Shopping malls are now packed with future brides and grooms who are excitedly choosing their outfits for their special day during the October holiday.
Although an increasing number of Chinese women dream of wedding gowns designed by Vera Wang or Vivienne Westwood, real-life incomes only allow for something suitable for home budgets. China’s thriving textile manufacturing industry offers brides many choices. Visitbeijing.com.cn has checked these out at Wukesong Wedding Dress Mall and there are some tips for brides shopping.
The wedding dress shops are in the same building as the camera accessory stores – a relatively spacious two-story gray building. Low quality and outdated Western-style wedding gowns cost around 400 yuan. For those dresses which are made of better materials and with better craftsmanship and design range from 1,000 yuan to 1600 yuan. It is important to bargain the price in this place; shoppers can usually slash the price in half by doing so.
This will bring the price of low-quality dresses to 200 yuan, mid-quality ones to 500 yuan and the best designs to 800 yuan. Chinese-style gowns are also available here at 300 to 600 yuan. Xiong Li for example, a 27-year-old magazine writer who will fly back to her hometown of Changsha, Hunan Province, for her wedding, bought three gowns at Wukesong. She advised brides to try on wedding dresses at shops like Xidan 109 or wedding photo studios before heading to Wukesong.
“After trying them on there, you’ll have a better idea of which styles suit you and you’ll just have to find similar ones at Wukesong,” she said. Xiong suggests visiting different shops before making a choice. This will help brides negotiate the best price and service; vendors should be able to make minor alterations to make sure the dress fits perfectly.
“With a budget of one thousand yuan, you can easily make yourself a stunning bride,” she said. A small white lie may also help to protect shoppers’ wallets: once a shopkeeper spots a bride, the price of a dress may skyrocket, so some people always pretend to be retailers. Bridal veils, gloves and tiaras are also available at Wukesong. But it is advised to refrain from visiting the place on weekends; it will be very hard to bargain when the mall is swarming with customers. So it is important to visit here on weekdays if you want to get a good dress with a better price.
Address: 40 Wukesong Lu, Haidian District
Open: 9 am – 6 pm
Tel: 8811 9728
