Chinese couples flocking to S Korea for wedding snaps

In a beauty salon in the Gangnam district of Seoul, 26 year-old Chinese bride-to-be Na Hongyi awaited a Korean style make-over before taking her all-important wedding photos.

Sitting in the same room where South Korean top star Jun Ji- hyun had her makeup applied for the popular Korean TV drama "My Love from the Star," Na felt the service was both warm and hospitable.

Na, a typical fan of Korean dramas, who follows every hit Korean TV drama at a certain period, is an example of how South Korea's pop culture has played a more and more important role in cultivating Chinese consumers' taste in recent years.

Many Chinese couples demand that their wedding planning companies in Seoul find the same photo studios where Korean stars were transformed before shooting. Sinsa-dong, Samcheong-dong, Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul Tower and other locations where Korean dramas were shot, have also become popular outdoor photo scenes for Chinese consumers.

"But the main reason I choose to come here is the high quality services South Korea's wedding industry can offer. The make-up style is more fashionable and natural, but in China it is out-of- date," said Na.

Unlike China, South Korean wedding planning companies allow their customers to choose their favorite beauty salon, bridal shop and photo studio individually among hundreds of different options.

"It is just like entering into a large market, I can select products more carefully. Some Chinese companies control everything without seriously considering the customers' will," said Na. "We will pay 2,500 U.S. dollars for the wedding planning company in total, it's two times higher than in China, but we still think it' s reasonable."

Na and her husband represent a growing number of Chinese newlyweds rushing to Korea to have their wedding photos taken. Eun Mi-na, deputy general manager of Iwedding, one of Korea's largest wedding planning companies, said that it has shot wedding photos for more than 600 Chinese couples in 2013 -- a major jump from less than 20 in 2010.

South Korea's Chosun Daily reported that 7,000 Chinese couples visited South Korea in 2013 for their wedding photos, and the number is expected to surpass 10,000 this year.

The Gangnam area -- the stylish district made globally famous by South Korean rapper PSY's "Gangnam Style" song -- is the hub of the country's wedding industry. More than 200 photo studios, beauty salons, dress and jewelry shops are located there. The bride-to-be can also choose to have cosmetic surgery performed, as the area has hundreds of facilities to meet a host of different cosmetic demands.