Ellie's Wedding

A Korean Wedding

A Slapdash Report

Ellie invited me to her wedding. I was pretty excited about that, although I'd already gone to one Korean wedding, I'd missed most of the ceremony, so was sure to arrive nice and early at the wedding hall. Like most Korean building I've seen, it was far from an architectural marvel. All about efficiency really. A square building full of square rooms.

Ellie was sitting in a little room waiting, looking absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress. I was also surprised to see what looked like a squad of soldiers in dress uniform. These guys actually opened the ceremony by marching into the hall and forming arches with their swords for the groom, then the bride to walk through. Both sets of parents had their own seats in front of the throng.

The ceremony was interesting in two respects. I don't recall the bride or the groom actually saying anything, and I was pretty near the front. There didn't seem to be a formal exchange of vows. There was however, a lot of ceremonial bowing. First to the bride's parents, then to the groom's parents, then to the congregation. Ellie bowed low from the waist, but her husband got right down on his hands and knees and almost touched his head to the floor each time. The ceremony ended with the couple walking up the isle together, again through their honour guard.

However, on reaching the end of the isle, they stopped, exchanged excited pleasantries with those around them, and then walked back to the front for photographs. While Korean families of this generation are quite small, with one or two children being the norm, a few years ago they were a lot bigger.

They also had a 'tossing the bouquet' photo-op, but there was no randomness about it. There was a pre-chosen receiver who actually got to catch the flowers twice due to the photographer not being ready. Or perhaps he was, and they did it twice to make sure they got a good picture.

And when photographing the bride by herself, it's often necessary to include bubbles and smoke.

Then another ceremony began. The couple changed into Korean garb and moved to a small room with nuts and rice candy laid out on a table. First one of the grandmothers threw some nuts into the white cloth. I'm not sure, but a link between nuts, being seeds, and fertility seems assumable.

Then the parents came in as couples and were poured a beverage by the newlyweds. It came from a teapot, so perhaps it was tea, but I don't believe the liquid was hot, and all sorts of things are served in teapots out here.

The end of this ceremony marked the end of the wedding, and we headed down to the basement of the wedding halls to partake in the communal buffet. All guests from all weddings get meal tickets and grab a quick bite before heading home. The beef was great.

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