Every year, China experiences a wedding boom during the first week of May, which being the period cherished not only by lovers wishing to tie the knot, but also by all the professionals of the wedding industry.
Ten million people marry annually in china. With the rising of living standards, combined with a craze for extravagant weddings, professionals have found a huge and lucrative market and one that is growing quickly.
The traditional western white dress is always prominent, but there are styles to suit every taste: traditional Chinese wedding styles with a red costume, chic evening dress for "femmes' fatales", views of a spring wedding with a profusion of flowers and leaves as well as historic reconstitutions with Tang Dynasty costumes. As for the most extravagant personalities, they should be satisfied with the royal family's costumes.
Many couples are ready to spend several months of their salary on 50 photos of a wedding they could not afford, of course, in real life... and to add a few hundred Yuan more to have the album ready for the big day. Whereas the normal delay to get the "finished product" is one month, it is possible to have it in 20 days for 300 additional Yuan (US$36), in 15 days for 400 Yuan (US$48) and in just 10 days for 500 Yuan (US$60).
According to an industry analysis echoed by the company Wedexpo.com – an interface between wedding suppliers and buyers – 25 percent to 40 percent of the consumption in China's wedding market are occupied by photo studios and peripheral suppliers, and wedding studios alone create annual transactions amounted to 50 billion Yuan (US$6 billion) at least.
The wedding craze started in Taiwan more than 20 years ago and expanded rapidly. However, the island's market soon got saturated, resulting in considerable price cutting competition, inspiring some professionals to move to mainland China, launching a market which is now catching up with that of Taiwan's.
One ideally only gets married once in a lifetime, so many couples do not watch their spending. In many studios, those who are ready to pay more than the minimum required for a flashy wedding album can have a special service including a VIP room with Internet access, to ensure the groom does not get bored while the bride is getting prepared. The shooting of photographs, which takes place before the real celebration with family and friends, is a ceremony in itself.
The couple has a star treatment, each pose being chore graphed in a theatrical atmosphere. The very chic Paris Marriage Photograph Studio offers a luxurious and refined environment and never receives more than 30 couples at a time. No hustle, no hubbub, the whole day goes by in a quiet atmosphere. The magic is part of the
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