A Korean Wedding

We were privileged to be invited to one of our Korean co-teachers wedding this weekend. Only I attended (Emily) as for some reason Johnny wasn't interested in going to yet another wedding. I was excited for the cultural experience :) I went with our other native teacher Shauna. Apparently this wedding was pretty westernized as oppose to a more traditional wedding. Here are some of the similarities and differences:

-The bride wore white and the groom a tux

-There were no bridesmaids or groomsman

-The mother's of the bride and groom wore hanbok (traditional Korean clothing)

-The wedding itself only lasted for about 30 minutes

-The wedding took place in the court because the groom was a lawyer (there was a special room that was decorated nicely especially for weddings)

-The reception was in the cafeteria (there were tons of Korean traditional food that was served but this too only lasted less than an hour. You ate and left....no speeches, dancing, music, or much of a celebration. I didn't even see the bride and groom during this part)

Here are some pictures from the special event

Shauna and I met at our school and got a ride with another Korean teacher

Rachel and Shauna

The mother's of the bride and groom

The beautiful bride Miran waiting for her father who was late to walk her down the aisle!

Thankfully he made it and so did the smoke machine! I wanted a trumpet at my wedding...I wasn't even thinking of the dramatic effect of a smoke machine...what an idea :)

I had to capture this picture. If there was no caption one might think that these are people mingling before or after the wedding...but no, they are people hanging out talking in the back DURING the ceremony.

Another of our co-Korean teachers, Razor sang at the wedding. He is the only male Korean teacher at our school. (he is also the same person Johnny is playing soccer with now)

I didn't understand this part of the ceremony but the groom carried both his mother and then his mother in law on his back up and down the aisle. I asked Razor afterward the meaning of it and he said that they do it sometimes for "humor"...I dunno I just smiled and took pictures :)

The happy bride and groom.

They do big group pictures at the wedding one of which was a group picture of friends where Shauna and I were apart of. The photographer was talking to Shauna and I in Korean (we were standing in the back) asking us to stand on our tip toes and turn at certain angle...everyone else obviously knew how to properly pose for the picture...but us westerners needed some help :)

The reception with an assortment of traditional Korean food including octopus and sting ray (no, I didn't try any :) )

Apparently everyone leaves as soon as they are finished eating...Shauna and I were a little slow.