China's wedding dress sellers pin hopes on rise in marriages

Wedding vendors at Huqiu Bridal City in Suzhou, one of China's largest wedding dress markets, are hopeful the country's positive marriage trends will continue this year.

- Casey Hall and Nicoco Chan

Wedding shoe seller Cheng Yonggui waits for customers at Huqiu Bridal City. — REUTERS A couple shops for a wedding gown at Huqiu Bridal City in Suzhou. — REUTERS

(REUTERS)

The rise in marriages in the first nine months of 2025 is a bright spot in China's otherwise grim population landscape. Official data on Monday showed the country's birth rate hit a record low last year and its total population fell for the fourth straight year.

Marriage rates rose 8.5 per cent for the first nine months of 2025, according to Ministry of Civil Affairs data earlier this month, buoyed by policy changes and favourable cultural factors.

That increases the likelihood that overall marriage numbers in 2025 will halt a downtrend in annual nuptials that has gone almost uninterrupted for more than a decade.

Chen Juan, the co-owner of Luoyi Bridal, where dresses are priced from 1,000 yuan ($143.51) to around 4,000 yuan for more ornate styles, said marriage rates dropped significantly in 2024 as it was considered an inauspicious year to tie the knot, with many couples delaying weddings to 2025.

The sprawling Huqiu Bridal City is home to more than 800 stores filled with frothy white taffeta, silk and lace dresses.