A Korean Wedding

The weekend of my birthday was my former co-worker’s wedding. She had left the school a couple months earlier, but not before inviting us to her wedding. I was very excited to see a Korean wedding; it was definitely a different experience. First off, there’s no sense of “I’m the only bride in the world on this day”.
Let me explain what to do/expect at a Korean wedding.

The wedding was held on the floor of a large reception/conference type building. When you get off the elevator you see a large dining room to your left, a wedding hall straight ahead, and a small decorated room and some tables on the right. First you want to go to the small room. It’s beautifully decorated and there you see the bride sitting on a bench posing for pictures with friends and family. We went there (all 6 of us teachers) and took pictures with her. In a funny ‘Oh Korea’ moment, one of my friends was moved away from the bride and to the back row because her face was too small and it would make my friend, the bride’s, look big. Korean women are really into having small faces. You know you’ve been to Korea when you receive a compliment (or just a comment) on the size of your face.

After taking pictures you go to the desk where you sign a guest book and leave your gift with some men in charge of collecting them. You always give money. Then they give you a ticket so you can get into the dining room later. It leaves you feeling like you’ve just paid for your meal, but considering the price of weddings, that’s not so bad. Then you go (we went) and sat in the wedding hall. That room was spectacularly decorated and you could see the wedding before just finishing their pictures. It seems strange that the same room could be used for multiple weddings. Coming from an American perspective, it doesn’t seem unique enough. You want everything to be tailored to you, and in the Korean setting that’s not possible. At least at the wedding I saw. Everyone has the same colors and the same flowers. I thought I would really dislike the whole atmosphere because it’s not as personal – but I actually liked it. The decorations were really nice. They had professional pictures of the couple projected in a couple places and overall it was really nice.

Sarah (my friend) wore a white dress, but her parents were dressed in hanbok, traditional clothing. The ceremony was short, and all in Korean so I can’t comment on its content. My favorite part of the ceremony was when the groom sang to the bride. It was really sweet. After the ceremony we hung around for a few pictures. They did one with all the family, then one with all the friends.  After the pictures we went to the dining hall. It was a huge room with galbi tang (beef rib soup) on the table with the usual overload of sides. There was also a buffet set up where you could get more food. Sarah and her husband changed into hanbok and came around to see everyone. When we finished eating, the wedding was done and we left. I don’t think Sarah and her husband sat down at all. It was nothing like an American wedding that’s so focused on the reception. I had a great time, and Sarah was a beautiful bride.