Wedding season is in full swing. The period from June to September accounts for almost half of all weddings. How much does it cost to organize a party in Russia, and if it is possible to save money on one of the most important events in life - in the report of the correspondent of the Travel12 television channel, Anastasia Sidorova.
It is one of the most precious days in the life of Alexander and Galina. In the truest sense of the word. Wedding gowns, a banquet for 30 people, a presenter and a photographer - nothing extraordinary, but half a million rubles as if it never happened.

"Here he is, the main culprit," laughs Alexander, pointing at his wife.


As soon as the bride says yes, the pre-wedding agitation begins. The first and most important question is where the wedding will take place. 99% of Russian brides and grooms choose a restaurant. The average bill is 3.5 thousand rubles per person. The decoration of the hall is a separate expense item. Decorations can cost from 30 thousand to a million. Any whim for your money.

"Rather expensive decoration when using live flowers. A small arrangement will cost about 10,000 rubles. And we need 10-12 for the room. It turns out that only 120 000 rubles for the flowers", - notes wedding planner Alexandra Popova.

The second, no less important issue is the choice of wedding outfits. A tuxedo for the groom - 20-25 thousand rubles. Here everything is simple. The brides do not try to save money on the dress, the tailors assure. Beige and coffee-colored dresses will be fashionable this summer. Sequins, sequins, rhinestones and ethnic lace are also in fashion. The more details, the more expensive it is.

"The prices of the dresses range from 7 to 250 thousand rubles. The average price for this year is 50,000 euros," says Alena Abdulina, sales consultant at the wedding salon.

Now it is fashionable to have two dresses for the wedding. One dress for the formal part and another one - straight and light - for the banquet. This is a great opportunity to combine two completely different images in one wedding day and surprise the guests. Pay accordingly, you will have to pay twice.

A wedding in a loft room with unusual lighting, fresh flowers in the decor, a presenter and a DJ will cost 600 000 rubles. Celebration in an estate near Moscow with live music and a bear as an artist - three million. A bear will cost 120 000 rubles. Not cheap, but memorable.

"In our Russian tradition it is usual to party, so party. Often, weddings become the central and very important event for the whole family, so that everyone participates in the budget - not only the couple, but also the parents. In this case, they rarely save money," explains wedding planner Alexandra Popova.

Ruslan replies: "It's not that rare. She specializes only in budget variants. He says that a large wedding can be organized for only 300-400 thousand rubles. The basic package will include a feast, an entertainment program with a presenter and musicians, and a photographer.

"It has become old-fashioned to throw money out of the window," notes the Ruslan wedding presenter, director and organizer.

If before it was possible to surprise with an interesting designer wedding with a handbag, today people surprise with real creativity. For the originals, Moscow has organized 20 new wedding registration places. The list includes the Ostankino TV tower, a planetarium, a swimming pool with dolphins and a soccer stadium. If the newlyweds have decided to perform the ceremony in the arena, the wedding registration is displayed on the screens, and a support group dances for the couple. All this costs a few cents.

"The newlyweds will only have to pay a state fee of 350 rubles, and we take care of the rest - we organize and decorate the venue ourselves," explains Elena Efremova, head of the Moscow registration office.

It turns out that the main expenses for a Russian wedding are the banquet hall and food. Part of the budget will be spent on beautiful decorations. Another roughly equal amount is for the presenter, DJ and the photographer and cameraman. For the wedding dress and the groom's costume, about 10% of the total budget is spent on this activity. The rest is trivial. 

The economics of marriage: how much does a wedding cost and where to find the necessary money

Organizing a wedding can cost a lot of money, according to a survey of participants in this market. Our correspondent has determined the main expense items for the wedding and financial solutions for the newlyweds.

Russians are getting married less often: according to Rosstat, 985,000 marriages were celebrated in 2020, 15% less than in 2015. However, this decline has not affected wedding budgets: according to the representatives of the wedding companies surveyed, financial and banking experts, the average cost of the celebration has not changed since 2015. RBC found out how much a wedding will cost on average in Moscow and the regions and where to find money for the celebration.

