There were lots of firsts this weekend. Saturday I went to my first Korean wedding where my lovely co-teacher, Grace, got married, and Sunday it was the first day that it was hot enough to go out in shorts! I had my pasty pins out at the ready.
I'd heard lots of things about Korean weddings, so I was really excited to have the chance to see one. The first main difference compared to British weddings is that Grace hardly ever mentioned it up until about a month before. I only got my invitation about 3 days before the wedding was actually happening, and she messaged me on the day of the wedding to give the guests details about the party that would follow. Playing it cool, obviously.
She got married at the Aqua Palace in Gwangalli. When we arrived we donated some money to the family, which is custom here and were shown into the 'bride's waiting room' where Grace sat in her massive white dress, people were queued up to get a picture with her.
We got ourselves a table in the ceremony room, which was set out more typically like our reception rooms would be, the guests sat around round tables. Eventually all the chairs were taken so lots of people squeezed into the back of the room.
The mothers of the bride and groom came in wearing their hanboks, which is traditional Korean clothing, followed by the groom and then Grace and her dad. I loved her dad's outfit, he had a neat little suit on and a trendy trilby and white gloves! Very smooth!
The other things that struck me about the wedding was that, there was no one visibly there to carry out the ceremony, rather there was a voice over, I don't know where it was coming from! People aren't silent for the vows, so it was a strain to hear anything (even though I couldn't understand it!)and everything was done in the ceremony, like the best man speech and cutting the cake. In total it must have lasted about half an hour, it was very short!
There was a noticeable emphasis on 'giving' the bride away. The groom had to get down on his knees and bow to the parents.
To top off the whirlwind ceremony, the groom's friends had a little surprise in store for him. His friend, who played a piece for him on what i think was an electric oboe, decided to up the pace halfway through his slow song, put on his sunglasses, and was joined by a handful of guys who started to dance. Even the groom got involved!
We ended the day by going to their party a few hours later, this was a lot quieter than the receptions that I've been to before, only her closest friends went. But everyone was so interested and friendly to us, it was nice to get to know some people that she hangs out with outside of school.
Other things that I got up to this weekend were soaking up the sun while Nick played football, eating amazing sushi with Katie and Alex, and watching This is 40. Has anyone else seen this? Although I loved Knocked Up and I love Paul Rudd, I didn't enjoy this film at all. I found bits of it funny, but I really didn't like the story line. Not one that I would recommend. i hope that your weekend was fun!
Follow me...
