Weddings at fast food joints: the new 'protest' by young Chinese

The Sixth Tone website reports that low-cost weddings are becoming increasingly fashionable given the prohibitive costs of traditional ceremonies. It is also a way for zoomers to set themselves apart from practices and traditions they no longer feel as their own.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – China’s zoomers (Generation Z) seem less and less interested in traditional wedding ceremonies, perceived as boring, too formal, and very expensive.

An increasing number of couples are opting instead for weddings in karaoke parlours, hotpot restaurants, or even fast food restaurants like McDonald's, this according to Chinese website Sixth Tone, which monitors youth trends.

Unconventional weddings are reportedly fashionable these days, rapidly spreading across the country; in fact, a recent survey found that 80 per cent of Chinese aged 15 to 24 are in favour of "minimalist" ceremonies.

The country’s economic crisis is certainly one important factor. A 2020 report estimated that an average wedding in China costs 174,000 yuan (US$ 24,600), 8.8 times the average monthly income of a working couple. By 2023, the cost jumped to 330,000 yuan.

With consumers increasingly looking to tighten their purse strings, popular fast-food chains, including McDonald's, Haidilao and Heytea, have launched special wedding packages. In Hong Kong, McDonald's restaurants are offering a US$ 385 wedding package, which includes a bridal bouquet made of McNuggets.

In addition to costs, social mores are changing. For many Chinese zoomers, the formality and outdated rituals associated with traditional weddings have lost their lustre.

On Chinese social media, many users have begun to speak out in favour of the "three no weddings,” i.e. no convoy of limousines, no bridesmaids and witnesses, and no ritual in which the groom must gain entry to the bride's home by completing a series of challenges.

On Weibo this week, a post about the "three no weddings” racked up over 40 million views, with many users saying that they felt that traditional wedding rituals were not only excessively expensive, but also time-consuming and exhausting for couples.

• china
• marriage
• weddings
• three no
• mcdonald’s
• fast food
• sixth tone
• generation z
• zoomers