The Beatles may have sung "all you need is love," but in South Korea a couple wanting to get married also needs cash, a lot of it - nearly $200,000, or more than four times the average annual income.

甲壳虫乐队虽然高唱 “你需要的只是爱”，但在韩国，想结婚的情侣们还需要钱，而且是很多钱——近20万美元，也就是平均年收入的四倍多。

The sky-high costs stem from a combination of cultural traditions that mandate¹（授权，命令） expensive pre-wedding gifts between families, such as mink² coats（貂皮大衣） and diamond rings, along with a decades-old custom that the groom³ must fork over money to provide a home.

The average cost for a wedding in 2011 rose about 270 percent from 1999, while the inflation during the same period rose 45.5 percent. Total costs far outstripped⁴ the average annual household income at around 48.3 million Korean won ($42,400), according to government data.

Thus, young couples seeking to unite in wedded⁵ bliss⁶ are forced to borrow from parents or take out loans. With candid⁷ discussions of money a cultural taboo⁸ in Korea, many are reluctant to speak about the high cost of exchanging vows⁹.

"Korean society is very tightly knit, and people here are very concerned about how others view them," said Harris H. Kim, a sociology assistant professor at Ewha Womans University.

"The wedding works as a status symbol, like a marker of where you stand in the society," he added.

A 30-year old kindergarten teacher who would only give her surname, Kim, said her husband, whose income is 40 million won, took out a loan for 45 million won in addition to financial aid from their parents for a wedding with 600 guests. The couple didn't know half the people, who were their parents' friends.

Gift-giving also takes a hefty chunk¹⁰ of the cash. Traditionally, the bride and groom's families have exchanged gifts - good silk for new clothes and simple jewelry¹¹ - as a way of thanking the other family. But these days the silk has turned into fur or luxury handbags, while the jewelry has morphed into a full set of gems¹².

But the biggest part of the wedding budget comes from soaring housing prices, according to data from couple.net, a matchmaking company. The money spent by happy couples for housing last year was 2.5 times higher than in 2000, making up nearly 70 percent of the total cost of a wedding.

"I've had many customers in the last five years who directly asked for a spouse¹³ who can at least afford to rent a house," said Sungmi Lee, a manager at couple.net.