Planning a wedding often means deciding how many people to invite and figuring out who can make it. But Chinese man Xu Chenghong had a different problem. He said he had barely had any relatives who could attend his big day. So, instead of keeping the guest list small, he turned to social media and invited strangers to celebrate with him, according to The Global Times.
Chenghong claimed in the video, “Besides my older brother, there’s been no one else. Just myself, saving 167,500 RMB for the wedding”. His video quickly attracted attention, with viewers promising they would attend. And surprisingly, thousands followed through, turning the day into a dream wedding.
Around 10,000 people reportedly arrived in Yiliang County, China, days before the wedding. The gathering was described as “possibly China’s biggest wedding ever.” The unexpected turnout even caused problems for local hotels, which reportedly ran out of rooms as guests traveled from different parts of China.
There were hundreds of gifts
The celebrations eventually grew far beyond what Chenghong could have expected. According to a video posted by content creator Ur.Chinese.Unc, approximately 30,000 people showed up on the wedding day. Guests reportedly traveled from places including Hong Kong, Sichuan, and Chongqing, bringing gifts that ranged from apples and live ducks to cows, household appliances, and even a used car for the newlywed couple.
The Free Press Journal reported that the gathering also attracted people willing to help with the practical side of the celebration. More than 40 chefs reportedly traveled to the area to prepare food for the enormous crowd, ensuring guests had something to eat.
The event seemingly brought activity to the surrounding community, too. Local businesses benefited from the influx of visitors, with some guests staying in the area for several days. After the festivities, attendees even helped clean the town square, apparently leaving it looking as though the massive celebration had never taken place.
According to the Guinness World Records, a former Tamil Nadu chief minister and movie star, Jayalalitha Jayaram from India, holds the record for the largest wedding banquet/reception, hosting over 150,000 guests at her foster son’s wedding in 1995. It reportedly cost an estimated $621,311.
The record for the most expensive wedding, however, sits with a Russian heiress, Khadija Uzhakhova, and oil heir Said Gutseriev. Held in Moscow, Russia, in 2016, it reportedly cost $1 billion and was funded by the groom’s billionaire father, Mikhail Gutseriev, according to The Knot.
Published: Nov 4, 2026 01:45 pm