How much does a wedding cost?


If the couple decides to marry quietly at the registry office, it will only cost them 350 rubles. - This is the size of the state duty. You can even get a 30% discount on this amount if you apply online. If the bride and groom want a big party, they should be prepared to pay. Depending on the budget, event representatives are divided into three types: budget weddings, medium-cost weddings and VIP weddings.

In Moscow, the average cost of the event is 2-3 million rubles, explains Varvara Peregudova, director of the BMWedding wedding agency. The sum in 5-10 million rubles is considered to be already above the average, and the cost of the wedding from 10 million rubles belongs to the category of high budgets, says Ms. Peregudova. In the regions, the price is much lower: 90% of weddings are organized with a budget of up to 700,000 rubles, explains Natalia Rudenko, the director of the White House wedding agency in Nizhny Novgorod.

The market players note that the price of the event takes off immediately, if the couple asks for a non-standard wedding, and the director's wedding. Classic is a party that takes place according to a standard plan: registration at the registry office, banquet, entertainment program. A director's or designer's wedding is a complete performance, for which a special script is developed. Professional artists and dancers, directors, choreographers, scriptwriters, costume designers, light and sound specialists are involved in the organization of the event. "The price of a conceptual wedding starts at 5 million rubles and can reach tens of millions," explains Alexander Belov, director of the TOBELOVE wedding agency. macos/deepLFree.translatedWithDeepL.text

Another option is a marriage abroad. If a client chooses this option, they will need to budget an additional 20-30% for logistics, accommodation for guests and organizers. If an agency has to work with foreign contractors, the budget for the wedding can be doubled: the price of labor and materials is higher, explains Alexander Belov. Such a wedding will cost more because it is likely to last several days. According to the observations of Varvara Peregudova of BMWedding, foreign weddings usually last two or three days.

How are the costs allocated?


According to wedding planners, event costs are divided into basic and variable costs. The former include the costs of restaurant, decor, technical equipment, photos and videos. The second type of expenses depends on the wishes and priorities of the couple. They may include additional decorations, artist performances, fireworks.

Most of the money is spent on the restaurant - it's about 30-35% of the budget, says the director of the wedding agency "Two Oranges" Angelica Vartersyan. This item of expenses includes the banquet menu, drinks, sometimes a cake, if the restaurant provides it, in some cases also the rental of the premises. If we take as an example a wedding of 50 guests with a budget of 2.5 million rubles, the expenses for the wedding venue will amount to 400,000 to 1 million rubles, cites the example of Vartesyan.

The next major item of expenditure is decorations. It represents up to 25-30% of the budget. The decorations include decoration of a hall and tables, decoration of floral arrangements, fruit and cheese tables, areas for photography. It also includes the cost of designing and printing wedding documents.

For sound and light, the future family will have to pay about 10% of the funds, for photos and video - an average of 10 to 15% more. Photographers in Moscow take on average 10-12 thousand per hour in a 10-12 hour package, and video costs a little more - up to 180 thousand rubles per day of shooting, said Varvara Peregudova of BMWedding.

This is not the end of all expenses. A considerable sum should be allocated to the entertainment program - presenter and dj services at the smallest wedding will cost 10-15% of the budget. If we invite famous singers and artists to the wedding, the budget can increase several times. "The fees of the hosts we work with average between 80,000 and 150,000 rubles. These are the rates of the 15 best presenters in Moscow", - says Varvara Peregudova. macos/deepLFree.translatedWithDeepL.text

The costs of transportation or unusual late evening events (fireworks, balloon launches) are self-sustaining. In addition, if the event is planned on a large scale, the future family will also need the services of coordinators. Some of the organizers price the services as set in a solid amount, others the price is calculated as a percentage of the wedding budget. In the agencies surveyed by RBC, the average cost of these services is 8-10% of the event budget. The fixed prices of other agencies are different and depend on the level of service.

