Nationalist Orban, in power since 2010, has launched tax breaks, housing support schemes and cheap loans worth some 5% of economic output per year for newly weds to arrest Hungary's demographic decline, while strongly opposing immigration.
But the situation appears to be changing with Hungary now projected to run the EU's highest average inflation rate at 16.4% this year amid surging food, power and services prices, driving up the cost of nuptials and eroding the value of Orban's support measures. "Nearly anyone who could potentially get married has already done so," she said."We did not think that this wedding boom would be so strong and prolonged, but it will now probably return to equilibrium."
Mihaly Toth, a master of wedding ceremonies, says the number of couples planning to tie the knot is likely to fall from last year's levels.