By Jane Han
Staff Reporter

A diligent saver and thrifty spender, 28-year-old Suh Jee-ai has put away at least 500,000 won ($400) per month for the past three years toward her wedding fund. She has a little over 20 million won in savings now, but there's still a long way to go before she hears wedding bells.

``I think I now have barely enough to cover the wedding ceremony,'' said the salaried worker, who makes about 2.5 million won a month.

She estimates the ceremony alone will cost 25 million won, plus another 25 to 30 million won for furniture to fill the new home, gifts for her in-laws and the honeymoon. Suh, who now has a boyfriend of one year, may come off as being extravagant, but she isn't by today's standards.

The latest survey asking single men and women for their wedding budget showed Wednesday that the average amount needed to tie the knot is 55 million won. And respondents answered that it would take at least three years and 11 months to save up.

In online recruiter Career's poll of 648 working professionals who've worked for less than three years, women felt less pressure than men as far as paying for the milestone event.

Men said they expect to need 83 million won, which is 3.6 times more than the 22 million won that women plan to spend.

The imbalance is natural, as men traditionally provide the house in Korea, while women are responsible for buying the furniture and appliances.

While men may not have enough money to purchase a fully paid-off home, an overwhelming majority of 81 percent of both men and women said they would begin with at least a "Jeonse" apartment.

Jeonse is a unique system here through which tenants pay a lump-sum deposit for a long-term lease, instead of monthly rent.

If short on cash, more than half of respondents (51 percent) said they plan to get loans, while 48.7 percent said they would lower spending instead.

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr