21st China Wedding Expo to be held February 15-18

SHANGHAI, China – China Wedding Expo, the largest and most professional wedding photography accessories and equipment exhibition in China and the world, celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2012 as it becomes the authoritative trendsetter for China’s wedding photography industry and the platform for information exchange, trade and procurement.

The 21st China Wedding Expo formally moves to its new venue at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center (formerly the Shanghai World Expo Theme Pavilion) and will be held from the 15th to the 18th of February, 2012. All exhibitors will now be located together under one roof, in an area covering 80,000 square meters, providing one-stop purchase and negotiation services to more than 150,000 professional buyers and visitors and eliminating the hassle and inconvenience of having to transit between three disparate exhibition buildings under the prior set up.

The exhibition organizer has located the exhibitors across the center’s five exhibition halls based on each exhibitor’s specialization and area of expertise, making it convenient and easy for visitors to find and interact with the exhibits that interest them. Hall 1 will be the locale for exhibitors of photo albums and frames, photographic equipment, post output devices and consumables, along with displays of photos taken professionals in the field. Hall 2 is for the display of wedding dresses and other outfits for special occasions. Hall 3 is allocated to display of photo ensembles shot by professional photographers and the availability of franchising opportunities, backgrounds and props, furniture and stage sets, shop window design, marketing training and e-marketing. Hall 4 will be where one can find equipment for children’s photography, wedding goods, accessories and cosmetics. Hall 5 will contain displays of wedding dresses and outfits for special occasions, equipment for children’s photography as well as photo albums and frames.

Number of photo album and frame exhibitors sets a new record

China’s top photo album and frame makers will be in Hall 1 on the first floor of the centre. The hall is the largest one in the center and also the largest indoor astylar exhibition hall in Asia. After a relatively quiet period, the wedding industry’s photo albums and frames sector is set to take off. Covering an exhibition area of 20,000 square meters, the 200 enthusiastic exhibitors showing their wares represents a new milestone for the exhibition. The popular photo album category includes European, modern, romantic and cartoon styles. Made from green materials, photo albums nowadays are fashionable and stylish.

The world’s top bridal dress makers eye the Chinese market

Hall 2 on the first floor at the center is reserved for the showcasing of wedding dresses. The cutting-edge and advanced hardware and software facilities in the center has lifted the application of technology at the exhibition to a new level and attracted many renowned wedding photography equipment makers from both within and outside of China, with several top-flight international brands in attendance. A combination of passion and creativity, French brand Pronuptia’s elegant and hand-tailored wedding dresses are sure to attract wide attention among visitors and establish a strong reputation in the Chinese market. FAMORY, one of the top 10 bridal and evening dress brands in the world and the only in its field to receive recognition as one of “China’s Top Brands” as well as a “China Famous Export Brand”, is exhibiting for the first time. FAMORY’s founder Cai Minqiang has been praised as the “father of modern bridal and evening dress design” by the international bridal and evening dress community. The company’s design team is the largest in the world and the firm’s designs are considered as the template for the sector, with its mainstream styles setting the trends that are followed by the international brands. With the sector focusing on China for the next phase of its development and the increasing interest in the Chinese market by brands from all over the world, the company is expected to drive the development of the sector across the country.

An impressive array of cosmetics on display

The exhibition area for cosmetics, accessories and wedding products will be located in the southern part of the lower level in Hall 4. ZFC, a leading cosmetics brand, will showcase its most compelling lines of cosmetics and hold a press conference on February 16th themed “The riddle of colors around the world — health, color and the future” in the Conference Room No. 1 on the lower level of the center. The press conference is part of a series of fun and interesting events, including a talk entitled “Business study tour in Japan”, covering both fashion and beauty topics. The event will also look at predictions for the future of the cosmetics industry in China.

Children’s photography enters new phase of development

The children’s photography exhibits will be located in the northern part of the lower level of Hall 4. With more and more young parents hoping to record their children’s every milestone in image form, the children’s portrait market has grown extensively and the industry chain for children’s photography is reaching a state of maturity. With strong demand for exhibition space and the participation of numerous famous brands, the number of exhibitors has jumped 17 per cent from last year’s. Yoyobaby, a leading children’s photography brand with a worldwide footprint, has exhibited every year since the advent of the annual exhibition. The brand, owned by Szforever Inc., one of China’s top ten outstanding wedding photography studios, has been called out the only one of China’s top ten children’s photography studios in Shenzhen. Combining its excellent management experience with both original and popular photo shooting techniques, the brand has become a benchmark for the child photography sector worldwide and is seen as the firm to lead the sector into its next stage of development.

Technology and innovation drive the wedding photography sector

The theme photography exhibition area on the second floor of Hall 3 will continue its focus on traditional wedding photography, while showcasing new technologies that allow the instant production of photo samples in a move to make it substantially easier to close the sale during the first encounter with the potential client. An entire array of breakthrough developments in technology for wedding and portrait photography sectors that is sure to dislodge the competition, especially in the newly developing field of onsite shoots at destination weddings, will be on display. Other exhibits will showcase several large live scenery and high profit outdoor location products satisfying growing market demand that can no longer be met by existing products. This year’s exhibition has attracted international wedding photography brands as well as many of China’s recently established photography studios, taking the quality of exhibits to a higher level, while attaching more importance to the quality of services and cost management. These new participants to the exhibition will go a long way in advancing the scale, dynamics and personalization of theme photography complemented by technical assistance services, so as to boost the solid development of the industry.

Many events with a common theme giving added meaning to the exhibition

Many other informative and interesting events will be concurrently held. The 7th China’s Top Ten Portrait Photography Works Exhibition will be on exhibit on the second level at the southern end of the centre. These unique and colorful works represent the best in portrait photography. In addition, exhibitors plan to hold technology communication meetings and courses covering new product releases, how to use Weibo micro-blogs as a marketing tool and sideline businesses to add to the bottom line of a photography studio, as ways to cater to every aspect of the development trends across the sector.