Big spenders add sparkle to Chinese wedding market

It was late afternoon at the last day of the China International Wedding Expo. Guo Juan threw a throat tablet into her mouth hastily before turning to the next customer.

"I have got 30 percent more orders than last year," Guo said in a hoarse voice. She is a sales agent at Roman Vogue, a wedding photo studio in Beijing.

While governments bail out suffering banks and world leaders meet to discuss a dire global economy, stylish young couples attending the annual wedding exposition in Beijing appeared undeterred. More than 1,000 wedding-related companies showcased their products and services at the three-day event last week and tens of thousands of young couples, plus their parents and in-laws, flocked to the Beijing Exhibition Center, one of the city's largest exhibition halls.