Maybe you’re planning on attending a Korean wedding or perhaps you like the idea of including a few Korean customs into your own wedding. From gift-giving, elegant clothing and delicious food Korean culture has a rich and beautiful wedding tradition. This article will explore some of these unique Korean Wedding traditions.
1. Matchmakers
In ancient times it was normal to bring your son or daughter to the local matchmaker to have them find a suitable mate of similar status. Families would present a resume that included worthy attributes and a comprehensive lineage of their child. Nowadays matchmakers no longer exist and have been replaced with online dating apps.
An interesting side-note, but worthy of mentioning is that there are only approximately 300 surnames throughout Korea. Respect for lineage is an important part of the culture and families keep careful family records. A woman will also keep her maiden name after marriage.
2. Symbolic Gift Giving
Traditionally grooms would present the brides family an expensive gift on the day before the wedding as a symbol of the groom’s commitment. This box in which the gifts were packed in is known as the “hahm” typically consists of expensive jewelry, money or other valuable items. The groom’s family would come up to the bride’s house yelling “Hahm for sale, hahm for sale!” Then the brides family would come running outside and offer some money for the gift and there would be a lot of laughter and celebration.
These days, modern Korean couples have modernized the tradition by having the bride and groom’s families exchange luxurious gifts. Couples exchange expensive gifts as a symbol of both parties commitment to help the other prosper.
If you are a guest at a Korean wedding and you don’t know what to give the couple, money is a safe bet. Guest will typically gift between $20 and $300 depending on their relationship to the couple.
3. What is Traditional Korean Wedding Attire?
The Hanbok is the classic Korean wedding dress made of fine silk. The brides hanbok dress is typically the color red while the groom wears a blue. During the paebek the bride will also sometimes wear a beautiful silk-embroidered top over her hanbok. The bride and groom’s mother will often color coordinate with their child’s outfit color with the mother of the bride wearing a a light pink or purple hanbok while the mother of the groom wears light blue.
The red and blue, like the colors on Korea’s national flag, represent harmony and balance. It makes perfect sense therefore, that these colors should be used in the wedding dress to represent the yin and yang in a marriage.
4. The Korean Wedding Procession
Before the official beginning of the ceremony a wedding procession takes place to the tune of traditional Korean music. Back in the day, the groom would ride a horse to the bride’s house to pick her up and bring her to the wedding ceremony. The mother’s of the couple lead the wedding procession, the grooms’s mother carrying a blue candle and the bride’s mother a red one. After a single candle is lit at the front of the ceremony space, the officiant begins the wedding.
5. What is Jeonanyrye?
Another one of the ancient Korean wedding traditions still celebrated today is called Jeonanyryre. In this custom the groom presents a goose to the his mother-in-law as a symbol of his love for her daughter. Gifting a goose is a special symbol of commitment and faithfulness, as geese are loyal to their flock and mate for life. These days, instead of gifting live geese, families who keep this tradition generally present a wooden goose. It might not make quite as tasty a meal but at least it’s a lot easier to take care of.
6. Hapgeunrye
In this unique wedding tradition, couples will drink from the same copper cup. Sometimes they’ll also drink from two separate gourd cups that are connected by a string. The custom is supposed to represent two people coming together to become one. At the end of the ceremony, the couples bows to each other to show their appreciation and respect.
7. Paebek
The paebek is one of the most interesting and unique customs within the Korean marriage tradition. Historically paebek was practiced in private as a separate part of the wedding ceremony, including only the couple and the groom’s parents, but nowadays it is generally celebrated with the whole wedding party.
In the paebek a small table is prepared with an assortment of dried fruits, roasted chestnuts, and beef jerky. This food arrangement is known as “anju.” The parents of the couple will toss these foods at the bride and groom and they are to try and catch them in a white table cloth. The number of food items they catch is supposed to represent the number of children they will receive – dates represent the sons while chestnuts represent daughters. If the groom is feeling fit enough, he will then carry the bride a couple times around the table. Sometimes the brides mother will be swept up and carried as well!
8. What is Traditional Korean Wedding Food?
Of all the Korean wedding traditions, food is one of the most important. It’s hard to find anything out there that compares to Korean food – especially at a wedding feast. Moreover, you’ll be able to eat noodle’s to your hearts content. Janchi Guksu – long noodles cooked with vegetables and steamed in a beef broth, is one of the most popular Korean wedding dishes. Bulgogi, a delicious beef dish is likely to be on the menu as well. One of my personal favorites is the Korean Pancake or Haemul Pajeon. This savory pancake complete with veggies and often shrimp as well, goes well with a few drops of soy sauce.
A popular dessert is the “Dok” or sticky rice cake is something you’re very likely to have if you attend a Korean wedding.
Can I Officiate a Korean-American Wedding?
Maybe you are interested in officiating Korean weddings, or maybe you have Korean-American friends that would like you to officiate their wedding. Luckily it’s quite simple these days to get ordained online and become an officially recognized priest. As long as you are at least eighteen years old, you can get ordained online for free with a number of online organizations by just filling out a simple form that only takes a couple minutes to complete. We highly suggest getting ordained with American Marriage Ministries. Once ordained, you’ll have access to a library of information to help you learn all the aspects of wedding from writing your speech to filling out the marriage license. Maybe you can even incorporate some of these Korean wedding traditions into your regular officiating practice.
-Bernard Paul