A soon-to-be newlywed couple participating in a wedding photo shoot event is taking pictures at Choansan Hydrangea Hill in Nowon-gu, Seoul. This is unrelated to the main article.
Although more couples are feeling burdened by wedding photo shoots, the majority of married men and women still chose to have their wedding photos taken by professionals.
On September 17, the matchmaking company Gayeon released the results of its recent "2025 Second Half Marriage Perception Survey," which included a section on "wedding photo shoots." The survey was conducted with 500 married men and women from June 18 to 25 via Open Survey, with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of ±4.38 percentage points.
When asked whether they had a wedding photo shoot, 87.4% responded that they did, while 12.6% said they did not.
The most popular main option was "studio photo shoot with a professional photographer" (78.3%). This was followed by "outdoor photo shoot with a professional photographer" (14.2%), "self-studio photo shoot by the bride or groom" (3.4%), "other" (2.3%), and "self-outdoor photo shoot by the bride or groom" (1.8%). The "other" responses included cases where both studio and outdoor shoots were chosen as the main option, or where all three types, including self-shoots, were done.
A couple is having a wedding photo shoot with greenery in the background at Seoul Forest Park in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. Unrelated to the article content. Photo by Kim Hyunmin
Among the 5.2% of respondents who chose to do self-shoots, the main reasons cited were: "because professional photo shoots are expensive" (26.1%), "because they do not place much importance on wedding photo shoots" (21.7%), as well as "because self-wedding photo shoots have always been a dream," "because the bride or groom is confident in their photography skills," and "because they wanted to capture a more natural look," each at 21.6%.
According to the results, the percentage of those who had a wedding photo shoot was higher among people in their 30s (88.6%) compared to those in their 20s (84.9%). The rate of self-shoots was slightly higher among people in their 20s (6.4%) than those in their 30s (4.8%). Among younger generations, self-shoots once became a trend as a way to reduce the burden of studio, dress, and makeup (Sdeume) costs and to express individuality. However, the actual rate of self-shoots appears to be relatively low.
Kim Eunyoung, a couple manager at Gayeon, explained, "While it is now common to keep offline wedding invitations simple with just text, photos are almost essential for mobile invitations. Even as many couples simplify or skip the wedding ceremony itself, it is still common to go through with the wedding photo shoot. This is partly for sharing with family and friends, and also because the symbolic value of wedding photos remains significant."
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