day 131

A Korean Wedding

Yesterday I was privileged to attend the wedding of one of my now former co-workers from Weesing, Seung-mi. I went with David and Bomi Orr. David used to work at Weesing and is the person I corresponded with to get a job in Korea. His wife Bomi is Seung-mi's sister. They are both LDS, though Seung-mi is not, and they have two children: Keana, about three years old, and Shyann, five month.

The wedding was a mix of Western and Korean tradition. The wedding hall was white, elaborate, and, like the ceremony itself, quite indistinguishable from similar sites in the West. The bride and groom wore a traditional white dress and tuxedo, as did the family members who arrived early to greet the guests. A gift table was set up to receive presents and from what I could divine money appeared to be the most appropriate and common gift. As Seung-mi marched in, escorted by her father, traditional music was played on the piano. Her husband, already standing in place, marched part-way down the aisle to take Seung-mi from her father, which he did with a deep bow.

Both ceremonies actually consisted of a lot of bowing which of course isn't uncommon in Korea but it was remarkable to me how much both sets of parents were involved in both ceremonies and the deep, sometimes fully-prostrate, bows to them seemed to signify a great amount of respect and gratitude for the parents' roles in producing the bride and groom.

What I assume was the actual legal part of the ceremony consisted of nothing more than a long speech from the man performing the rite, an exchange of rings (which I was told is somewhat uncommon as part of the ceremony), a lot of clapping throughout it all, and a return march down the aisle.

The bride and groom were very solemn throughout it all and rarely touched each other, let alone held hands. After they marched out of the hall, they returned for professional pictures. Although I'd recently bought a digital camera in the hopes of taking my own pictures, the two video cameramen who roamed the hall throughout the ceremony mostly got in the way and prevented me from getting anything really meaningful. The final picture the photographer took was of friends and non-family guests surrounding the bride and groom.

The Korean portion of the ceremony took place a short time later in another very small room with limited standing room. Dressed in brilliant traditional clothing, arms folded with elbows outstretched, and looking very solemn, they sat at a low table as more pictures were taken with immediate family. As his parents and then her parents sat at the table, the bride and groom repeatedly bowed to them, three times, fully prostrate. Seung-mi had to be helped up and down each time as her costume was very restrictive.

The table had a variety of Korean food that appeared to be more for show than anything else with the exception of what appeared to be roasted chestnuts. Each set of parents in turn gathered up large handfuls of the chestnuts and ceremoniously threw them into an embroidered white apron stretched between the bride and groom. Then, what I think was soju, a Korean alcoholic beverage, was served in a small cup and passed around the table for everyone to take a sip.

Of course this was a very important day and everyone was very happy. Afterwards food was served in a basement cafeteria: kimchi, octopus, rice, hot peppers, Korean-style sweet and sour pork, and a dozen other things I couldn't identify, all served in the traditional Korean way as side dishes. It was a unique experience and I enjoyed myself immensely.