Forget Las Vegas; get married at McDonald's! The world's largest fast-food burger chain has a lot of, shall we say, interesting items on its menu, such as the McLobster and the McAfrica burger. But three McDonald's restaurants in Hong Kong offer something altogether different: weddings and engagement parties.
The basic "Warm and Sweet" wedding package starts at $9,999 Hong Kong dollars, or roughly $1,287 in our currency. It includes venue rental, decorations, audio equipment, an MC, invitations, a wedding gift, guest favors, and $3,000 ($386 U.S. dollars) worth of McDonald's food.
Not a bad price considering the average cost of a wedding in Hong Kong is $10,000 HKD.
In Miami, however, the average cost of a wedding runs about $12,000 USD with all expenses, says Benjamin Cardonne of bestmiamiweddings.com, whose wedding packages start at $4,000 for 100 people.
"In the USA I think a McWedding would be ridiculous," Cardonne says. "But I could understand it in China, where the average income per capita is much lower and the perception of McDonald's is different than ours."
Couples who want a McWedding should be aware of a couple of things: no privacy because other guests can walk into the restaurant at any time, and McDonald's doesn't not offer booze, so no drinking.
Pony up more cash and you can supersize your order with a wedding cake made of stacked apple pies and a wedding gown made of balloons.
Décor themes include Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, and other McDonald's characters on a Pepto-Bismol-pink backdrop.
Launched last January, McWeddings are approaching their one-year anniversary and are popular among the younger, 20- and 30-somethings in Hong Kong who have developed a fascination with the chain, which opened there in 1975.
It's the ultimate Happy Meal -- for adults!
For American couples considering a McWedding, here's a video:
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