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Green weddings are on the rise

By Gan Tian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-20 07:31

Xue Bai, 23, proposes to Tian Yuan at the 2010 China Wedding Expo in Beijing on Friday. Tian said “I do”. PHOTO BY ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY

BEIJING - Though 2010 is considered the "widow year" in the Chinese calendar, it did not stop newlyweds and couples from flocking to the China International Wedding Expo, which opened on Friday in the Beijing Exhibition Center.

The expo, ending Monday, features wedding and honeymoon planning companies, photo agencies, flowers vendors, matchmaking websites, and jewelry makers. Staffers at all of these agreed that the "widow year" designation has not hurt their profits. Some of them predict that the Chinese wedding market would boom this year.

Huang Rui, 29, and his fiance, Liu Xiaoxia, 26, had already booked a service from Suse Wedding Photo Agency for 30,000 yuan. The couple, together with a professional team from the company, will fly to Sri Lanka to take their wedding photos at the beginning of May.

Yang Kun, salesman from Suse Wedding Photo Agency, pointed out, that while 30,000 yuan is comparatively expensive, this sum actually covers the honeymoon trip for their customers.

"Though a wedding means a lot to a wife-to-be like me, we also need to spend money wisely," Liu said.

Aijiangshan Korean Restaurant was offering wedding dinners for 20 people, and the bookings for May 1 were all already taken, said salesman Fan Huizhang. "It is especially designed for young couples who do not want to spend much money. They can treat their best friends and family with great cuisine," he said.

One of the wedding trends seemed to be a decrease in paper invitations. Many couples like to send e-mailed invitations instead, said wedding planner Liu Yuanyuan at the expo.

"Some of them came up with the idea of picking the wife up by bicycle," Liu said.

Last Friday, a Low-carbon Marriage Summit was held. The summit came upon the idea of combining "low-carbon" and marriage, persuading new couples to make their weddings more environmentally friendly, as well as cut their budgets.

"Weddings mean a lot to new couples because people promise to each other a lifetime commitment. So people need weddings, but they can be energy-and-money-saving. While more young people began to pay attention to environmental protection, low-carbon marriages will be a trend this year," Zhao Ran, a professor at the department of psychology of the Central University of Finance and Economics, said at the summit.

China Daily

(China Daily 03/20/2010 page4)