More Chinese couples are opting to hold their wedding ceremonies abroad. (Photo : REUTERS)
For the recent period, more Chinese couples are being attracted to the idea of holding their wedding ceremonies abroad as many celebrities and ordinary pairs alike opt to celebrate their big day in other countries.
According to Pan Zhenyu, co-founder of the Beijing-based Mocha Wedding, the trend began to noticeably emerge last year.
Mocha Wedding, established in 1999, is one of the biggest wedding planning firms in the country. The company, composed of a staff of 80, specializes in custom weddings.
"There has been a big increase in the number of people inquiring about these overseas weddings, and those going ahead with them. Some couples come to us saying they want a memorable wedding overseas but have no idea of where they want to go," Pan revealed.
Lei Tao, overseas trip planning firm UniqueWay co-founder, also noticed that the demand for overseas wedding trips is rising.
Lei shared that for the first half of this year, UniqueWay has designed seven overseas weddings for Chinese couples. Some of the locations include Denmark, Melbourne, Okinawa and New Zealand.
"These account for only a very small portion of our business, but the number of inquiries has increased this year," he remarked.
Lei added that the islands of Santorini in Greece, Bali in Indonesia, and Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean are some of the most popular destinations for couples. He added that Europe, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand are also becoming more popular.
"Because we specialize in customized overseas travel, more and more wedding-planning companies with overseas weddings to arrange are looking to work with us. However, outside China we don't work with foreign wedding companies. We have our own local resources, such as close connections to local florists, and to the owners of castles, chateaux and the like," he shared.
According to Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics, about 13 million couples married last year and 9.8 million in the first half of this year.
