Hotel Notifies Couples of Wedding Date Changes
Announces Full Coverage of Meal and Facility Fees
Seoul Shilla Hotel has decided to cover the full cost of certain wedding ceremonies after controversy arose over the unilateral cancellation of some wedding dates.
According to the hotel industry on September 24, a national event scheduled to take place at Seoul Shilla Hotel in early November led the hotel to cancel some wedding reservations and notify customers of the schedule changes. The hotel informed affected customers that they could move their weddings to a date of their choice, and that the hotel would cover all wedding expenses, including meal and facility fees.
One engaged couple who had booked their wedding for the affected date reportedly postponed their ceremony to March next year, with the hotel agreeing to cover the entire cost, which amounts to approximately 160 million won.
The industry views the hotel's decision to bear the full cost of the weddings as highly unusual.
Recently, Seoul Shilla Hotel notified some guests that, "Due to a national event scheduled for early November, we are unfortunately informing you of the need to change your reservation," and canceled their wedding dates. The sudden notice left engaged couples bewildered, as there was little time to find a new venue and many had already sent out invitations to friends and family.
Changing the wedding date requires rescheduling not only flights and accommodations for the honeymoon, but also studio, dress, and makeup reservations-collectively known as "Seudeume." This process may also incur cancellation fees.
However, Hotel Shilla stated that it could not disclose which national event was the reason for the wedding cancellations, nor the number of weddings affected by the event.
Some observers have speculated that this measure may be related to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled to take place in Gyeongju in October. The upcoming summit is expected to be attended by U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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