A Korean Wedding- Where East Meets West

We were privileged enough to go to a wedding while here in Korea. One of our co-teachers, Christine, was married in March, in a ceremony that incorporated very Western and very traditional Korean components.

The first half of the ceremony, and the part which most of the 300+ guests attended, was Western style. The guests sat at tables surrounding a central aisle, which the bride and groom walked down, shrouded in smoke from a smoke machine. At the end of the aisle the ceremony took place (in Korean... so we can't tell you much of what was said!) and after the cutting of the cake and a few songs, the guests ate a traditional Korean lunch at the tables.

Christine and Jacob standing on a smoke cloud

After the lunch most of guests left, or stayed and mingled in the room where the Western ceremony had taken place. Christine and Jacob, however, were whisked off down stairs to participate in a traditional Korean ceremony. This ceremony took place in a small room with a elevated wooden floor, Korean paintings adorning the walls and colourful cushions on the floor. Christine and Jacob wore beautifully decorated hanboks- Christine's was so heavy that she had to be helped every time she rose and fell for ceremonial duties. We were told that this ceremony was all about Jacob's family presenting the new couple with gifts of money and wishing them luck for their life together.

Christine and Jacob attempt to catch nuts that Jacob's mum is throwing into the sash on the front of Christine's hanbok- the nuts representing the number of children they will have