A drunk friend, and a wedding.
Thursday, June 12th, 2008This will be a short entry because I am late for work. ^^
This last week I received my first phone call from Korea! I was on my lunch break at work, and my friend called me. It took me all of about two minutes to realize that she was completely drunk! I asked her what time it was and she said it was 3 a.m. I had forgotten about the time difference for a minute and thought it was hilarious that she was calling me drunk on my lunch break. It was even more funny when I went back in to work and told the other teachers “..Uh… I think I just got a drunk phone call.. From Korea…”
I talked to the same friend a few days later (sober this time) and she told me that she was upset about her wedding that is coming up next summer because her fiance’s father wants them to have a traditional Korean wedding. She kept saying, “I want to wear a wedding dress!!” But if the groom’s family wants a traditional wedding, they kind of have to do it that way. I asked her what a traditional wedding was like - she told me you have to wear hanbok and get married at a traditional palace and that it takes a long time. She didn’t tell me much else.
Has anyone here been to a traditional Korean wedding? Please, share your experience in the comments! Then maybe I can persuade my friend that it will not be so bad. She is very upset about it!
Posted by holdfast in Learning Korean |
June 13th, 2008 at 12:44 am
I have never been to any Korean wedding, but I saw a traditional Korean wedding in a drama (The Bizarre Bunch). I thought it was beautiful and stately. There’s loads of rich history and significance behind it that can’t be explained in a simple paragraph of a tourist guide. If I were ever to be invited to a Korean wedding, I would hope it would be a traditional ceremony. (Not that I’m inviting myself to this one!)
I don’t know if this will make your friend feel that much better, but please let her know that there are still people in the world who are fascinated by and appreciative of traditional things. (This is coming from a person who makes 보자기 by hand! ;))
June 13th, 2008 at 12:46 am
I should add that I’m no stuffy grandma either…unless listening to Nine Inch Nails and playing Middle Eastern percussion have suddenly become matronly occupations…
June 14th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
How about having it both ways? In Singapore, weddings are mostly conducted “Western style”, and the bride wears a white wedding gown. But many also retain the Chinese (if they are Chinese) traditional tea ceremony, where the couple serves tea to all the elderly relatives. For this tea ceremony, the bride sometimes wears a traditional red Chinese costume called the “kua”, or a cheongsam.
So that’s how people here do it, have the best of both worlds!
June 16th, 2008 at 10:44 am
My cousin had a traditional Western wedding and a traditional Korean wedding. They had the western style wedding first, and then later when the reception was still going on, they went into another banquet room of the hotel to perform the traditional Korean wedding for just the family and pictures. I think if there is ever a traditional Korean wedding it’s mostly for pictures and the family. I’m pretty sure my cousin didn’t want to do it, lol.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Yeah, I was under the impression that these days, the big wedding is western, and then there’s a smaller traditional wedding in a separate room, that is usually private. Maybe your friend can do the opposite: have a big traditional Korean wedding, and then a small Western ceremony where she gets to wear a wedding dress!
June 24th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Hey there!
So, I’ve been to 3 Korean weddings. I am amazed by them! The guest usually see a western style wedding. Wedding dress included! It’s very different, however, than the ceremonies that I’ve seen in the States. The guests are talking through the whole thing, there are women dressed like flight attendants facilitating the ceremony, and there are little tasks for the groom to show his strength and love for the bride (eg. push ups), while the bride cheers him on.
Then, the guest go to a huge buffet, and the bride and groom head backstage with family and proceed with a traditional korean ceremony, which is far more intricate and beautiful in my humble opinion. Both are very enjoyable!