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The Polish wedding market is worth more than PLN 7 bn (~EUR 1.65 bn) annually, with typical weddings costing about PLN 50,000 (~EUR 11,750), far below the western average, experts claim.
“About 75 percent of weddings cost below PLN 50,000, 22 percent between PLN 50,000 and PLN 150,000 (~EUR 35,200). Only three percent of weddings cost above PLN 150,000,” explained Robert Pieczyński from the Polish Association of Wedding Planners.
“In the US or Japan, average wedding expenditures reach about USD 100,000 (~EUR 88,300),” he added for comparison.
“In the past, a wedding for a 100 people would cost about PLN 50,000 now the figure is closer to PLN 80,000 (~EUR 18,800),” said Ewa Wardęga from the Polish Association of Wedding Consultants. She noted that in the last 10 years wedding expenditure rose some 30-50 percent. She attributes this not only to the increasing wealth of people getting married, but also to rising costs.
The increase in expenditure isn’t the only change. The structure of spending is also different from a few years ago.
“It used to be that the reception itself made up most of the costs. Nowadays more of the costs are taken by visual and floral decorations, as well as attractions, like presents for guests or releasing butterflies,” explained Pieczyński.
Money is becoming the usual wedding gift, replacing the home appliances that were traditionally given.
“The vast majority of modern newlyweds live on their own already, they have fully equipped houses or flats. Even if they’re just beginning their common life, we see a strong trend towards signaling to the guests that money is the preferred present,” says Mrs Wardęga.
According to the estimates of the Polish Association of Wedding Planners, newlyweds receive some PLN 2.5-3 bn (~EUR 0.6-0.7 bn) in cash gifts annually.
The number of weddings has increased slightly from it’s lowests total of 180,000 in 2013, to above 200,000 in recent years. This is still way below the annual average of 250,000 weddings in the 1990s.