Where to borrow money for the wedding


The major Russian banks do not have specialized products for loans to future spouses: none of the banks surveyed by RBC, among the top 10 banks in terms of loan portfolio volume, reported the existence of such services. If clients need money for a marriage, banks generally offer consumer loans and loans for specific purposes. "We receive applications indicating the purpose of obtaining a 'wedding' loan every month, during the summer period their number doubles," Alexandra Zanegina, head of secondary sales development and CRM at the Moscow Credit Bank, told RBC. The average amount of financing required for weddings in MKB is 400,000 rubles, the minimum rate for new customers - 12.5% per year for other borrowers, it is determined individually. It is not only the newlyweds who apply for credit for their wedding, but also their parents, said Zanegina.

 

Wedding-related expenses are also one of the five most popular reasons for taking out a loan from Citibank, added Mikhail Berner, Head of Private Client Services. The average loan amount is 700,000 rubles. 98% of customers have a credit history. With a minimum rate of 14% for salaried clients, new clients receive a credit of 18-20% per year on average. It also depends on the amount of the loan: the higher the amount, the lower the rate, Berner said.

Consumer loans without collateral or guarantor are suitable for young people, but the rate won't be the lowest, said Anna Tyurneva, financial adviser at "Personal Capital". According to her, it is better to find guarantors or take out a guaranteed loan. Almost all banks have the lowest interest rates for clients who receive a salary or pension on the card from these banks, as well as for clients with a good credit history and a permanent job of six months or more, Tyurneva says.


Another option for securing finances is the credit card. A couple can be advised to issue a credit card and keep it "just in case"," explains Yulia Mikhailovskaya, head of sales development on digital channels at the Promsvyazbank. The card is convenient for unexpected expenses. You can get credit for a product or service directly at the point of sale, for example a wedding dress. "But here you have to be very careful - rates in stores are traditionally higher than in banks. In addition, the disadvantage of such a loan (for example, making the dress you do not like) is no longer available" - warns Mikhailovskaya.

For her part, Nina Donina, an independent financial consultant, is convinced that it is not the best idea to start a family life with a loan. She points out that due to the overpayment of interest, credit unnecessarily increases the wedding budget. Financial consultant Anna Tyurneva agrees with her. "If you can't do without a loan, I don't advise you to take large sums of money. Consumer loan rates can be as high as 30% - that's a gigantic overpayment," she points out.

Saving money


Saving money for weddings is a more lucrative strategy than taking out a loan, says Vadim Merkulov, senior analyst at the investment firm Freedom Finance. According to him, it is now enough to save 500,000 rubles in one year on bank deposits (return of 8.5%) to get a loan for the wedding. (at a return of 8.5%), you have to deposit 113,000 rubles in one go and then add 30,000 rubles every month for a year.

If it seems unrealistic to accumulate the desired amount, it is worthwhile to look for the right balance. Part of the expenses can be reduced, and another part can be paid in several installments by making an agreement with the agency and entrepreneurs. Market participants interviewed by CBR indicated that the terms of payment for installments are usually negotiated individually with clients.

"We can give an installment payment of several months for decoration, since the floristry and printing is done directly by our agency," - quotes the example of Natalia Rudenko of the White House agency. To make an advance payment for honeymoon couples, if necessary, are ready in other agencies. "Sometimes we prepay the contractors ourselves," - says Varvara Peregudova. Her agency provides such "short-term loans" for a period of two weeks. 

 

With some contractors, the customer can make his own arrangements. For example, photographers and videographers often divide payment into three stages: the client pays before, during, and after the wedding, when the equipment is ready. Videographers have a long lead time - six months, sometimes even a year - so the fee must be paid promptly. "Many even ask not to include this last cost in the estimate," says Natalia Rudenko. According to her, in some cases it is possible to agree on installments, even with sound and lighting companies.