A Korean Wedding = bright lights + big buffet

I don't think a Korean wedding could be more "Asian."  What do I mean exactly?

• neon lights
• flat screen tvs
• strange seafood
• loads of photos
  

When a friend of a friend invited me to go with her to a wedding, I jumped on it. I was really hoping to get invited to one while I was here. Did it matter that I'd never met the couple? Not really, some people just like having foreigners at their weddings, maybe we seem exotic. Did it matter that I couldn't remember or even pronounce the bride's name? Not really - although I know there was a Lee in there.  It was an experience.

A typical Korean wedding is in a hall in a tall 20-story office building.  This one happened to be on the 15th floor with a movie theater above it.  It was super elaborately decorated with big chandeliers, classical musicians, and neon lights. Everything is shiney, and sparkly, and sort of unnecesarily, the wedding is displayed on big flat screen tvs in the wedding hall, outside it, and even in the buffet area.

The wedding halls have 2 or 3 weddings at a time, and they turn over in about an hour, maybe less. So in a day, they're having dozens of weddings.  It's sort of how people might go to city hall, and people could be lined up.  There is staff all over making sure everything is just right.

And some photos:


She was fluffy & sparkling like I'd never seen before. Oh, and suits & tuxedos in Korea are all made shiney, too.


Generally, no one stands up in the wedding, but hte parents sit in seats of honor on the sides.  After the vows, they walked first to the bride's mother & then the groom's parents to thank them for giving them life.  To show respect they bow, he bowed so deeply he was on the floor - the most respect you can show someone.


The ceremony was short, less than 20 minutes.  Note the big flat screen tv in the corner.


As the walked out the lights turned purple then blue then green then yellow, and then someone set off a few fireworks.


Then all the family took pictures. My favorite of course, the women in hanboks - traditional Korean dresses.


In Korea, the bouquet toss is totally staged. The bride picks her closest single friend to catch the bouquet & it means she HAS to get married in the next 6 months - or else! We got pulled up on the "stage" to be in the background as she caught the flowers. She threw it a few times - to get the picture just right.


Then we got handed food tickets & headed down a floor to a big cafeteria style buffet.  It's a big room for hundreds of people to sit & all the different weddings sort of mingle.  Again, there are tvs on the wall so you can watch the wedding going on upstairs.  We're told some people don't even bother going, they just watch the wedding on tv & eat the food.



The bride & groom lit big birthday candles on their cake & then cut it with this 2 foot knife.  I was hoping for a sword fight. They changed into traditional hanboks after the ceremony and go into a private room with their close relatives to bow for respect and they're given money for wedding presents.

When one wedding is done, they put a cake topper on & turn on the smoke machine for the couple. It struck me how it all looked like the same things we might do back in the States at a wedding, but it just felt so different. Start to finish the ceremony & eating took less than an hour.

My friend told me that a wedding like this costs about ₩5,000,000, about $4,300 - a great price compared to the average wedding in the US that runs $15,000.  Sorta makes sense not to spend so much money on one day of your life when you think about it. Although sort of excessive, I can say my wedding day was one of the best days of my life. It's way what you make of it though I suppose.