Chinese look to South Korea for weddings

SEOUL, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A South Korean wedding company says it is using the Internet to woo Chinese couples looking for better services than Chinese firms provide.

The company, iWedding Networks, is advertising a four-day wedding planning package that includes pre-wedding photo sessions and trips to popular tourist attractions, the South Korean English-language daily The Chosun Ilbo reported Friday.

"We were hired by 500 foreign couples this year, and 300 of them were from China," an iWeddings spokesman said. "We aim to open an office in China by 2011 so that we can directly compete in the market there."

One Chinese visitor told the newspaper "the quality of wedding services in China is horrible so middle-class couples are researching Korean wedding services and come here to prepare for their weddings."

Chinese couples are getting their pictures taken at high-end studios in Seoul's trendy Gangnam district while the Imperial Palace Hotel reports a jump of 20 percent in wedding inquiries from Chinese couples.