"Adults Call Me a Rebel" - Chinese Youths' '3 No's Wedding' Who Hate Being Pressured

Trend of 'Minimalism Wedding' Using Minimal Costs
Unnecessary Practices Like Bridesmaids and Car Processions 'Removed'

"Adults call me a 'rebel.' But I prefer a simple wedding without complicated conventions!"

Xiao Jang, who lives in the Shandong region, shared news of her minimalism wedding on social networking services (SNS), attracting great attention. A minimalism wedding is a newly coined term meaning a wedding conducted with minimal costs, unlike traditional weddings that require large expenses. As the economic crisis deepens, minimalism weddings seem to be establishing themselves as a new trend among young people in China.

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On the 15th, local Chinese media reported that minimalism weddings are gaining popularity among the younger generation. It is also called the 'Three-No Wedding.' Characterized by taking ample time, a minimalism wedding involves no car procession, no bridesmaids, and no wedding host. There is even no wedding banquet. The media analyzed that this trend is closely related to Chinese youth pursuing a personalized, simple, and comfortable lifestyle.

Xiao Jang said, "Shandong, where I was born and raised, is the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, and places great importance on etiquette and rituals. When I told the elders that many parts of the wedding would be omitted, they all opposed it, saying 'unbelievable.'" She added, "There are many good points to a minimalism wedding. Fortunately, with the support of both parents, I was able to proceed with a minimalism wedding. Since then, the elders call me a 'rebel.'"

She continued, "On the wedding day, I quietly did my makeup alone, and the bride and groom happily chatted with parents and friends, eating together with family until morning." She said, "There was no host, and the event was conducted only by the bride and groom. It gave the wedding more 'freedom.'"

Xiao Jing said, "I thought it might be boring for friends to just sit quietly at the wedding, but now it was meaningful because we could enjoy the wedding like a party with prize draws, games, and candy throwing." She vowed, "If I were born again, I would want to have a minimalism wedding again."

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Meanwhile, according to the 'Wedding Industry Insight White Paper' in China, the average wedding cost for young people is 174,000 yuan (about 32 million KRW), which is 8.8 times the couple's average monthly income. It was also found that 42% of couples spend more than this amount. Therefore, minimalism weddings are popular among young people because they reduce financial worries and save money and effort.

Earlier, on November 20 last year, China's National Bureau of Statistics announced in the '2023 Statistical Yearbook' that the number of first-time marriages in China last year was 10,517,600, a decrease of 1.06 million from the previous year, which was the lowest ever. The number of first-time marriages falling below 11 million is the first time in 37 years since related statistics began in 1985. Experts pointed out that the decline in first-time marriages is directly leading to population decline.

Chinese weddings are often among the most lavish in East Asian countries. After selecting an auspicious day considering the couple's zodiac signs, birthdays, and birth times, the wedding proceeds with the bride and groom exchanging gifts symbolizing prosperity and good fortune. The prospective groom usually gifts ▲gold jewelry ▲dragon carvings ▲phoenix candles ▲premium tea leaves ▲sesame ▲wine ▲brandy, and the bride's family returns half of the gifts as a sign of acknowledging the relationship. Wedding invitations are engraved with gold letters on a red background, and red dresses are often worn instead of white. While reading the marriage vows and greeting both sets of parents is similar to Korea, the wedding banquet for guests is held longer and more grandly than in Korea.