What price wedded bliss in China?
By Olivia Chung

HONG KONG - Chinese people are traditionally willing to spend lavishly on weddings and, as their incomes have grown as never before, their nuptial expenses have also swollen proportionally. As a result, China's wedding-service industry is emerging as a significant and growing economic sector.

The most outwardly visible symbols of the burgeoning industry are the countless photography studios and wedding-clothing rental outlets throughout every urban area. Depending on their incomes, tastes and egos, a loving couple can spend anywhere from about 1,200 yuan (US$160) to more than 5,000 yuan on photographs, frames, posters and photo books while posing in wedding and costume attire that ranges from traditional Chinese and Western, to Japanese and even knockoffs resembling the 18th-century court finery of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France.

According to a recent survey on mainland China's wedding industry conducted by the Ministry of Commerce and China Wedding Expo, a typical urban couple spend an average of 126,600 yuan on their wedding - expenses that don't include housing or a car.

The survey covered 3.73 million couples, and was the first to examine how the marriage industry contributes to the country's overall economy.

A top-end couple spends an average of 3,879.52 yuan on photographs, 6,052.53 yuan on jewelry, 1,891.37 yuan for a rental wedding gown and tux, 7,961.46 yuan for wedding arrangements, 73,101.26 yuan on home decorations and furniture, 10,823.37 yuan for the honeymoon and 17,504.45 yuan on home appliances. And the couple's wedding banquet has 20 tables at 1,014 yuan apiece.

The total is a whopping 141,500 yuan (nearly $19,000), though the survey said most couples are a bit more frugal, averaging 126,600 yuan for the wedding.

The survey found that direct wedding costs poured 1.54 trillion yuan into the market in 2006. If the trickle-down factor is accounted for (an estimated 1.2 trillion yuan), the survey found, the wedding industry covers about 76 businesses both directly and indirectly, and the total turnover of 2.74 trillion yuan accounted for 13.36% of China's 21.09 trillion yuan gross domestic product in 2006.

The biggest spenders were in the larger cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, where couples held more Western-style nuptials such as an outdoor ceremony in a park.

In fact, the average price of a Shanghai wedding (187,000 yuan) was close to what loving couples spent to get hitched in the United States last year. According to a survey of 1,619 brides conducted for the American Wedding Study 2006, the average cost of a US wedding was $27,852 (215,850 yuan) in 2006, United Press International reported.

Industry experts said the wedding costs were boosted in China in recent years because wedding-related industries cashed in on the Chinese zodiac's "auspicious" lunar years for marriage and making babies.

"The Year of the Dog plus the lunar calendar's 'double spring' in 2006 made it a good year for marriage," said Zhou Quanbin, a former marketing manager for a Guangzhou wedding-service company in Guangdong province. "The Year of the Pig, 2007, is a good year to have a baby, so the number of people who are marrying increase, creating more business opportunities for us."

Xia Xueluan, a professor with the social studies department of Peking University, attributed the lavish spending to peer pressure and newly wealthy young couples wanting to one-up their friends and colleagues.

"Besides higher living standards, the main reason for higher wedding costs [is] showing off," he said.

There are exceptions. An administrative staffer at a Guangzhou art institute, Wilson Fu (not his real name), and his longtime girlfriend tied the knot recently for only 30,000 yuan. The costs included two modest banquet tables for about 1,500 yuan apiece to feed their parents and relatives.

"Some parents are very traditional and ask their children for a big wedding banquet," Fu said. "But ours are open-minded and understood that it would have taken at least six months and a lot more money to prepare something like that."

Their nod to tradition was to register their marriage on September 13, a day that was considered particularly lucky for marriages. Their biggest expense was the honeymoon, which Fu said would cost them between 12,000 and 15,000 yuan.

In contrast, however, Yu Linsheng, a 69-year-old retiree, said he only spent 2 yuan on his wedding in 1963 and that was to cover the registration cost.

"We had no wedding banquets, no home decorations, no new clothes," Yu said. He said he earned 30 yuan a month at the time working in a small-town movie theater in Guangdong province. His marriage lasted until 2001when his wife died.

As time flies, the prices of weddings might change. However, one thing in a marriage that does not change is that couples need to work hard on a new relationship after the wedding.

Olivia Chung is a senior Asia Times Online reporter.

My God... Okay, call me cheap, but I just can't see spending that much money on a wedding. Yeah, I know it's supposed to be one of the most beautiful moments in your life, but come on.. why spend THAT much money on it.

Hell, a small ceremony with a nice party afterwards is just fine with me. I don't see the need to spend that much money. I mean, think about it; you could use whatever money is left over for a down payment on a nice house. That is something that is towards your future together and for any children you might have.

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lol Weddings in my family are usually huge. Some of my Cousins went into 6 digits for wedding costs.

Although I never got a engagement or wedding ring from my ex. We got married by a judge for 45 bucks including train ride and burger king afterwards. He always promised me a real church wedding once he graduated. LOL Im so gullable but i thought real love shouldnt cost big bucks.

It's always nice to be invited to a big wedding but not throw one. The asian practical side speaking. Too big of a wedding can be a real PITA. I've been part of the planning process in a chinese wedding banquet so it comes from personal experience. The final product is usually decent enough but the hours to get that way is like a full time job plus O/T. It's much easier to be wealthy and throw money at it and hire all the party planners to get it right than do it yourself.

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well sure if your a millionaire, you can hire others to plan it for you. But I am talking about your average person who doesn't have that kind of money.

I have heard of people(parents) having to re-mortgage their homes just to afford a huge wedding. I know they want their kids to have a beautiful wedding but that's just too much.

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I agree. That's plain stupidity. In essence, a wedding is a memory a couple and parents should cherish as a significant event in their son's/daughter's lives. It is not a FIXED asset and shouldn't be treated as such! LOL. You want permanence? Stick it on dvd with backups and that doesn't require filling out bank documents.

Weddings allow people to network and to get gifts equivalent to the price one pays to feed the guests. It's more for a person's social standing rather than a display of love. It's a shame, but I can't blame those that can afford to do it.

hm...i always wanted the fairy tail 'princess for a day' thing but it will never happen. there just isnt a guy in this world good enough for the likes of moi!

Never say never, Siren. When ya do, you may just get what you wish for.