Those Big Fat Chinese Weddings

“The shape of the bra cup is built into the dress,” says Chen Yaping, marketing director at Galatea Bridal Boutique in Beijing, pointing to a rack of well-endowed white wedding gowns. “It doesn’t matter how big you are.” Galatea, which takes its name from an ancient Greek myth, is one of numerous bridal shops launched recently in China’s capital, catering to a fast-growing bridal industry—estimated at $57 billion by the China Wedding Industry Development Report—that now mixes Western precedents and local characteristics. A display case within the store exhibits jeweled tiaras next to towering 9-inch, rhinestone-encrusted silver platform heels.

One significant change Chen has noticed since Galatea opened in 2006: China’s urban brides have become much more selective. Each month, the chain’s three locations (two in Beijing and one in Shanghai) sell about 300 dresses, ranging in price from 2,000 renminbi to 50,000 renminbi ($325 to $8,100). Seven years ago most brides would obediently listen to the staff’s “expert” advice on dress selection. (For instance, Chen advises that women with angular faces wear plainer fabrics; those with rounder features can pull off floral embroidery or busier patterns.) But “today’s brides come in with their own opinions,” she says, adding that the rapid growth in Chinese wedding magazines and bridal websites has fast refined tastes and stoked desires.