Lee, 35, who married in April, was glued to a laptop right up until the ceremony. He was building a web gallery where guests could upload their photos in one place. Similar services were on the market, but he set out to make the site himself with help from Generative AI.
He carved out time on weekends and after work. Using so-called "vibe coding," a method of having AI write code, he sped up the work. On the wedding day, he and his husband posted QR code stickers with the internet address (URL) around the venue, and they were able to receive 147 photos from guests.
More engaged couples are using AI to handle wedding prep themselves instead of hiring wedding planners or professional firms. As wedding expense has surged amid high inflation, "self weddings," in which couples do everything from invitations to wedding shoots, photo retouching and website building, are spreading.
◇Making invitations themselves, too… "expense is one-sixth"
Seo, 29, who is set to marry in Aug., is currently making about 150 invitations with her husband. Hiring a vendor can cost up to 300,000 won, but she said doing it themselves cuts the expense to around 50,000 won.
The ability to freely structure the format and content is also cited as an advantage of DIY production. Seo is making two types of invitations, one for friends and another for coworkers. "For the invitations to give to people at the company, we plan to use an illustration instead of a photo and keep the wording brief," she said, adding, "I'm using Photoshop's AI features to create layout and design drafts."
A, who plans to marry in the second half of 2027, is considering skipping studio photos. Wedding shoots typically involve studio rental, dress lending and makeup, and often cost at least several million won. Adding original photo retouching, a shooting helper, and frame production increases the expense burden further.
By contrast, self-shoots offer many options to cut expense. Couples can buy relatively inexpensive outfits themselves and get props via secondhand transaction platforms. Reselling after use can lower the burden even more. "The wedding expense is far higher than expected, so we're considering a self-shoot," A said. "We plan to use AI for tasks like concept suggestions and photo retouching."
◇Venue and "studio-dress-makeup" prices rise… burden of "weddingflation"
A key reason engaged couples are turning to self weddings is the so-called "weddingflation" (weddings + inflation). According to the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA), as of Mar., the average wedding expense was 21.36 million won.
The median venue price was found to be 3.5 million won nationwide and 6.5 million won in Seoul. The median "studio-dress-makeup" expense also reached the 3 million won range at the high end. The industry says competition for popular venues and certain seasons is compounding the expense burden.
The government fully implemented the "wedding service price labeling system" on the 12th, which requires vendors to disclose prices by service and item, but many on the ground still say it is hard to check detailed prices. The system, dubbed the "studio-dress-makeup fixed-price system," went into effect after a six-month guidance period, but actual compliance is reportedly still low.
◇"AI lowers the barrier to creation"… experiential wedding prep by Millennials and Gen Z
Analysts say the spread of Generative AI has also influenced the self-wedding trend. Tasks once considered the domain of professionals—design, photo editing and webpage creation—have become easy for nonexperts to handle.
According to the app analytics service Wiseapp Retail, the domestic ChatGPT app had 23.45 million monthly active users (MAU) in Apr., up about 34% from a year earlier. A report released recently by Microsoft's think tank AI Economy Institute (AIEI) put Korea's Generative AI usage rate at 37.1%. That was up 6.4 percentage points from the previous quarter, the largest increase among major countries.
Heo Kyung-ok, a professor in the Department of Consumer and Industry Studies at Sungshin Women's University, said, "Millennials and Gen Z tend to cut unnecessary conventions and consume the wedding prep process itself as an experience," adding, "As Generative AI technology spreads, it has become possible to prepare for weddings in the way they want while lowering the expense burden."