Korean wedding experience

Ahh the Korean wedding. So I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to a Korean wedding by another member of staff from my school who happened to be getting married. In typical Korean style, notice for the wedding was relatively short in comparison to the west. Wedding invitations were handed out a couple of days before the wedding itself.

On the day of the wedding, there was a rendezvous point in the nearest town where all me and some of the other guests where provided with a free coach up to the wedding hall in Seoul and were given food on the coach to tide us over. When we arrived, there was currently another wedding going on in the ceremony room, so guests gathered in the reception area and put their gifts (money) in envelopes provided at the desk, wrote our names and handed our money back to the desk. Since I’d only known the groom for such a short amount of time I was only expected to give 30,000KRW, the better the guests knew the bride or groom, the more they were expected to give. Up to how much I don’t know.

Since we had another hour after this until we were allowed into the ceremony room, the guests that I was with all decided to eat before the wedding instead of after. So I followed them down to the buffet style eating area, where not just our party was eating, but guests of the previous wedding and the next wedding in line were also eating there. The food was good but I actually appreciated the salad and fruit most! Everything in Korea has such strong flavours all the time, I relished the opportunity to have something that just felt fresh and unaltered in my mouth.

We finished our food barely in time to go to the ceremony room and get our seats (notice how I said we were almost late, but there are still plenty of seats), where staff members dressed like…air hostesses, made sure everything was ship shape and ready to go. While they finished up their last checks, a pianist and two violinists played atmospheric music.

Then the ceremony started. The mothers of each house, were invited up to the podium, a few words were said, and they then bowed to each other, and returned to their seats. Much to my surprise, the principal of our school then made his way to the podium and stood behind the microphone. The groom was then invited to the podium, with music and a round of applause. He then turned to face the audience, barely able to keep his face straight, bless him. The bride was then invited down to the podium, accompanied by what I assumed was her father, and she made her way down, very slowly…partly due to the face that her veil was too long and kept snagging on things but she made it without and accidents.  Both the bride and groom then hold hands and step up on the podium.

The principal then began to speak. There was also no priest in sight, nor anyone that I would naturally assume had the certification to marry two people so I just assumed he was conducting the ceremony. Even more to my surprise…everyone talked through it. No one was interested, or so it seemed. After perhaps 4/5 minutes of talking and being talked over. The couple stepped apart and bowed to each other. They then started to say their vows, when a bunch of camera men came right up in their face and started taking pictures, hovering round then like fruit flies. They were really annoying me so I don’t know how those two felt while trying to say their vows.

Once they were done, there didn’t seem to be any form of ring exchange…also for that matter there was no best man, or brides maids or any of that. Instead, the bride and groom stepped down from the podium, stood in front of the brides side of the audience, gave a deep bow, and then did the same in front of the grooms side. They returned to centre stage and then an incredibly ornate and well decorated cart was wheeled in front of them, on it was a bottle of what looked like Champaign already opened ready to pour, and a small wedding cake. The couple poured each other a large glass of whine, of which the bride took a sip, and the groom downed the whole glass and giggled, to which everyone in the audience replied with sounds of approval. The Champaign was then removed, and the bride and groom were then presented with a ridiculously oversized knife. It was more like a samurai sword than what I’d call a knife, but the two put their hands on the knife and proceeded to cut the cake. Naturally the fruit flies were all over this and made it near enough impossible for me to get a photo.

The bride and groom returned to centre stage, where something was said to the groom and he responded by shouting something into the audience and raising both his arms. This happened twice and the audience cheered and applauded. I was confused…and the bride then cried, and the air hostesses came to ensure she didn’t rub her make up and dab her face. One of the grooms close friends (also a teacher from my school) and what I assume was one of the brides friends, sang a duet together for the bride and groom, and then another person from the groom’s side went on stage to sing another song.

The bride and groom then faced the audience for the last time. Then, as if this whole situation wasn’t confusing enough, the two air hostesses stood on either side of the bride and groom armed with what looked like trumpets with a golden gun on the end to match, they then aimed them over the bride and groom and proceeded to fire confetti over them. The pianist and violinists then proceeded to play and the bride and groom then made their exit.

Normally it’s customary for everyone to take a photo with the bride and groom. First family, then close friends, then friends and colleagues. But we were running behind schedule, the next wedding was due to be in soon and they had to clear up, wheel out another cake, bring in a clean knife, clear up the confetti, etc. so we had to leave. And that’s…a Korean wedding for you…In total it came to around 20/25 minutes.

 Koreans do have honey moons and the couple are there now. For how long I’m not entirely sure but I’d assume a week. Teachers don’t get many paid days off in Korea. Plus I know the bride is pregnant so she shouldn’t be away for too long. Lol.