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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.
The high-speed service has been spawned due to booming demands. Eun said normally their Chinese customers make reservation via phone, email or WeChat a month before they came to Seoul, deciding the studio, dress shop and beauty salon in advance. After the customers arrive in South Korea, they can finish their photoshoot in one day. Then the album will be delivered to China in a month.
To facilitate Chinese consumers, many wedding planning companies now have translators on-hand to help. Some photographers have even learned simple Chinese expression such as "Da Xiao" ( laughter) "Wei Xiao" (smile) or "Piao Liang" (beautiful)."
More and more South Korean companies are consolidating their market positions in China. They open Chinese accounts on China's Weibo social networking site and Wechat, even working with Baidu's search engine to enhance their brand's awareness. Most companies collaborate with their counterparts in China to better target more customers.
"Chinese consumers used to go to Europe and the U.S. for wedding photos in the past, but South Korea's professional photography and makeup services, as well as its convenient proximity, have triggered a change in their preferences," said Cui Gyu-ha, CEO of Visual L&C, a photo studio company.
Some companies have even cooperated with travel agencies to offer "photo plus travel packages" to attract consumers. Cui said around 70 percent of consumers have selected this package. The wedding industry and tourism industry both benefit from each other in a reciprocal way.
In 2013, around 4,253,400 Chinese tourists visited South Korea, marking year-on-year growth of 42 percent, according to data published by the China National Tourism Administration. Chinese tourists accounted for nearly one quarter of all tourists to South Korea.
The latest data from the China National Tourism Administration shows that in 2014 from January to September, a total of 4,626,600 Chinese tourists visited South Korea, with year-on-year growth logged at 39.4 percent.
Na and her husband also planned to stay for another couple of days for sightseeing and shopping in Seoul, she said.
"I have a long shopping list to complete," she said.
