Wedding dress workshops in southern cities like Hangzhou, Suzhou and Shenzhen supply shops like Yu's in Beijing, but some brides opt to skip the shops by going straight to the dressmakers. Huqiu Wedding Dressing Street in the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province is famous for its cheap wedding dresses and attracts brides from far and wide looking for the dress of their dreams.

Tailors can copy designs from foreign brands and some design their own gowns. A tailor in Huqiu claims to have made the first copy of Kate Middleton's dress just 31 hours after the royal wedding.

But, to Yang Se, the founder and CEO of idoido.com.cn, a popular website offering wedding service information, a wedding dress is more than just a thing of beauty.

"The wedding dress is a holy and traditional symbol that represents solemnity of marriage. People should treat it with respect," Yang said.

Yang, 31, has guided hundreds of wedding ceremonies and is currently preparing for her own wedding. She plans to wear a Vera Wang gown for her wedding ceremony which will be held in Los Angeles.

Yang would like to pass her wedding dress down to her family's future generations, and "tell them what the dress really means to a bride."

"I have been anticipating my wedding day since my childhood. I got excited whenever I watch a wedding in films and TV," she said, adding that the character Monica's wedding scrapbook from the American TV show "Friends" inspires her desires to get married in a Western-style wedding gown.

Just like Yang, Linda Wang also wants a Western wedding ceremony. She has been to Wukesong six times already, but still has not made a decision of which dress to buy.

"My wedding should be romantic, held in the lawn and have many garlands and bouquets-just like what I have seen in movies," Wang said.

"And I will look more beautiful when I'm in a Western-style wedding dress."