Four recently married couples took up spades and pickaxes to join road construction workers labouring in Chengdu, Sichuan Province on Wednesday as part of an alternative wedding celebration, reports Huaxi Metro News.

Clad in full Western wedding attire, the eight young men and women spent three hours shovelling earth and ignoring the dirt that soiled their black tuxedos and white gowns.

Beforehand, the couples had visited some single elderly men and women to whom they gave gifts of mooncakes.

The newlyweds said they engaged in the unusual activities to get a taste of the difficulties and hardships in life, in hopes that it would give them confidence and courage for their futures.

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