A Korean Wedding

Yesterday I experienced the amazingness that is a Korean Wedding. Jeong Ah invited me to her sister's wedding, and although I had only met her once, I was not missing out on this opportunity! I invited Denise to go with me because I don't think I could have handled it all by myself! The wedding was held in a very big wedding hall that was built specifically for weddings. There were a couple of weddings going on that day, but we found ours on the third floor. Luckily I saw Jeong Ah's boyfriend and knew we were in the right place. There were a lot of women working at the Hall dressed like stewardesses making sure that everything was running smoothly.

The Bride came 10 minutes before the wedding began and sat on a sofa in a little room, kind of on display for all her guests. I saw Jeong Ah and asked her where we should sit because everyone was kind of standing around. She took us to the fourth row and sat us in the aisle and in front of an older lady. We were kind of embarassed to be treated so well, so we moved over and attempted to not look conspicuous...which is pretty impossible in Korea. The man who was video taping the wedding kept filming Denise and me like we were celebrities!

When the Wedding began, I can only describe it as Las Vegas on a bigger scale. The lights were dimmed and then they started flashing and crazy music started playing. Her father walked her down the aisle and both parents had big throne-like chairs to sit in. We obviously couldn't understand what was being said, but we had a general idea of what was going on. One woman's job was to straighten the Bride's train and redo her makeup during the ceremony after she cried.

After the couple's vows, they bowed to her parents where he literally gets on the floor. Then they bowed to his mother who was crying and then it made us get choked up. The groom also gave his new mother in law a piggy back ride which shows his acceptance of his new obligations.

Soldiers with swords wouldn't let the couple back up the aisle until they did little tasks, like kiss her a number of times, or hold her and do squats. It was very funny. After the ceremony we ate lunch at a huge buffet with people from all of the other weddings, while the couple and family has their own private lunch in another room. At our table, there were people eating cake and baby octopus. I just will never understand it! It was all over very quickly and I was kind of sad about it! I am so grateful that I was able to have this experience!


The Ceremony Room



The Beautiful Bride and Groom




She was blushing and embarassed because her husband was about to make out with her in front of everyone!


Giving his new mother-in-law a piggy back ride. Both mothers wore hanboks, or traditional dresses

Bowing for their parents