Some of the teachers at Brighten with the director of our school, Ronnie, (standing
next to me), her sister who helps at the school, and Oh Teacher, the Bride
This past Saturday, the receptionist at my school got married. I know her simply as "Oh Teacher" and have actually never learned her real name. She got married this past weekend and everyone from our school was invited. I knew that the wedding would be similar to American weddings in someways, but was told they didn't do the big reception party thing like we do in the States.
So we went to the wedding at about 1 o'clock on Saturday. On the invitation, there was a little map drawn with what looked like a drawing of a church. So we were confused when we got to the location and didn't find a church, but just a big building. We headed up to the second floor where we found a big wedding hall. It was set up more or less like a church: there was a lobby area, some small side rooms and then a wedding area with rows of chairs and an aisle down the middle. It was so strange to me, to see a wedding hall like this in the middle of a big building.
We ran into the director of our school and she took us over to the bridal waiting room. Oh Teacher was sitting in a little chair with her white dress spread out across the floor. There was a photographer set up and guests could go and stand behind the bride and take a picture, which we did of course. From there, we headed over to the money table. Money is kind of the standard gift over here, no registering. So there is just a table where you can put your money in an envelope and then someone writes in a book how much you gave. This is also where you get your "meal ticket." So I guess if you don't opt to give a donation to the new bride and groom, you don't get to eat. No such thing as a free lunch!
The ceremony itself was interesting. The room didn't have enough chairs, so there were a lot of people standing in the back and in the lobby, which wasn't really separated from the hall. The people sitting down were quiet, but everyone standing up were talking so loudly and hardly even paying attention to what was going on. There were kids running around screaming, people on their cell phones, etc. I've never seen people be so loud during a wedding, they weren't even talking in hushed voices.
I couldn't hear most of the ceremony because everyone was so loud, but I wouldn't have been able to understand it, anyway. But it seemed like a pretty standard ceremony from what I could tell. They had spotlights on the bride and groom, so they must have been getting pretty hot. From time to time, someone would go up to them and pat their faces with a towel. Just right in the middle of the ceremony. Also the photographer and videographer were standing with their cameras literally right over the priest's (I actually don't know what he was, he was just wearing a normal suit) shoulder.
At the end of the ceremony, the bride and groom presented their new spouses to their parents. The parents were sitting right at the very front, and the new couple went up and bowed to each set of parents and gave some flowers to the mom. I thought this was actually kind of a nice gesture, saying thank you to the parents.
Probably the funniest thing in the whole ceremony was the part where you kiss the bride. Like most Asian cultures, Korea is not big on PDA (besides wearing matching t-shirts and holding hands). So rather than kissing, the bride and groom hugged. And it wasn't even a good hug. It was a pat on the back hug, the kind you give to someone you don't really want to be hugging. The crowd started cheering for them to kiss, so they finally managed a little peck.
One thing that the whole wedding seemed to really be missing was some emotion! The bride and groom didn't even look like they liked each other. There was no one crying in the audience. It just seemed so cut and dry, really boring. I feel like American weddings are so full of joy and this was just the opposite. No wedding party, no speeches, no toasting the bride and groom, no first dance, no cake cutting, nothing.
So after the whole ceremony, we headed downstairs to a big buffet room. They had a HUGE buffet with about every kind of Korean food imaginable (it all looked great, but actually wasn't as good as I was expecting). But in the hall was just filled with these long tables. I felt more like I was in a college dining hall rather than at a wedding reception. And there was no music or anything, just the sound of people eating. And when people finished eating, they just got up and left. Wedding over. The bride and groom eventually came down to the dining hall (now dressed in traditional Korean wedding costumes), but there was no big entrance or anything. They went around to various tables and said hello and thank you for coming and then probably sat down and ate, themselves. But many of the guests had already left before the bride and groom came down.
The whole experience was only about 2 1/2 hours. Not an all day event like it is back home. Let me just say that I am glad that when I eventually get married it will not be in the Korean fashion.
