Korean Wedding

I have no idea who got married but I went to a Korean wedding today. It is wedding season here in Korea. Apparently you can bring anyone you want as long as you pay for their meal. So that is how I found myself in a wedding of 2 people I have never met.

So Korean weddings are very boring. For a culture that loves to drink, weddings are a very sober affair. You go, they start in the morning. The couple bows to the mother's parents, then the father's parents while guests talk the whole time. My cousin kept chatting with me and I found it very bizarre, like shouldn't we be paying attention? Then the couple stands in the front while various groups of people stand next to them to get their pictures taken.

The guests go eat their meal (giving the wedding hall people a ticket to show you have paid). The couple comes into the dining hall while you eat, they cut the cake (but no one eats the cake so I was curious where this cake goes after they cut it, do they take it home? No sharing?!) and then they pour champagne into a champagne fountain (none of the champagne glasses are shared either $#@&Y*&^&$!). No dancing, no open bar, no DJ, no live band singing Journey songs, I got the sads.*

My family was talking shit because it wasn't buffet style which is funny because in the States we would prefer non-buffet style. My aunt then made my cousin steal the rice cakes in her purse to take home. My aunt is not poor by any means. She carried a Tod's purse to the affair, but stealing from restaurants crosses all socio-economic levels for Koreans. I remember my mom making me sneak food in my purses in high school and this mortified me. Now, I feel very normal about it all.

So that was my Korean wedding experience. The highlight was def when my cousin and I walked in late to the ceremony and a guy who was a very very mediocre singer was serenading the couple standing right next to them. I felt so awkward. While we may not drink like fishes like we normally do, I guess we still need to throw in a little karaoke.

*My cousin did state that sometimes the couple and their close friends will party the night before the wedding however I can't imagine looking great in your wedding pictures with a wicked hangover.