The city of Liaocheng, East China's Shandong Province holds its first group marriage ceremony on April 25, 2023, attended by 10 newlywed couples, as the country launches a campaign against problems including exorbitant bride prices and extravagant wedding ceremonies. Photo: IC

To curb "unhealthy" wedding practices, East China's Qufu is asking locals to report to related department before they hold wedding ceremonies and funerals.

A three-layer reporting mechanism involving district-level governmental departments, village-level department and wedding planning services companies has been established to ensure weddings and funerals are "controllable" and "manageable," according to the local Bureau of Civil Affairs.

Some "unhealthy" wedding practices would see the grooms and brides forced to undress or perform indecent acts such as throwing eggs, or forced to wear inappropriate clothing. Some wedding ceremonies see brides being insulted. 

A local official from the Bureau of Civil Affairs said the local government would not directly become involved in local weddings and funerals unless those improper practices were identified.

Each village will establish a volunteer group to welcome new couples, prepare for wedding ceremonies and supervise the wedding planning service companies. A total of 94 wedding planning service companies are registered under a local government database.

When the marriage registration office handles marriage registration services for a new couple, it will ask the couple to take time to understand the size and choice of their wedding ceremony so as to plan early and prevent "unhealthy" wedding practices.  

The Paper