Chinese wedding trend sees couples married at the office - so they can do more work

Many women often say they love a man in uniform - but these Chinese brides have taken it a step further with these workplace-themed wedding photos.

The latest bizarre marital trend in China sees the usual romantic backdrops rejected in favour of wedding snaps taken at the office.

Couple turn up for work in their wedding gear and have their photos taken in the workplace to save money and - bizarrely - allow them to squeeze in more time working.

One pair of newlyweds had their photos taken at the groom’s firestation, while another couple tied the knot with the policeman groom carrying a rifle and dressed in riot gear.

Happy couples are turning to the unorthodox wedding shoots due to the apparent ‘epidemic’ of overwork in China. Thousands are thought to die each year in the country from overworking themselves, and the uniformed weddings appear to be the latest symptom.

Weilin Hou, 29, works on the special police force in the city of Chongqing. His job requires him to be on 24-hour standby most of the time, and he was also another classic candidate for a work photo shoot.

Instead of travelling around the romantic venues, he invited his wife-to-be to his workplace and they had this photo shoot on the training grounds of the special police force department.

Chen Tsao who had his pictures done at work said: 'I didn't have time to take off to travel all over the place having pictures done. But I didn't want to miss out on the pictures, so when I heard about people doing them at work I realised it was a great opportunity. I can keep my wife happy, and my employer.'

Boss Lok Ch'ien who works at a planning bureau in the capital Beijing said: 'I think it shows dedication and pride in work, and also it's great for the atmosphere and for office morale by giving other staff the chance to share in a couple's big day.'

Over in Ningbo, Haoran Xu, a firefighter took his set of heart-warming photos with his lovely bride and his team. Xu met his wife, Lin Chen, when he was a trainee at the Kunming Command School of Public Security and Fire Fighting Army. Although they lived far apart, they managed to keep their long-distance relationship alive for three years, until they eventually tied the knot.
 
After a rushed wedding Xu promised his wife that they would have their wedding photos taken when he 'had the time'.

But being a fireman did not give him the privilege of time as he had to work on shifts and be on standby for any emergencies. After a year when a promise still had not been honoured, it caused a row and when his work colleagues heard about it, they arranged for the photo shoot to be done at the barracks.
 
The Chinese dedication to work was highlighted recently, when financial regulators described a staff member who ‘worked himself to death’ by regularly staying in the office until midnight, before collapsing from the stress.
 
Li Jianhua, 48, worked for the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission for 26 years and was found dead in front of his completed report after working through the night to meet the early morning deadline.
 
Amazingly, after the man’s death, China’s regulatory commissions management committee praised the tragic worker as an example that everybody else should follow.

They said: 'We can all learn from Comrade Li Jianhua, who always had firm ideals and beliefs, who showed that he was an employee who was loyal to the cause of the Party and the people, who gave an unremitting struggle to perform his best and to sacrifice everything.

‘It was done with the goal of enhancing the quality of our work. Comrade Li Jianhua did long overtime, night and day, and put all his energy and passion into the regulatory business.'

Li apparently had an attack of shingles — often related to stress — in the days before he died but did not go to the doctor because 'he didn’t have any time'.