A young couple dress in 2,200-year-old Han Dynasty costumes at their wedding last December in Hangzhou of East China's Zhejiang Province.(Photo: China Daily) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, March 20 -- A Chinese wedding may conjure up images of a convoy of flower-covered luxury cars to pick up the bride from her home and a feast complete with the cake-cutting, champagne and endless rounds of toasts to all the invited guests.

    It is usually a happy and lively occasion. But many young people see such weddings as too stereotyped and out of date.

    "I attended two weddings recently, one in Shanghai and the other in Beijing. They were done in exactly the same way," said Si Tingting, 25, a media worker in Beijing.

    "Each wedding should be unique reflecting the betrotheds' love stories and personalities. I'd like to have my wedding in a church, to represent the marriage's solemnity," she said.

    A Chinese marriage licence costs only 9 yuan (1.15 U.S. dollars), however the wedding ceremony afterwards can cost a small fortune. The ceremony is traditionally very important because it is a public recognition of the union of two people.

    Si is one of tens of millions of young people who want to tie the knot in a different way. Many choose to celebrate in churches, bars and in parks. Some go for a fairy tale bash, others go for exchanging rings underwater or high in the sky in hot-air balloons.

    Guo Xiaoguang, 26, and Zhai Qun, 25, were married last December at the Wangfujing Catholic Eastern Church which was first established in 1655.

    "The church's formal service gave me a very strong sense of responsibility for our marriage," Guo said.

Zhai Qun (left) and Guo Xiaoguang are blessed by the priest following their marriage last December at the Wangfujing Catholic Eastern Church in Beijing.Courtesy of Zhai Qun and Guo Xiaoguang(Photo: China Daily) Photo Gallery>>>

    The couple are both graduating from Renmin University of China this summer. "Unexpectedly, I cried when the clergyman asked me to say something to my husband," Zhai said. "Standing in such a solemn place and thinking about the five years we had spent together on campus, I could not hold back the tears and took a long pause before speaking.

    "Most of my girlfriends also cried."

    That marriage is solemn business, is what a traditional wedding feast fails to reflect, she said.

    To meet changing needs, many wedding consultants are starting to offer new-style wedding services.