Multiple weddings pose priority challenges

The wave of weddings during the National Day holiday is presenting dilemmas for young workers.

"I had to sacrifice two days of my last long vacation of the year due to wedding invitations," said Xu Ziran, 28, who attended two weddings, on Sunday and Monday, in her hometown of Kunming, Yunnan province.

Xu, who has been working for a trade company in Shanghai for three years, has only two long vacations a year - the National Day and Spring Festival holidays. The two long holidays are precious to her, as they are her only opportunity to spend time with her parents and other relatives.

Xu also has been burdened by the custom by which wedding guests give cash gifts in accordance with traditional Chinese culture.

Xu earns about 9,000 yuan ($1,470) a month but spends a quarter of that on house rental. The round trip between Shanghai and Kunming alone has already cost her about 2,500 yuan.

"For those friends and colleagues, a red envelope containing 500 yuan is about average. And about 1,000 yuan should be given if the wedding couple are the guest's close friends or relatives," Xu said.

The wedding service market always takes off during the holidays. For example, Yunnan Expo Garden Hotel in Kunming, one of the most popular hotels for wedding ceremonies, hosted an average of four wedding ceremonies a day from Oct 1 through Tuesday.

Couples who succeeded in having their wedding ceremonies in the hotel during the National Day holiday had all made reservations at least three months in advance.

As more young couples are now working in metropolises or big cities far from their hometowns, most choose to go home to get married during a seven-day holiday.

The trend of getting married during the holidays has spread nationwide. One resident of Haikou, Hainan province, received invitations from nine couples who all planned to get married during the National Day holiday, chinanews.com reported on Oct 1.

The resident and his wife had to cancel a vacation trip because of the invitations. He said the invitations were from colleagues, friends or former classmates, which makes them difficult to decline.

Local newspapers in Henan province reported on Oct 1 that most high-end restaurants in four-star hotels and above were booked solid during the National Day holiday.

Wedding party e-cards are a new trend this year. The cards, which cost 5 to 100 yuan on online shopping platforms, have become popular among young couples. Tuboli, an online store on Taobao.com, has sold wedding e-cards to more than 4,500 customers in the past 30 days.

Such e-cards, priced at 25 yuan, have links to the couple's photo gallery, the location of the hotel for the wedding party, and also a message board for guests. They can be used on cellphones, tablets and PCs. Couples can send the card easily through online messages.

yangwanli@chinadaily.com.cn