Korean weddings are a rich cultural tradition that combines ancient customs with modern practices. The traditional ceremony involves the bride and groom sharing wine, exchanging vows, and receiving advice from their parents. The pyebaek ceremony is one of many Korean wedding traditions emphasizing the importance of family within the culture. The bride wears a vibrant, intricately designed ceremonial robe called a “hanbok,” adorned with elaborate embroidery and accessories. The groom complements the bride’s attire by wearing a hanbok with elaborate embroidery and accessories.
The pyebaek ceremony is a traditional portion of a Korean wedding, where the couple shares wine, exchanges vows, and receives advice from their parents. Dates and chestnuts are given to the bride during the pyebaek, symbolizing her fertility. Bowing is an essential part of any traditional Korean wedding, demonstrating respect and social status. The groom’s family gives the bride’s family a dowry, which usually consists of food, clothes, and other household items.
Korean weddings are a beautiful fusion of ancient customs and modern practices, reflecting the country’s cultural heritage. From seeking family permission to the jubilant celebrations on the wedding day, each tradition holds significant meaning, underscoring the importance of family, unity, and love. Modern practices combine millennia-old traditions and global influences, with the first ceremony being the formal wedding, which is typically more Western-looking.
In summary, Korean weddings are a beautiful fusion of ancient customs and modern practices, reflecting the country’s cultural heritage. The traditional attire, hanbok, and pyebaek ceremony are visually stunning and deeply ingrained in Korean culture.
📹 5 things to know about Korean wedding culture
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Do Korean married couples sleep separately?
In Korea, some couples live together but sleep in separate rooms to avoid or resolve conflict. This differs from conflict strategies in other countries that often lead to separation or divorce.
1 Department of Psychotherapy, Jeju National University, Korea.
2 Department of Psychology, Chonnam National University, Korea.
Contact: Gahyun Youn, Chonnam National University, Korea.
What are the red dots on Korean brides?
The bride and groom enter together in traditional Korean wedding attire. The groom’s parents are already seated. The bride wears a traditional Korean robe over her dress and sometimes puts red dots on her face to look young and innocent. The groom’s Paebaek robe looks like the clothes worn by the lowest-ranking officials during the Chosun Dynasty. The groom could wear this royal uniform, even though he didn’t hold a palace position. Family members will take turns sitting in front of the table to receive a bow from the couple.
The bride will stand, put her hands against her forehead, and slowly kneel and bow until her hands touch the ground. The bride needs help from her bridesmaids to kneel.
How much money do Koreans give at weddings?
When attending a child’s first birthday party, people often give cash gifts in envelopes provided upon entry. The amount given depends on the relationship with the parents. Casual acquaintances give around 30,000–50,000 won (up to $40/€35), close friends up to 200,000 won, and family members more. Weddings are another occasion for cash gifts. Guests give cash to the happy couple at the wedding hall. A 2022 Statista survey says the most popular amount to give is 50,000 won, followed by 100,000 won. The amount given is likely to be noted, so the newlyweds can thank the gifter at the next occasion. Gifting cash has deep roots. It represents wisdom and good wishes being handed down from older to younger, or gratitude and kinship between colleagues and friends. It’s also a good way to pay for a big wedding without embarrassing yourself.
Do Koreans wear rings when married?
Takeaways: Wedding rings are important in Korean culture. They symbolize love, commitment, and unity between a couple. Koreans wear wedding rings, but the tradition is different from Western cultures. It is often worn on the right hand and can be a couple ring or a symbol of marriage. Korean wedding culture is full of traditions and rituals. There is a lot to know about how weddings are celebrated in Korea, from before the wedding to the rings.
In this article, we will look at different parts of Korean wedding culture, including things that happen before the wedding, the wedding ceremony, the meaning of rings, and how wedding rings are worn in Korea. We will also compare Korean wedding traditions with those in the West and look at modern trends. This article will teach you about Korean wedding customs.
