Hongkongers looking to get married at one of the city’s public venues will need to brace themselves for higher rental costs next year, with authorities considering a price increase of up to 18 per cent despite the sites’ low usage rates.
The increase in fees at six government-run venues will take effect from February next year.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department earlier this week announced that prices for five of its outdoor wedding venues would increase from HK$2,970 (US$380) to HK$3,490 for a four-hour booking, an uptick of 18 per cent.
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The cost for each extra hour following the four hours will see a 26 per cent increase from HK$230 to HK$290.
The five outdoor venues covered by the price increase are sites at Repulse Bay Beach, Sai Kung Waterfront Park, the Lawn and Amphitheatre at Tai Po Waterfront Park, Bauhinia Garden at Kowloon Tsai Park and the Six Arts Terrace at Kowloon Walled City Park.
Couples eyeing Assembly Hall in Lei Yue Mun Park will also have to pay more under the new policy, with fees for a four-hour booking at the indoor venue to rise from HK$3,170 to HK$3,670, a 16 per cent increase.
Bookings that go beyond four hours will cost HK$380 for every subsequent hour. The figure is a 17 per cent rise from the current fee of HK$325.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said the fees were being adjusted to help recovery costs.
The Post has contacted the department for pre-pandemic venue data, but only received information starting from 2020.
Wedding industry veteran Francis Auyeung Man-bun, who has worked as a civil celebrant and wedding planner, said the government venues covered by the policy were severely underused.
“In my 15 years in the industry, I have done four weddings at these venues,” he said, adding three were held at Lei Yue Mun and the other at Repulse Bay.
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Auyeung, the chief planner at Civil Wedding Planning Service Hong Kong, said he had officiated or organised more than 500 weddings over the course of his career.
A breakdown of government figures showed the venues at Repulse Bay, Sai Kung Waterfront Park and Kowloon Walled City Park had between zero and five bookings each over the last three financial years.
The Lei Yue Mun venue had no bookings during the same period as the site was repurposed as a quarantine facility, before undergoing renovation works.
The most popular venue among the six was the one at Tai Po Waterfront Park, which hosted 128 weddings across three financial years.
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Bauhinia Garden at Kowloon Tsai Park also had moderate success compared with other government venues, landing 83 bookings over the same period. The site has been closed since June of last year due to construction work.
Auyeung said clients who hired wedding planners typically splashed out on more expensive venues, such as hotels, while money-conscious couples tended to go for residential clubhouses, co-working spaces or conference rooms.
“I’m very sceptical that [government venues] are good value for money because you have to deal with a lot of other things to make it work,” he said, citing issues such as insufficient parking spaces and the extra paperwork to serve hot food.
“It’s not just a venue for signing the marriage certificate,” he said. “I don’t think the government is looking at it correctly. If they are looking at it correctly, it will be a totally different ballgame.”