WITH the Expo crowds long gone, hotels in Shanghai are looking to take advantage of the booming marriage market. Fei Lai discovers some of the locations that promise to make wedding days all the more special.

The wedding industry is known as a "recession-resistant" industry, and 2011 is looking to become another exciting year for wedding professionals in Shanghai.

He Lina, secretary general of the Shanghai Wedding Trade Association (SWTA), predicts that 2011 will be busier than normal.

"Couples that put off their 2010 wedding ceremonies for the sake of the World Expo Shanghai 2010 have booked for the Year of Rabbit," she said. "2011 is forecast to embrace 150,000 new couples to register for a marriage certificate in Shanghai, and the number of couples holding wedding ceremonies this year will exceed it."

Normally, around 100,000 couples get married in Shanghai each year.

She said that the rise is in great part due to the fact that during the Expo, hotels were mostly occupied by foreign delegates and visitors, leaving no room to hold weddings.

Spring is a season during which everything blossoms - including love. May and June are typically a high season for weddings, while July and August in Shanghai are not so popular. Few couples dare to challenge the hot weather or an unexpected shower.

But in 2011, the high season for weddings will last for a whole year, the secretary general predicts.

"We have united about 70 companies in the industry to provide 5,000 special packages for new couples," she said. "Not everyone can afford a grand wedding. With the package, as long as a couple agrees to hold their wedding in either July or August, the cost of a wedding can be reduced by 20,000 yuan (US$3,058) to 30,000 yuan."

According to the SWTA, the estimated expenditure per wedding in the city will average around 200,000 yuan. Most of it is spent on furnishing the couple's new apartment and wedding banquets. Total costs for a wedding day services average at around 8,000 yuan to 12,000 yuan, including car renting, wedding photos and bride makeup.

"Weddings are a special industry. It's not like buying any product," said Gu Jun, a Shanghai native who had her wedding last December. "It's something that most people could only have once in a lifetime and it can't fail."

Wedding professionals include a wedding host, makeup artist and photographers, and it has become a recent trend in Shanghai to be a freelance wedding professional.

He from the SWTA said that consumers should choose wedding-planning teams with experience and certificates and sign a contract before starting cooperation.

As the wedding business in Shanghai continues to grow, choosing a qualified international hotel to take care of their wedding is a trend among many young couples.

Lily Song, public relations manager of Sofitel Shanghai Hyland, said the hotel's grand ballroom has been almost fully booked at weekends this year.

Personalized services

"Location is always important for any events including wedding functions. Our hotel is ideally located in the middle of the city, right on the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall, with easy access to Metro lines 1, 2, 8 and 10," she said.

Since the hotel's opening in 1993, rich experience to effectively manage weddings has been accumulated. With the worldwide Sofitel re-branding project started two and a half years ago, the hotel has implemented different new standards including Inspired Wedding Planners who are dedicated to provide the best and personalized service to wedding guests.

Song adds that fried king prawn and baked lobster are special dishes the hotel prepares for wedding functions.

Hilton Shanghai hosted 109 weddings last year and aims to cater for 119 weddings in 2011.

Recently the hotel introduced its helicopter pad as a new wedding venue - the "sky garden" is perfect for a wedding cocktail or anniversary party.

Similarly, the hotel's newly renovated presidential suite is a luxury option for the wedding room.

"Hilton Shanghai prides itself in being able to offer highly personalized services which are backed up by many years of experience," said Victor N. de Vries, director of business development of Hilton Shanghai.

"We fully understand that for a special day like your wedding, you want everything to be organized flawlessly with no detail left untouched."

Open to discuss any kinds of wedding menu, the hotel provides cuisines featuring themed buffets, Chinese sets or Western sets.

Meanwhile, the unique Helipad space could be a wonderful location for a cocktail reception before the wedding dinner.

Believing that the wedding market is becoming a large piece of the commercial pie, Daniel Yuan, director of sales and marketing at InterContinental Shanghai Expo, understands the wedding tastes of today's young couples very well.

"The wedding market this year covers those young couples born in the 1980s. They are trendy, fashionable and would like to spend more money on their once-in-a-lifetime wedding," Yuan said.

"There is also a trend that young couples look for luxury and natural weddings. They are more likely to hold it in a creative environment."

Known as an international luxury hotel with impressive views of the Huangpu River, China Pavilion and the city skyline, InterContinental Shanghai Expo's wedding reservation requests have been in great demand, according to Yuan.

Besides the view, Spa InterContinental is an ideal place for the bride to have facial or spa treatment before their wedding, or even hold a wedding bridal shower. "Weddings can be created as well, like poolside weddings, Italian weddings or other themes," Yuan continues.

While traditional local food is a favorite offered to all wedding couples, the hotel's Hong Kong master chef Pan Xianwen designs auspicious menus with his signature dishes for weddings while the Swedish executive chef Mauricio Guerrero creates East-meet-West menus to meet the individual needs of newlyweds.