A Once-and-for-all Splurge1

The approaching National Day Holiday is going to be special for Jason Li.

The 28-year-old is finally ending his bachelorhood2. Also coming to an end are his bank savings, accumulated over the years.

"I had never thought marrying would be so dear4," Li said.

The studio wedding photos alone cost him 5,000 yuan. "But it is indispensable5, as my fiancée firmly <a href="http://www.bestwatches4u.com/omega-c-340.html">Omega Replica Watches</a> believes that a woman becomes most beautiful when she wears the wedding gown, so that moment must be captured and kept forever," Li said, forcing a smile.

The Price Tag     

Both Li and his future wife are from traditional families, which determine that a lavish6 wedding ban¬quet7 is a must.

Li chose the three-star New Garden Hotel to hold the grand feast8. Taking all the necessary guests, ineluding relatives, colleagues, friends and former class-mates into account, Li found that they have a total of 250 guests. That is 25 tables.

"When the restaurant showed me the final price after several rounds of bargaining — 35,000 yuan, I couldn't help drawing a cold breath," Li said.

There are still many other expenditures involved in the wedding ceremony. A rough account for the sweets and cigarettes to be handed out at the wedding party is about 6,000 yuan, plus a further 600 yuan for photographs and a video recording.

The rent of suits to be worn at the wedding party (two dresses for the bride and one for the groom) is 300 yuan. "She still bought a 3,000 yuan wedding gown," Li added.

Renting the car and then decorating the car with flowers and hiring a make-up10 girl for the bride, all these take money.

Li figures out that the overall cost of the wedding ceremony is at least 60,OCO yuan. Earning 2,500 yuan a month, Li has withdrawn all his savings for the big day.

Yet according to Yu Jian, manager of Shanghai Hao Yun Matchmaking Agency, the cost of Li's wedding ceremony is quite typical for the city.

The General Trend    

Yu has recently taken a survey of some 300 newly weds who have entrusted11 his company to host their wedding ceremonies. Over 80 percent of the couples were prepared to spend around 60,000 yuan on the wedding. About 5-8 percent of people would spend more than that, and this percentage is steadily rising.

"A trend for higher standards and more expensive wedding ceremonies has emerged," Yu said, and his remarks won immediate agreement from Tony Wang from the Four Seasons Hotel.

"Just take a look at our hotel's thriving12 wedding banquet business," Wang said.

The five-star hotel's so-called super luxurious wedding banquet of 588 yuan per person plus 15 percent surcharge13 is fully booked, despite the fact that at least 10 tables must be reserved.

The same thriving business can be seen at the Hotel Nikko Pudong Shanghai, whose "wedding" business is expected to show a 60 percent increase over the same period last year.

What Luxury Entails -

For those who are determined to hold an impressive wedding ceremony, the <a href="http://www.fashion-replica.com/GoodsBrand/Audemars-Piguet-6.html">Audemar Piguet Replica</a> party can't be limited to just eating and drinking.

It also requires a band to play up the atmosphere, an experienced host to make the whole ceremony smooth, and numerous roses to add more romance to the party, which means extra costs of at least 6,000 yuan.

This is all a radical change from the pre-economic reform period of the 1970s when restaurants were rarely mentioned when talking about weddings, let alone five-star hotels or bands. Wedding banquets