Li Chao (in white and with glasses) and best man Sheng Xia about to open the door for bride Li Jiawei -- ST PHOTO: MAUREEEN KOHBeijing - Li Jiawei proved she can serve up a wedding as smashing as one of her table tennis volleys here yesterday.
As melodramatic music played, smoke swirled, spotlights twirled and cameras flashed, the national paddler sashayed down a short catwalk in a stunning $13,000 gown before 600 guests.
On hand were celebrities such as Chinese director Zhao Benshan and Singaporean starlet Chen Meixin, who was Jiawei's bridesmaid.
By her side was her husband, Chinese businessman Li Chao, 36.
Earlier, he had serenaded his bride with a rendition of Xiao Wei, Taiwanese singer Huang Pinyuan's hit, that called for Jiawei, 27, to 'fly to the sky with me'.
The four-hour ceremony was held at the six-star Beijing Hotel, where all feasted on a 13-course banquet.
Li Chao appeared rather unnerved at times by the media scrum capturing the couple's every move. But a friend of the groom, who gave her surname as Chen, said Jiawei's glow seemed to spread every time she wowed the crowd with a new costume change.
A stunning moment came after the compere proclaimed that 'the angel has descended from heaven'. The silk canopy on a raised platform was opened to reveal the bride dressed in a 40kg bustier gown hand sewn with 38,888 pieces of Swarovski crystals.
The four gowns she wore yesterday were specially designed for her and sponsored by Singapore's WhiteLink bridal studios.
The festivities began when the couple stepped out of a stretch limousine at about 10.25am - the bride in a flowing white Grecian-styled gown - at the Beijing Hotel entrance, to cheers from a hundred-strong crowd and exploding party poppers.
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