Who pays for what in a Korean wedding?
In the past, Korean weddings were held at the bride’s house. Most modern Korean weddings are held in rented venues, not at home. Who pays for a Korean wedding? Traditionally, the groom’s family pays for the main expenses, while the bride’s family pays for her traditional Korean wedding dress. But many modern couples split the costs.
Korean wedding traditions. Even before the wedding, there are beautiful Korean traditions. Here are some Korean wedding customs that happen before the wedding.
Pair rings/couple rings. In Korea, couples don’t usually exchange engagement rings. However, there is an interesting Korean tradition about rings for couples who are dating. Many South Korean couples celebrate 100 days of dating by giving each other rings to wear. These rings mean something different than Western engagement rings. While some couples get engaged later, these rings are a way for a couple to show their commitment early in the relationship.
What are the Korean rules for marriage?
Marriage in South Korea. Who can and can’t get married. In South Korea, marriage is only between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriage is not recognized. People over 18 can marry with their parents’ or guardians’ permission. Otherwise, the age of consent in South Korea is 20. People over 20 can have sex. South Korea also recognizes what it calls “de facto marriages.” These are marriages like common law marriages. Couples who have not registered their marriage can have a “de facto marriage” if they: 1. publicly say their relationship is like marriage, 2. have a wedding ceremony, or 3. live together like married couples.
Marriage within the same clan. Before 2005, marrying someone from the same clan was illegal in Korea. Marrying someone with the same last name was also illegal. In the mid-1990s, about half of South Koreans shared one of five last names. The most common surnames in South Korea are Kim, Park, Lee, Choi, and Jung. About 40% of South Koreans belong to one of three major clans: the Gimhae Kim clan, Jeonju Yi clan, and the Miryang Park clan. This prohibition was inspired by similar taboos in Tang China during the late Joseon dynasty. Traditional Korean weddings are based on Confucian values. Everything about the wedding was important and had to be done right. In traditional Korean culture, the bride and groom’s elders decided who they would marry. In Confucianism, family is more important than anything else. Marriage is a big deal. This is a union of two families. Also, marriage was a way for the rich to keep their status. A lot of time was spent getting ready for the wedding.
Is divorce common in Korea?
In 2022, about 93,000 people got divorced in South Korea, down from the previous year. That year, about 191,700 people got married in South Korea.
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Do Korean couples hug in public?
In Korea, hugging and kissing in front of elders is rude. Don’t show too much affection in front of elders. It’s offensive. The younger generations are more open to public displays of affection.
What’s the average age gap between married couples in Korea?
In 2022, 64.2% of first-married couples had an older man. Most of the men were one or five years older than the women.
Can a Korean marry a non-Korean?
The Korean Ward office needs to see official documents proving you are eligible to marry. If your spouse is from another country, check with their embassy in Korea.
📹 All About Korean Weddings: traditions, gifting money, attire, expectations, and more!
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This was a really informative article. I’m from India and weddings here soo vastly different from Korean weddings, it was super interesting to hear about. First of all, since India is a huge country, different regions all have different types of wedding culture. I’m from the northern region and I’m from an Indian Muslim family, so I’m speaking only from that perspective. Our weddings are huge deals and they usually last at least a week and can go up to 2-3 weeks. There are various ceremonies that span the week. We have a “Haldi ceremony” which is held at the bride and grooms places seperately where the family members and friends get together and put turmeric paste on the bride/groom. I know for some people, it’s held with both families together, but in my family it’s always been seperate. It’s meant to symbolize cleansing the bride/groom and everyone dresses up in yellow clothes. Then we have the “Mehndi” or the Henna ceremony, where the brides family gathers and everyone is dressed up (for us, usually in green/maroon colors) as the bride gets henna put on her hands and feet. The henna is very elaborate and takes hours. The brides siblings and friends also put henna on their hands. There’s lots of singing and dancing ands it’s usually incredibly fun. It’s usually the night before or a couple days before the wedding. There’s also a cute tradition where the bride gets the grooms name incorporated into the henna design in a slightly hidden way for the groom to look for. Then we have the “Baraat”, in this, the groom and his family come over to take the bride back to his place for the actual “Wedding” part.
