $500 billion is now facing a bigger threat: a plunge in the number of couples willing to tie the knot.
The trend, which has become more obvious as the聽聽weakens and聽聽wanes, is also worrying officials trying to revive marriage, and birth, rates which dropped to record lows last year, leading to the first decline in聽.
“The number of marriages is falling and few are willing to spend a lot on听飞别诲诲颈苍驳s,” said Yuan Jialiang, who ran a full-scale听飞别诲诲颈苍驳听planning business for almost a decade in Shanghai before switching to focus on听飞别诲诲颈苍驳听photography before the pandemic.
“The future of this听颈苍诲耻蝉迟谤测听doesn’t look promising.”
There were 6.8 million marriages across China last year, 800,000听蹿别飞别谤听than in 2021 and the lowest since the government began publishing the data in 1986.
This drop in marriage registrations will exacerbate the decline in births in China, now one of the world’s聽聽societies. Many cities聽聽unmarried mothers child-raising or healthcare subsidies and having children out of wedlock is often frowned upon.
“You have a lot of consumers that are just saying ‘well, you know, marriage isn’t the right thing for me’ and a lot of younger adults in China feel that raising kids is just too expensive,” said Ben Cavender, managing director and head of strategy at China Market Research Group.
“The traditional Chinese听飞别诲诲颈苍驳听颈苍诲耻蝉迟谤测听is probably in for tough times.”
BUDGET, BACKLOG
Before the pandemic hit,听飞别诲诲颈苍驳s were big business in China, with Daxue Consulting estimating the听颈苍诲耻蝉迟谤测听to be worth 3.6 trillion yuan ($487 billion) in 2020.
Couples traditionally splash out on gold jewelry, elaborate decor and luxury venues but Frank Chen, from Chen Feng听奥别诲诲颈苍驳听Planning in Shanghai, says few听飞别诲诲颈苍驳s this year had a budget of over 100,000 yuan ($13,736).
“People are more inclined to go for a simple and niche听飞别诲诲颈苍驳,” said Chen, adding that a decade ago, it was common for couples to spend millions of yuan.
Many听飞别诲诲颈苍驳s planned for 2022 were postponed by COVID-19 lockdowns, resulting in a busier 2023 for some firms.
Jewelry companies Chow Tai Fook 1929.HK聽and TSL聽0417.HK聽said they expect demand for听飞别诲诲颈苍驳听jewelry this year to return to pre-pandemic levels.
TSL, however, said the long-term future of the听颈苍诲耻蝉迟谤测听would depend on the strength of the economy.
“It’s just the COVID backlog,” said听飞别诲诲颈苍驳听planner Xueyi, whose business in Xi’an and Shanghai has also seen a spike this year. “Some of my clients who had bookings rescheduled have actually separated.”
‘NICHE, NICHE, NICHE’
The economic downturn has hit the middle class, and the youth, the hardest, resulting in聽聽and low聽.
聽appear to be better insulated against the macroeconomic headwinds and Jewel Wang, owner of a network of stores selling听飞别诲诲颈苍驳听dresses by U.S. designer Vera Wang, expects companies specializing in high-end or bespoke services to fare better than those in the low-to-mid-ranges.
Wang, who is also founder of Nora’s bridal boutique in Shanghai which stocks luxury gowns from designers including Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera, said June was the best month in a decade due to pent-up demand.
“For us it makes more sense to find the next bride who can afford our products versus capturing a greater part of the market,” she added.
Still, she was cautious about the future.
“As a market we see an absolute downturn in spending. Our strategy has been to stay niche, niche, niche,” said Wang.
“We don’t want to flow with the broader market because we don’t think that it’s a good place to go.” – Reuters
