A Korean Wedding

So many new and exciting things are happening in my life right now.  Last Wednesday night, my host mother informed me that her niece was getting married on Saturday and asked if I'd like to attend.  At first, I was hesitant to say yes.  I was planning on meeting up with my Fulbright friends in Gwangju for a surprise birthday party, and I still had lingering memories about awkward Chuseok festivities.  But after sleeping on it, I realized that I couldn't miss this opportunity to bond with my host family and experience a true Korean wedding.  At the very least, I thought it'd be a fascinating cultural experience.

Of course, I had heard much about from Korean weddings from my Momma - specifically about how lavish and extravagant they are.  This wedding, of course, did not disappoint.  On the morning of the 24th, we left home around 7:30am and headed straight to the Noblesse Wedding Convention Hall, located in the Seocho-dong district of Seoul.  This area is, again, one of the more expensive neighborhoods in Seoul, where the Samsung and Hyundai headquarters reside.  My host sister 수진 summed it up best: "Danielle, this will be a royal wedding because it's in Seocho-dong."  Well, William & Kate better watch out.  Who needs Westminster Alley, when you can get married in Seocho-dong?!

Welcome to the "Royal Wedding"

Names of the bride and groom

The couple in traditional Korean clothing

And their (highly photoshopped) "Western" photo

Noblesse Wedding Convention Hall is a six-story complex filled with dozens of impeccably decorated reception and conference rooms.  I swear, the entire building is made out of marble.  At one point, I questioned whether the guy who owns Jungwon University and Donghae Grand Hotel also funded this convention hall.  I read in their brochure that they can accommodate 20 weddings at a time - pretty damn impressive.  After getting lost several times, we eventually found the correct wedding hall.  It was an absolutely beautiful set-up, with a marble aisle down the middle, surrounded by candles and delicate hyacinths.  Contrary to their American counterparts, Korean wedding ceremonies and receptions take place in the same reception hall.  I suppose, what's the need of shuffling people to a nearby banquet hall when you can do it all in one picturesque location.

We hung around for a while, waiting for other guests to arrive.  As soon as the clock struck noon, the sound of expressive violin music filled the air and everyone quickly scrambled to their seats.  Within minutes, Canon in D started playing and everyone faced the back of the room for the grand entrance.  First to walk down the aisle were the mother of the bride and mother of the groom, dressed in gorgeous traditional Korean hanboks.  In customary fashion, they bowed to the guests, lit candles on the altar, and were seated in throne-like chairs on opposing sides of the stage.  Next to walk was the groom, who looked a little nervous, but visibly excited.  Last but not least, the bride came down the aisle on the arm of her father.  She looked absolutely radiant.  Similar to American weddings, the groom shook hands with his future father-in-law before ushering his bride up to the altar.

It was a lovely wedding.  The entire wedding took place in one room, so we were seated at our dinner tables for the actual ceremony.  There were approximately 200 guests in attendance and the whole ceremony was over in a mere 20 minutes.  First, the officiant spoke for a few minutes, addressing both the audience and the couple.  Then, the bride and groom performed a traditional bow to both sets of seated parents.  After that, the violinists started playing again and a close family friend serenaded the couple with a beautiful song.  He had a fantastic voice and great performance quality.  Seriously, he should be on the next season of Korea's Got Talent or some equally tacky televised competition.

In some ways, this wedding was very similar to its American counterparts.  The bride and groom wore conventionally Western wedding attire; the musicians played very prototypical "wedding" music; the bride walked down the altar on the arm of her father, holding a bouqet of flowers, etc.  But in other ways, it was vastly different.  Most notable was the overbearing presence (meddling) of reception hall employees throughout the wedding.  Wearing gigantic headsets and crisp white gloves, they hovered over the couple for the entirety of ceremony, telling them where to stand, what to do, fixing her vail, constantly rearranging her dress's train, etc.  It got annoying after a while, as it was nearly impossible to get a photo without them in it.  There was even one employee, whose sole purpose was to wipe the groom's sweat.  Okay, she might've been responsible for other things.  But that was surely the most amusing and memorable duty.

