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When Hong Kong held its first mass wedding, for 11 Chinese couples

The first mass wedding in China took place in Shanghai in 1935, and Hong Kong followed just a year later; in a twist on tradition, it was two of the grooms, not brides, who were late

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Published: 8:30am, 11 Feb 2017Updated: 7:53am, 23 Oct 2017

A report in the South China Morning Post dated February 12, 1935.

“Italy’s done it! Germany’s done it – And now China is about to do it. Mass weddings have been solemnised in both the first mentioned countries and now the experiment is to be tried in China, in Shanghai, on April 3,” ran a story in the South China Morning Post on February 12, 1935.

There was nothing new about mass weddings. In The Anabasis of Alexander, Arrian of Nicomedia describes the marriage in 324BC of Alexander the Great to Stateira II, a ceremony that saw 80 couples tie the knot as the king of Macedonia married off his commanders.

The 1935 mass wedding took place as scheduled, the Post reporting that “Fifty-seven couples saved approximately $57,000 today when they were married at a cost of $20 by the Mayor of Shanghai.”

Hong Kong followed suit a year later.

“Earlier last year, Shanghai, following Russia, held the first ceremony of this kind, and later Canton took up the idea. Now Hongkong has decided to experiment, and on Saturday, February 15, the Colony’s first mass marriage will take place in the Association Rooms of the Chinese YMCA in Bridges Street,” ran the story on February 8.