Editor’s Note (30 December 2016): Through the end of the year, BBC Capital is bringing back some of your favourite stories from 2016.

In conservative South Korea, a new generation of women is shunning, or indefinitely delaying, marriage, in favour of advanced academic degrees and high-paying jobs.

But, there's one element of the wedding ritual they're not willing to forego – even though they remain single. The extravagant photo shoot.

The time-honoured tradition, usually done before the wedding and set against a variety of backdrops and with a few changes of clothes, typically costs a couple anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000.

But “singles bridal shoots” are being offered at a discount: $500 can capture that moment in a bridal gown and freeze it for posterity. Click on the arrow above to take a peek.

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