Pretty, Pretty Princess

This past Sunday I went to a Korean wedding. My old boss got married and unfortunately has to move to Japan now, but I'm glad I had the chance to know her and work with her long enough to be invited to her wedding. She was the one who picked me up from the bus station when I first arrived in Daejeon and was so welcoming and helpful that I'm sad to see her go.

The wedding festivities began around 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. A charter bus picked us up in Daejeon and took us to Seoul which is about a two hour bus ride (two and a half hours including the rest stop). We were treated like VIP on the bus. The whole trip people were offering us beverages, food- including fried squid which smelt up the whole bus, and the Olympic figure skating gala was even on!

We arrived at a huge banquet facility in Seoul and the first thing we did was take pictures with the bride. In a typical American wedding, the bride is kept hidden from everyone until she walks down the aisle, but here everyone was welcome to take pictures with her. Her dress was gorgeous. It reminded me of a princess and she was even wearing a tiara. There was a lace bodice and it was cinched in the back. The vail and train were huge and had rhinestones all over them. After a few work pictures, we headed inside the banquet hall. The room had a string quartet, neutral colored floral arrangements, gold bows around the chairs, and my favorite part, the aisle. The aisle was a raised clear platform that had flowers underneath and rhinestones in the middle of each flower so when she walked down it, it looked like she was walking on water. It was so pretty!

Most American weddings have a bridal party, but there wasn't one here. There was a lady, I'm assuming some kind of wedding planner, that was strictly in charge of fluffing her vail and train since there wasn't a maid of honor. Both of the mothers and fathers were dressed in traditional Korean hanbok dresses. They were first down the aisle, followed by the groom, and finally the bride. I thought it was interesting that the same western "wedding songs" were played at the beginning and end of the ceremony.

Instead of a priest or judge to marry them, it's common for an important professor or teacher to do the honor. One of the brides professors conducted the ceremony. I felt like the service was very short and rushed. They said a few words, cut the cake, poured some champaign and that was it. Overall, it was very casual. I saw people in jeans and people were talking the whole time. Also in the middle of the service the groom had to yell out how much he loved her and had to do push ups in front of everyone to express the strength of their love. It was a little odd and later I found out that that's not common to do at Korean weddings. The service I went to was for family and friends which tends to be more laid back than the later one. Later in the day they have a traditional service where everyone wears a hanbok and is for family only. At that service they exchange the rings and say their vows.

After the ceremony there were more pictures with family and friends and then a buffet luncheon. The food was delicious and ranged from traditional Korean dishes to a variety of sushi and mini desserts. After I was in sushi-coma we headed straight back to Daejeon and stopped at a rest area along the way (is that really necessary?). I'm glad I had the opportunity to attend a Korean wedding and I promise to post pictures later!