Wedding Bells And Honeymoons

• Tonight I got to go to a Korean wedding! It was the owner of the cafe where PIC's Heart of Music service is held, Ye Jin. I don't know her that well but she invited me to drop by if I had time. So I did! (Though I almost got lured to sleep by my bed...I need to stop seeing 5 a.m.) I knew at least one person who was going to be there, and several other people that I've met here ended up being there as well (the foreigner community isn't that big so everyone is kind of interconnected). I didn't get there on time (silly school) so I missed the ceremony, but I got to see the rest and here are my observations:

Similarities:

• the bride wore a white dress
• the groom wore a black suit
• there was a wedding party, made up mostly of the bride and groom's siblings
• mother-of-the-bride was dressed very nicely
• people ate at tables, with chairs
• the food was served buffet-style
• the guests were a mix of ages, though with a lot of middle-aged people
• there were lots of flowers

Differences:

• guests put money in envelopes at the door as a kind of mandatory gift (...I may or may not have slipped past this step...)
• the bride and groom changed out of the white dress/black suit and into traditional hanbok after the ceremony
• then they participated in a traditional Korean ceremony (this was while everyone was seating so I didn't get the specifics), said some hellos (or anyeong-ha-sey-yos) and changed back
• the family of the bride and groom, along with some people from their church were in charge of all the cooking, serving, set-changing, etc. (I've seen this in the US, but I don't think it's the norm)
• the ceremony and reception were held in the bride's cafe and so eating tables were in the main area, on the upper floor and outside
• most people left after eating
• after dinner time, several guests gave performances for the bride and groom
• there were no special dances, cake-cutting (no cake actually), bouquet-tossing, etc. - the simplicity was actually really nice
• there wasn't any alcohol (though the punch had a special kick) and no dance party time
• the reception ended at about 8 p.m.

I'm not sure whether the differences are Korean-based or simply Ye Jin's and her fiance's preferences. I'm going to another wedding in a couple weeks so I'll be able to compare!