Chinese wedding photography

Chinese wedding photography - always crazy and over the top?
When I first arrived and my new lab mates found out I was married then inevitably we ended up discussing weddings. They initially told me that weddings in China weren’t really that big of a deal, but somehow I think that was playing things down a bit! My impression of Chinese weddings is that they can be very elaborate, and above all, a lot of effort and money is spent on the photography. All my friends here who are married that I’ve talked about this with had a photography session (usually before the wedding – so none of these superstitions about the groom seeing the bride before the big day and being put off), and the photos tend to focus on these staged shots, with several outfit changes, rather than the ceremony itself. And when it comes to dress changes, I'm talking about five or six dresses. Nowadays most brides will have at least a few white dresses, but there will also be some of coloured evening gowns in addition to one in traditional dress.  My friends told me that most of the dresses are loaned, so they don’t incur that much of an expense, but I know that the photography package can be quite pricey, and many start at around £1000.

When you see the photographers going around with a couple in the city and in the parks, it’s not hard to see why. Normally, wedding photographs will be taken at beautiful or exotic outside locations, and there will usually be at least one photographer, and one assistant carrying around capes to keep the bride warm in between the shots, or extra changes of clothing. Sometimes more people make up the entourage, such as in night shots, when someone is required to hold a spotlight to make sure faces are well-lit. I also saw a few photography groups that included bridesmaids, although traditionally, Asian weddings would only have one bridesmaid, or none at all (so this is probably another aspect of Western influence on the young people of China).

So, after this brief introduction, here is a selection of my favourite wedding photography sessions that I’ve seen on my travels:

Posing at the Bund was massively popular throughout the hot summer nights

A brave bride catches a chance lull in the traffice to pose at the famous and romantic Wai ba du bridge

As one of the oldest universities in China, even my campus attracts some couples hoping to get some romantic shots with the help of their entourage

The recently built Century Park is so huge that you can even hold a wedding there

Western style bridesmaids and groomsmen are becoming increasingly popular, as showcased by this group posing at Fuxing Park

The prize for the most adventurous couple has to go to this pair, who drove out to a relatively remote part of the Great Wall, about 2 or 3 hours away from Beijing in order to get what must have been stunning wedding shots

The competition to have better and more unique wedding photographs has driven a highly lucrative market to become more and more inventive. How about underwater photography? Or dressing up in your policeman work gear for a swat-themed wedding shoot?