Equally entertaining were all the random things that the groom had to do during the ceremony.  They seriously made him work for his bride!  First, he had to sing a song for her.  Mind you, this was immediately following the professional singer, so anyone would've looked bad.  But the poor guy was quite tone deaf.  At least he was a good sport about it, so the audience clapped along rather than cringing.  Next the officiant made the guy jump up and down and wave his arms in the air, shouting promises to be a faithful husband, take care of her, etc.  For the grand finale, the groom had to pick up his bride and perform five Zercher squats all the way to the ground and back up.  Now the bride was super petite but due to his nerves and bulky tuxedo, he definitely struggled a bit at the end.  Haha, I'm so happy that I caught it on tape! *^^*

Get out of my picture!

Professional Sweat Wiper

Yikes! >.<

Hilarious!

Following the weight-lifting session, the bride, groom, and their parents bowed the guests and began the recession out of the wedding hall.  I was surprised that there was no formal "announcement of husband and wife" or the equivalent.  As the newly married couple started walking out of the room, guests stood up and applauded for them.  Immediately following the ceremony, waiters began bringing out the first course: an appetizer of various seafood items and freshly baked rolls.  Since I do not like fish or any kind of seafood, I faced a dilemma.  On one hand, I didn't want to offend anyone but I was legitimately afraid I was gonna start gagging.  In the end, I decided to suck it up and quickly shove the seafood in my mouth and chase it with a bite of heavily buttered bread and a gulp of red wine.  I am happy to note that my strategy worked and I finished my plate, without making a fool of myself.

Soon after, the waiters brought out a bowl of mushroom cream soup and a small salad plate; both of which, I thoroughly enjoyed.  I had barely finished these plates, when a waiter quickly swept away these dishes and replaced it with the main entree: a scrumptious duo of steak and cod, with a side of wild rice and veggies.  The steak was absolutely delicious, I scarfed it down like a cave(wo)man.  Again, I used the "try to eat the food super fast so you don't really taste it" method to eat a sufficient amount of fish.  The only Korean dish on the menu was a bowl of udon noodles in a savory broth, which was very tasty.  Finally the meal concluded with a slice of cake and assorted fruits.  I definitely didn't expect that they'd serve so much Western food at the reception.  The wedding family must've paid a fortune to serve us steak, rather than traditional Korean cuisine.  But I'm not gonna complain.  As one would expect from "royalty," I ate like a queen. ^_^

During the meal, the extended family (including my host family), got on stage for a family photo.  Then the couple quickly excused themselves to change into traditional Korean hanboks.  They came back and greeted every table.  Not long after, the annoying reception hall employees ushered the newly married couple up to the stage to complete a circuit of events.  At the first station they had to cut the cake.  At the second, they had to light a tower of candles.  Next, they had to pour expensive champagne over a tower of glasses and make a toast.  Lastly, they had to stand on the altar, bow to each other and then bow to the guests as a sign of gratitude for their attendance. 

Ahh, stop interfering!

After mingling and moseying around for a while, guests eventually began to leave.  My host family (and, therefore I) had to stick around until the very end because they are immediate relatives.  After everyone left, we went to the father of the bride's apartment; i.e., the same apartment I was at for Chuseok holiday.  There we ate again (and again) and hung out, watching tv.  I don't think there was a moment during the day, in which I didn't feel full.  A few hours later, the bride and groom came to the apartment to pick up their suitcases.  Then, they headed straight for the airport to go to Australia for their honeymoon.

I am so happy that I was able to go to a real Korean wedding.  I really enjoyed myself.  Unlike last time, many relatives tried to speak with me and engage me in conversation.  It was really nice to feel welcomed and part of the family.  That's definitely something that I respect about Korean culture: the great deal of emphasis they place on the family unit.  Speaking of family, my mother and grandma are currently on an airplane, coming to Korea!!  They will stay for two weeks, visiting friends, the few extended relatives that still live in Korea, and ME!  It's perfect timing -  next Monday I have off for National Foundation Day, and the following week (Mon-Thurs), I am excused from teaching duties, as my poor students have midterms.  AHHHH!  I can't wait to see them!!!  \(^_^)/