Here Comes the World Record

Most grooms like to stay as far as possible from wedding planning, let alone wedding dress shopping.

But Zhao Peng spent months organizing the making of his bride's gown — so that it would break a world record.

Lin Rong walked down the aisle Aug. 6 with a 7,093 foot-long train. That's 1.2 miles! And forget about bridesmaids — it took the couple’s entire wedding of 200 guests three hours to unroll the fabric and then adorn the train with 9,999 red silk roses. (In the Chinese language, the number 9 is a homophone of the word "long-lasting," so it's frequently used at weddings.)

Zhao, a 28-year-old railway worker, told China's Xinhua news agency he didn’t want a "cliché wedding parade or banquet." So he decided to use his wedding to 25-year-old Lin, a teacher, to set a world record.

He spent 40,000 yuan (nearly $6,000) on the effort, and called on his family to help. Luckily, his aunt is a dressmaker, but the rest of his family was busy too. They gathered lace, weighed pattern options, crafted silk roses and sewed on jewels, according to Xinhua. The previous world record: 5,180 feet, was set in Bucharest, Romania on April 1, although that dress was made for a wedding fair and has yet to be walked down the aisle.

But Zhao’s record-breaking work didn't end once the wedding was over. The ever-industrious groom then trimmed the dress to 1,984.1022m — his bride’s birthday — and added 608 crystals, one for every day the pair has been together.

"Both the length of the dress and the number of silk roses pinned on the wedding dress can make history," Zhao told Xinhua. He is planning to submit a video of the wedding as evidence for the decision-makers at the Guinness Book of World Records.

Of course, if it isn't one thing it’s your mother — Zhao's was unimpressed with her son's grand plans.

She told Xinhua: "It's a waste of money in my opinion." Mothers!

Photo courtesy of Jekert Gwapo