August and September mark the annual high water mark on the national wedding calendar as Ukrainians rush to tie the knot in line with the ancient tradition which dictates that weddings are best held once the harvest has been collected. Even before this year’s peak, 2007 had already proved a bumper year for the Ukrainian marriage industry, with thousands of superstitious couples getting hitched in July to capitalise on the perceived good fortune implicit in the once in a lifetime 07/07/07 date. But today’s young Ukrainian couples are increasingly ready to take the plunge and are not afraid to spend big in order to guarantee a once in a lifetime experience.
“In the past, people didn’t celebrate as much as they tend to today. The number of marriages is constantly on the rise and at the same time the extravagance and expense of individual weddings is growing,” comments Yevhenia Goldberg, the director of the Kyiv-based wedding agency Five Stars, which has been operating for 34 years on the domestic market.
Mixing trends and traditions
Today’s weddings are not only traditional parties fuelled by copious amounts of food and drink. Goldberg comments that typical ceremonies now incorporate elements of Ukrainian, European and American tradition. Newly-married couples demand huge wedding cakes strewn with rose petals instead of wheat grain, but at the same time traditional Ukrainian elements such as the iconic karavay loaf of bread and the ritual kerchief for the young wife remain.
Olena Zhukova, director of the wedding agency Honey Paradise, estimates that the industry average for a Ukrainian wedding is now as high as USD 10,000 a princely sum that doesn’t include the cost of the groom’s suit, the banquet itself or the all-important wedding dress. Expenses can quickly mount up if, as is increasingly the case, event organisers decide that they want to see Ukrainian show business stars or even foreign singers perform at the wedding.
The diversification of the once standardised Ukrainian marriage industry has also led to the rise of professional wedding event managers who can take over responsibility for organising the big day, but such convenience comes at a price: often between 10% and 20% of
the overall budget. For such a large outlay, clients can expect a day to remember, and wedding managers are being forced to become increasingly inventive as demand for unique nuptials increases.
“Nothing is impossible theoretically. Everything depends on the amount of money you are looking to spend,” Zhukova states. For example, Honey Paradise offers its clients the opportunity to release 20 butterflies for just USD 400. The toughest challenge to date for the agency was to provide a giant wedding cake with a girl inside. The problem was resolved after much thought and a week-long search around Kyiv’s bakeries, Zhukova recalls.
Glorious gowns, fantastic fireworks
As a result of this growing passion for original weddings, a wide variety of specialists have found profitable employment fulfilling the dreams of modern Ukrainian brides and bridegrooms, and even more modest affairs are becoming increasingly costly; from the officials at registry offices to the master of ceremonies and those essential florists, everyone is involved. Prices for their services differ enormously according to the location, timing and quality of wedding. At the most modest of marriages, the price of a toast master in Kyiv will be about USD 500. Rental of a stylish retro car is about USD 50-60 per hour and the price of a limousine could be as high as USD 120 per hour. The celebration in a restaurant requires money for each person and space lease. A mid-range restaurant will cost around USD 1000 to rent and that figure doesn’t include the price per guest, which could quickly rise to as high as USD 200 per person.
Additional expenses will be necessary to hire decorators for the reception venue and the essential car cortege, then there are the photographers and cameramen to consider. To turn a sumptuous wedding into a truly unforgettable holiday, why not order fireworks? In salute-saturated Ukraine you need to make a big bang to be heard, which should cost something in the region of USD 30,000.
The most essential element of any Ukrainian wedding is undoubtedly the bride’s dress, and an entire industry has sprung up to cater for the demand for stylish gowns. A number of Ukrainian studios now specialise in making dresses a la carte but even more salons sell ready-made dresses, many of which are produced abroad or modeled on the latest international designs. The price for even a simple dress is generally higher than the average Ukrainian monthly salary. A beautiful ready-made creation without any frills can be purchased for USD 500, while dresses boasting famous designer labels are the most sought after and are yours for just USD 20,000.
“The price of a dress depends on the kind of textiles used, the quality of the designer’s work, the ‘prestige’ of the brand and the country where it was made,” consultant Ruslana from Kyiv salon Happy Day explains. Not everyone can afford astronomical fees for a dress they will only wear once, and rental remains a popular option, but this still tends to be expensive, with many salons charging 60% of the purchase price. Bridegrooms tend to be less demanding and often opt for less expensive combinations, but nevertheless the price of a decent suit ranges from USD 300 to USD 600. “Suits are generally bought, while as a rule tuxedos are rented,” Ruslana says.
Couples on limited budgets are increasingly looking to the relatively impoverished regions of Ukraine for bargains. 24-year-old Kyiv resident Tanya got married in the beginning of August and recalls how she was able to find a beautiful white dress with shoes and all necessary accessories for just USD 700 by hunting in western Ukraine. “I eventually ended up buying everything in Rivno and it was half the price I would have paid in Kyiv,” she explains.
The bride and groom boom
Despite the increasingly staggering cost of getting married in style here in Ukraine, the statistics speak for themselves and demonstrate that more and more love birds are deciding to make the ultimate commitment to one another. According to Ministry of Justice figures, in 2005 a grand total of 334,000 marriages were registered, while in 2006 this rose to 354,000, and for the first half of 2007 the figure stands at more than 130,000, but it is likely to easily surpass the overall figure for 2006 once the peak summer months have been included.
All this also means big business for the state, with government registry offices ploughing more than USD 3 million into the state budget coffers in the first half of 2007 alone. Much of this revenue comes from clients opting for additional services such as performing musicians or elaborate costumed services.
Religion is also a part of the industry. Unlike in Soviet times when church blessings were officially frowned upon, a religious aspect has become central to many wedding days. Most of Ukraine’s churches will only bless couples that have already been officially registered, and while priests do not officially demand payment, it is standard practice to make a generous donation of around USD 100.
The bad news for those employed by the burgeoning Ukrainian wedding industry is that as 2008 is a leap year there will inevitably be a slight downturn in the number of marriages as superstitious couples hurry to tie the knot this year or agree to postpone the big day for twelve more months. “The number of weddings generally decreases during periods of religious fasting and in leap years. In the last leap year, 2004, the figure was just 278,000,” explains Liya Ilchenko of the Ministry of Justice.
