Wedding season market - some random thoughts

(Baonghean) -When the weather is cold (from the end of September to November of the lunar calendar) is considered the most suitable time of the year for couples to build a "nest". To prepare for this important event in life, many young people have spared no effort in investing time and money with the desire to have a perfect, solemn and impressive wedding. Because of that, in the Vinh city market, there are more and more wedding services being born.

Luxury and charm with sparkling decorative stones on a thin veil are the main trends of this year's wedding dress fashion. In addition to the traditional white tone, this year's wedding dresses have a mix of youthful colors such as copper, cream, purple, blue... The dress designs are not fussy in patterns but are simply designed, emphasizing the advantages of the wearer. At the wedding dress shops on the main streets these days, there are always busy brides-to-be coming to try on dresses, take album photos; and the shops are competing with each other by tricks such as increasing investment in beautiful wedding dresses, diverse in style and color. Besides, discounts are also one of the factors to attract customers of the shops. Depending on the material, domestic or imported goods, new or old, the business owners offer different prices. A simple dress with a bright color ranges from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 VND/dress, a white dress from 1,500,000 to 3,500,000 VND/dress. Wedding dresses for rent with high prices are usually dresses worn for the first time. According to many business owners, the "first water" rental price often accounts for 50-70% of the actual value of the dress.

In addition, there are currently many brides who like to wear traditional ao dai on their wedding day, so tailors have introduced many stylized ao dai designs into wedding costumes with traditional and modern beauty, with reasonable rental prices, about 600,000 - 1,000,000 VND/set... And beautiful flower bouquets are also one of the impressive highlights of the bride on her wedding day. According to Ms. My Dung, owner of a fresh flower shop on Nguyen Phong Sac Street (Vinh City), this year's wedding flowers tend to have light colors, simple and youthful designs to create charm for the bouquet as well as the bride. The popular flowers are still roses, lilies, orchids, arum...

Wedding dress rental services are increasingly diverse and rich.

Also to meet all the needs of customers, usually wedding dress rental shops also provide a number of accompanying services such as: bridal makeup, wedding car rental, filming, photography... and have promotions and discounts for couples who book a full service package. The price of a wedding photo album is about 2-6 million VND, depending on the size and number of photos that the shop owner offers different prices. In addition, customers can also choose a private wedding photography service from amateur photographers, friends who are passionate about photography. This service is suitable for creative couples, because the photo album can replace the bride and groom to tell their romantic love story; the script follows the lyrics of a song, a fairy tale or simply just strolls around the streets, at cafes, squares and the photos are not forced or edited as much as in the studio.

One of the indispensable preparations for a wedding is the invitation card. That is why these days, wedding card printing shops are always busy. Wedding cards are like the heart of the host of the party, showing thoughtfulness and respect for guests. Understanding that mentality, currently on the market there are countless different card designs, from simple to luxurious, sophisticated; suitable for all tastes and needs of customers. Mr. Nguyen Van Hoan, owner of a wedding card printing facility on Le Hong Phong Street (Vinh City) said: "This year, there are many more designs and rich colors, but traditional card designs are still the most popular. These designs have 2 layers, the outer layer is traditional red, the inner layer is cream or light blue; the motifs are presented in the form of calligraphy or heart shapes with foil stamping, bows or embossing... The paper materials for making cards are also extremely diverse such as scented paper, wrinkled paper, ribbed paper, plastic-laminated paper from China, Korea, Australia... If printing in large quantities, the store has preferential policies for customers, couples printing in small quantities have to pay a slightly higher price because they still have to order prints."

Many modern and unique wedding invitations have been introduced by shops in the 2011 wedding season. Wedding invitations with floral patterns, flower-shaped folded invitations or engraved according to customers' own ideas. In addition to the available designs, couples can also choose to add dried flowers or a pretty bow... Although the cost of production materials (such as paper, ink...) is 15-30% higher than last year, the price of wedding invitations this year has not increased significantly because there is always fierce competition between shops. Simple invitations made of domestic paper range from 2,000-5,000 VND/card. In addition, there are some "VIP" invitations printed on imported paper, elaborately decorated or designed according to customers' requests, priced from 8,000-15,000 VND/card. If the order quantity is 500 cards or more, customers will receive a better price...

Preparing the trays and decorating the family altar on the wedding day is also a "hot" service and is increasingly paying more attention to the form so that it is both eye-catching and meaningful. Currently, each store has its own style of decoration, elaborate and unique, but the most popular is still the "double happiness" style, "dragon and phoenix meeting" - the trays of betel and areca nuts are arranged in layers, the betel and areca vines are interspersed to represent gathering and closeness... Normally, the set of offerings in the engagement ceremony includes: betel and areca nuts, green rice cakes, wine, fruits, candies... depending on the value of the items used for the ceremony and the number of trays (using 5, 7 or 9), the price ranges from 1.2 to 3.5 million VND. That is not to mention the sophistication of the groom's family, when requesting additional tray-carrying services or "salty" trays such as three-layer sticky rice, whole roasted pig, the price will be double or triple the usual set of offerings.

With the boom of wedding services, customers have more and more opportunities to choose according to their economic ability. And many young people think that marriage is a "lifetime event" so they are willing to spend a lot of money, however, in the current inflation period, careful calculation of expenses is very necessary... And there will be more joy and happiness if the wedding does not put young people in a cycle of debt.

Ngoc Anh