In Finland (northern Europe), weddings vary a lot. A lot depends on whether you belong to a church. The vast majority of Finns are Christian (either Lutheran or a small minority Orthodox), or there is a civil ceremony, which in its simplest form is just a short visit to the registry office. Sometimes people join a church just to get married in a church. So religion does not play a big part in the lives of Finns. Perhaps summer weddings are the most popular because you can celebrate outdoors. The average wedding lasts from the afternoon until late at night, usually the guests stay to celebrate even after the couple has left the venue. Food and drink usually play a very important part in a wedding. The meal, including dessert and coffee, lasts several hours. Usually there are all sorts of fun games, which may or may not be fun, depending on the person who is doing it.🤣 The games etc. are of course related to the couple. The only limit is your imagination. But as I mentioned, there are variations from side to side. As a gift, the bride and groom will receive all sorts of things they need and perhaps wish for. Often there is a list of the couple’s wishes, open to all, which can be seen online, for example, where the person who buys the gift can mark the item as purchased. This avoids the wedding couple receiving the same gifts. Money is a common and often desired gift.
I’m from Ghana(West Africa) and weddings are a super big deal. If you want to see family members you didn’t even know existed go to a wedding or get married😅 plus the guest list can get crazy. Also our weddings can be pretty expensive it all depends on the families budget, but your families status/wealth also plays a huge role. First you have the traditional marriage then the white wedding(some people do both on the same day, while others might do it weeks or months apart). The white wedding is the most extravagant one and the after party….let’s just say you won’t be going home until food a drinks are done. Gifting money to the couple is also somewhat of a tradition in Ghanaian weddings. Some couple will accept monetary gifts and other will accept both monetary and physical gifts(like stuff they can use in the new home)
Hi Sienna! It is interesting to hear the complete description of a Korean wedding. A wedding day in our culture lasts the whole day (afternoon and evening, with preparation beforehand). When I got married (in Switzerland), we reserved a Church in “Saint-Saphorin Lavaux” (type in these words – you’ll see pictures. If you type “eglise” in front, you will see the Church) that was available to us alone for that day – a saturday. The ceremony was around 14h00. Guests were informed and arrived beforehand. The (Christian) ceremony lasted about one hour. The order of the ceremony was prepared by us, the marrying couple. It is when the bride and groom make their promises to one another. It is a lovely and touching moment with excellent music. Pictures are taken. Then the entire group moved to “Hotel Victoria Montreux’s” Jardins de Victoria, a ground that overlooks Lake Leman. We only used the gardens for the reception. The travel to the reception is a ceremony onto itself. It is a long and slow car convoy (about 30 cars) that lasts maybe 45 minutes in country roads. People on the street greet the couple that is in the first car, decorated. The following cars honk to announce/celebrate the “just married” couple. The couple throws candies to children on the way. At the Hotel ground, it is a cocktail where we had a chat with each guest and pictures were taken. Around 17h00, people left and the guests invited to the wedding meal travelled to the next Hotel. In our case, it was “Hotel Bristol Montreux Switzerland”.
Oh, there was the beautiful bride, Suzy (photo from the TV series Start-Up). She’s the reason I started perusal more Korean productions in the first place (the first one I saw her in was Vagabond). And of course YT then popped up a variety of Korean content and I found this website. Sorry for the little offtopic. I like Sienna’s informative articles like this a lot. One thing that could maybe be addressed in the future, why do Korean TV shows/movies have so much focus on eating? It may sound like a silly question to a Korean, but isn’t it just the right topic to address when it raises questions elsewhere. Well, this was just a suggestion. Thanks for your article. And sorry for the long comment. I have a bad habit.