On a recent Wednesday morning, 27-year-old copywriter Wu Yuncheng hopped on a city bus in Linyi, Shandong province. All the seats were taken and the passengers were exuberant and dancing to loud music.

It was just the kind of ride that Wu was looking for on that Oct 2 morning — one to her own wedding.

Aiming for a unique and budget-friendly experience, Wu and her husband broke from the tradition of taking themselves and family members to the wedding venue in a fleet of luxury cars. Instead, they rented a regular public bus adorned with balloons, cartoon stickers and auspicious ornaments, and invited their guests to join the ride.

The ride took Wu, her husband, Song Jiacheng, and about 20 guests past the city's landmark buildings and sights. "Our friends came from different regions across China, and some flew more than 30 hours from South America to give us blessings. The route was specially selected by my husband, a local, to give them a glimpse of the city's charm," Wu said.

On the bus, the couple and their guests danced to a playlist of energetic nightclub songs. They waved at strangers passing by who initially looked stunned, but then smiled back at them when they understood what was going on.

"We reveled in the beautiful scenery along the way while singing and shouting. I felt a blast of youthful energy," Wu said. "I could tell that my friends had a lot of fun, and even the older people who initially doubted the idea ended up applauding our choice."

The total cost of renting and decorating the bus was less than half the price of a wedding car fleet rental, she added.