A Korean Wedding

Finally I will tell you all about what it was like going to a Korean wedding!  How exciting is this?!  Probably the most exciting thing you'll read all day.  Or not.  I don't know your life.

I drove to the wedding with one of my co-teachers and after about 2 hours we arrived at the wedding hall.  In Korea most people get married in wedding halls, which are just big buildings that are made to host weddings.  That's it.  That's all they do.  This particular wedding hall I think had maybe 4 weddings going on at once.  I am not making that up.  Here are some photos.

Big chandelier in the main foyer

People all mingling before the wedding 

Another shot of the foyer.  Notice the wedding room on the floor above

The front of the wedding hall.  It was so huge!

That chandelier again

More mingling.  You can see inside the hall itself here.

Once inside I was directed by my coworkers to give my money and get in line.  What?  Yea, at Korean weddings there is a person, possibly a family member, possibly an employee of the wedding hall, not completely sure, who takes your money and records it.  Then they give you a ticket.  The ticket is so you can eat later.

Filling out your envelopes to get your ticket.

I had mixed feelings about this, but ultimately I like the concept.  I think it streamlines things.  In America we essentially do the same thing, we just make it more convoluted.  The guests give the couple a gift and the couple provides a meal.  And everyone knows the gift should be worth a bit more than the meal but that's not guaranteed.  Korea cuts all of this out and lets the couple choose their own Britta water pitcher.  Everyone wins.

I got in line then to meet the bride.  At Korean weddings the bride sits in a room on a couch and you can get your photo with her.  Like she's a prop.  I actually kind of liked this element of the wedding.  Everyone wants to see the bride, everyone wants a photo with her, why not just make it convenient?

The bride set up like a doll.

New Pretty Art Teacher, Garden Nymph, and BBT all posing with the bride, Hawaii.  Some of these people are teachers you haven't met yet.

The Garden Nymph goofing around.

Next, we went into the hall itself.  Before we went in, I took photos of the photos of the couple.  This might be my absolute favorite element of Korean weddings.  Rather than just taking photos on the day of the wedding, the couple goes to a studio and has a photo shoot beforehand.  Then those photos are displayed at the wedding.  How great of an idea is this?!  The bride gets to wear multiple dresses and they act out cute couple-y poses.  I love it.  This is an idea I am definitely on board with.

How cute do they look?!  Clearly I am obsessed with taking photos of their photo shoot.

Inside the hall there was a catwalk/aisle thing and small tables with chairs on either side.  The tables and chairs were mostly for family and close friends.  I didn't qualify so I stood in the back.

Photos of inside the hall.  Check out that projection screen.  The angle of the video on the screen would change throughout the ceremony to give you the best view.

The groom came in and walked to the front then turned and bowed to everyone.  Then the moms came in.  The moms were wearing matching hanboks, the traditional Korean clothing.  The dads just wore suits.  The moms walked up together, bowed to each other, bowed to everyone, and then sat down.  Then the bride came in with her father and everyone stood up, just like in the States.  The bride and groom bowed to each other, then stood off to the side, and the ceremony began.

The MC, a friend of the groom

Just people enjoying the ceremony

Moms walking in.  The women behind them are employees of the wedding hall.

Moms lighting candles.  I forgot about this part.

Moms bowing.  You can kind of see how their outfits are the same but in different colors.  To show family unity.  Boom, symbolism.

The groom waiting for his bride.

Bride meeting groom

Bride and groom joining arms together

Bride and groom bowing

More bowing

More bowing 

Reciting vows

More vows

More vows.  I think. This might have been something else.  My Korean isn't great so I don't know.

Maybe this was vows?  I don't know who this guy is.  A relative of some sort I think.  Man, it sounds like I knew nothing that was happening.  That's a little bit accurate.

Married now?  Maybe yes.

Throughout the ceremony a friend of the groom was the MC.  There ceremony itself was fairly short and just included things like, the bride and the groom saying vows, the groom's brother singing a song for the couple, and cake cutting.  The cake cutting was a lie basically.  We never ate it.  It was just for show.  I did not approve of this.

This is really hard to see but I promise the brother of the groom was singing a song for the couple.

Bride and groom bowing to a set of parents

Hug time! 

Being presented to everyone.  Notice the dress arranger in the corner.

How happy does that groom look?!  I promise the bride was happy, too, I just caught the photo at a bad moment.

Another bow to everyone.

One thing that I found interesting was that throughout the entire ceremony, the bride had an employee of the wedding hall arranging her dress and making sure everything was picture perfect.  Other employees directed people where to go and what to do.  I found this interesting because it was obvious that there was no rehearsal beforehand, unlike what we do back home.

Cutting a cake that nobody ever eats.  Ridiculous. 

This was a cute thing.  The groom shouts three times something along the lines of "Help me help me!" and the bride shouts three times "I got him I got him!"  Just a cute little Korean tradition.  The seemed uncomfortable doing it but people laughed.  

They're married!  Family photo time. 

Whoa, big family photo. 

A really, really big family photo.

Once the ceremony was over, it was time to eat!  We went downstairs and turned in our tickets and then were directed to the appropriate buffet hall.  And that's what was waiting for us.  Just a huge, massive, delicious buffet.  I loved it.  We could eat as much as we wanted and while you ate, you could watch other weddings taking place on giant projection screens.

The dining hall, complete with projection screens

Fancy buffet

Dining hall

My plate. I went all out.

And that was it!  We finished eating and then left the hall.  Overall I really liked it and was so happy to be able to have the opportunity to see a wedding.  What do you think?  Do you like the Korean wedding traditions?  What seems strange to you?  What Korean wedding practices would you like to see Americans adopt?  Tell me in the comments!