All over the world, thousands of couples picked last Sunday, 10.10.10 as their wedding date. The date is easy to remember and the number 10 symbolizes “perfection” in Chinese. Many Chinese couples believe that it is an auspicious date.

This year, the Hong Kong Government confirmed that a total of 138 couples registered to get married on the special date.

Yahoo! Hong Kong took the opportunity to conduct an online poll to find out what other interesting elements couples would consider for their wedding and found some really intriguing insights.

More than 1,500 local users shared their views online. Here are some interesting highlights from the poll:

• More than 50% agreed that 10.10.10 is a “Perfect Day” to get married. Other popular dates include the couple’s first date and Valentine’s Day. Many are also looking forward to next year’s  11 Nov 2011 (11.11.11.) for their big day

• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are seen as the “Most Ideal Husband” and “Most Ideal Wife” respectively. Out of celebrity couples Brangelina hold the key to happiness

• When it comes to wedding format, 35% prefer a mix of both traditional Chinese and modern Western ceremonies while 20% said they prefer to have modern wedding ceremonies overseas. The idea of a totally unconventional wedding such as underwater or parachuting is not popular, especially among the women. Traditional wedding rituals and customs still have value to Hong Kong women.

• Many couples want to keep sharks fin off the menu. About 65% of respondents choose to remove shark’s fin soup from the wedding dinner menu. 76% of younger respondents (19 years and below) said they will not even consider including the dish in their wedding menu. The younger generation in Hong Kong is clearly more environmentally conscious

• What is the most important factor when planning a wedding? Friends and family (23%) as well as wedding venue (20%) are two of the more important factors that the respondents shared

• Women will spend the most on wedding gowns, while men, on the honeymoon. About 60% of female respondents said they will spend most of the budget on their wedding gowns and anything that ensure they look ravishing on the big day. 56% of male respondents said they would rather spend most of the money on the honeymoon. 52% of the men also said they will spend most of the money on the wedding rings and jewelry for the bride

• Hong Kong men prefer Asian partners while Hong Kong women prefer the Europeans. Most of the male respondents said they will go after local, Japanese or Taiwanese women, while female respondents said they will go after European men.

• The ideal wedding budget limit for most people spans from HK$250,000 (approximately US$32,300) to around HK$500,000 (US$64,500). About 57% of respondents said they will spend a maximum of HK$250,000, while 35% said they do not mind to spend more than HK$250,000 but not over HK$500,000 for this big day.

• Maldives is the most ideal honeymoon destination according to 28% of the respondents. About 20% said they prefer to go to Japan and the younger generation (19 years or below) believe that European countries are more romantic to honeymoon in

Alfred Tsoi
Vice President and Managing Director,
Yahoo! Hong Kong