Anyway, enough about me. Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend my first Korean wedding. One of my Korean co-teachers was getting married. I had heard that it would be different from the traditional western wedding that I am used to so I tried to go without having any expectations.
When I got there, the bride was sitting in a room all by herself. People could walk by and take pictures of her in her wedding dress. It was like she was a princess and we were all waiting our turns to get a picture of her. However, by the time I got there, she was getting up to go to the ceremony so I was unable to get a picture of her. She walked around the corner to the ceremony hall. I can't call it a chapel because there was nothing religious about it. The bride walked down the runway. I'm calling it that because that's exactly what it looked like.
At first I could barely see because there were so many people, but soon after the ceremony started, people started leaving. I was finally able to get a few pictures. Very soon after, one of my co-teachers told me to follow her to the restaurant. I couldn't believe it! The ceremony had just started and she wanted to leave. Isn't that the point of going to a wedding - seeing people get married?! I said ok in a very disappointed voice and she asked me if I had gotten any pictures. I told her that I had gotten a few. She then agreed to stay with me for a little while longer while some of our other co-teacher went to the restaurant. I am definitely glad we stayed! We were in for a real treat.
The ceremony lasted for only a few minutes. Then, the bride and groom had to do their bows. (Yes, I said 'bows' and not 'vows'. They must bow to show, I think, respect and thanks. Next it was time to blow out the candles and cut the cake. Then the grooms friends wanted to sing and dance for the couple. Finally, the couple walked down the aisle and kissed. That was the end of it.
After the ceremony, everyone went downstairs to the buffet. The restaurant is one of the biggest seafood restaurants in Asia (or so the sign says). The newly married couple and close family and friends did not join in the feast. They had another wedding ceremony - this time a traditional Korean wedding. When that was finished, the new couple came down went from table to table thanking everyone for coming to their wedding. I don't know if they ate or not, but I do know that they were leaving for the their honeymoon to Hawaii that same night. When we finished our meal, we left. I was "at the wedding" for a total of 2 hours. I was so blown away by how short the whole process was. But, I was also very thankful to be apart of such a wonderful day!
Below are a few pictures and videos from the wedding. All of the videos are very short, but if you are only going to watch one video, please watch the last one. It's very funny!
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