In Egypt, tailoring a green dress costs about half as much as tailoring a white dress. Hiring a makeup artist for a full glam face costs less than the “bridal package.” Hiring a photographer for five hours for an event is often cheaper than hiring them for a wedding photo session.
“I showed a tailor the dress I wanted to make, asked about the price, and how much fabric I needed to buy. When I showed up a couple of days later with white fabric, she asked why I didn’t tell her that it was a bridal dress,” Sara Ahmed, a 30-year-old graphic designer, told Egyptian Streets.
The tailor wanted to charge her double the price because it was her wedding dress. Ahmed noted how absurd it was to charge more for the same service just because the event was special.
A wedding comes with a staggering price tag for what are deemed necessities. In this modern age, newly engaged couples need to consider finding a venue, selecting a cake, choosing a dress and veil, and arranging decor elements like linens, lighting, and a wedding arch. In addition, the costs of hiring a caterer, florist, photographer, videographer, DJ or band, and often a wedding planner quickly add up.
Newlyweds-to-be, particularly in Egypt, are often caught off guard by the realization that services provided for a wedding cost way more than the same service in other circumstances.
Many vendors apply a “wedding markup,” charging higher prices for their services when tied to weddings than other occasions, such as corporate functions, family celebrations, or random events. Couples find themselves spending significantly more than they might otherwise need to.
As of July 2024, data projects that Egypt’s wedding planning industry will generate approximately USD 621.21 million (EGP 31.36 billion) in revenue in 2024, with an anticipated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6 percent between 2024 and 2031.
“The makeup artist I hired for my engagement party charged me 230 percent more than my sister for the ‘bridal package’,” Nouran Mohamed, 27-year-old operations manager, told Egyptian Streets, “My sister used almost all of the same products as me, just in different shades.”
Mohamed explained that she felt that service providers, from venues, bridal dress shops, and makeup artists to wedding planners are exploiting her need for a “special occasion” and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
These sentiments are mirrored by Ahmed, as she can not outrun the wedding industry or social pressure. Her family and friends urged her to follow the essential wedding checklist.
“While I was getting married, I found myself under immense pressure to hire a makeup artist to look my best, create a music playlist because the music is integral to the wedding, make sure the venue is big enough to carry 300 people because we have to invite everyone and arrange my bachelor’s party because I would later ‘regret’ not having one,” Ahmed said.
She shared that the modern definition of weddings requires so much of couples and the bride. Not only would they have to create a home, but they also need to organize an event and fund it themselves, which forces them to pay more and hire people for assistance.
“I met a venue manager and he told me that I can pay EGP 500 (USD 9.9) to rent a “rustic style” table with 10 chairs, which adds up to EGP 10,000 (USD 198) for a 200-person wedding,” Mohamed said, noting that a wedding planner she talked to provides different packages, whereas renting 200 metal chairs with 20 tables would cost EGP 15,000 (USD 297) and EGP 20,000 (USD 396) for the rustic style chairs.
“The prices are not even fixed, and then I have to add to it the wedding planner’s fees,” Mohamed said.
Ahmed Gamal narrated how he was being nagged by his friends to hire not just a photographer but a videographer as well because his wedding, a nonrecurrent event, needed to be documented.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to hire a videographer, but the only venue I can afford doesn’t provide one and charges extra fees if I bring one myself,” Gamal said. “Not only would I have to pay for the videographer, but also pay additional fees to let him into the venue with his camera.”
Changing a decor as simple as a tablecloth in the venue has a specific charge, Gamal explained. To take pictures by a specific arch in the wedding venue compound, the bride and groom need to pay an EGP 700 (USD 13.86) fee.
“It’s like these service providers are intentionally lacking and charging you to provide services that could have been included in the package,” Gamal said.
On the other hand, Moustafa Salama*, a wedding planner who asked to remain anonymous to protect his business, told Egyptian Streets, that his wedding services require a level of attention to detail and care that other events do not require.
“Given that it is a very special and memorable occasion, the stakes are super high and I do not want to leave room for error,” Salama shared, noting that a broken chair, a delay in delivering the cake or playing a song, could cause small inconveniences that no bride and groom want to deal with.
He also shared that as a wedding planner, he handles all the details, from booking the venue, dealing with seating suppliers, getting flowers and arranging their placement, booking a DJ, and guaranteeing the playlist is followed, agreeing with a caterer and confirming their arrival, their setup, and more.
“It is an exhausting job, where I have to meet the client’s expectations, provide them with quality at the best possible deal and price, and mostly be on my feet dealing with so many things at the same time,” Salama explained, noting that paying for his service fees saves the newlyweds time and hassle.
According to Salama, the competitive market additionally dictates the pricing markup, requiring his fees to align with current trends while ensuring profitability.
He further emphasized that he spoke solely for himself, acknowledging that there are likely other wedding planners and service providers who exploit the market or demand more than they deserve.
Weddings, with their modern checklist, have become defined by social expectations, marked by inflated prices, and the pressure to create and deliver a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience. With the simplest of services coming at a premium, couples are left struggling with exorbitant costs for basic services just because they are tied to a wedding.
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