Matrimonial Bits of 2005

2005 was the Year of the Wedding. I attended three, but could have attended several others had I the time and travel funds.

The first (and most special!) was that of my brother to his long-time girlfriend, Margaret. The ceremony took place on a ridiculously hot and sticky Saturday afternoon in the yard of Margaret's parent's place.

View the gallery here.

The second was for my co-worker David Lee. His Korean name is Lee Yun-seop, and his wedding was the first Korean ceremony I've attended. Korean ceremonies differ from Western weddings in several ways. First, they rarely take place in a church, even if the couple is Christian. Most popular are wedding halls, usually found in regional district offices or hotels. The feeling is very much like being at a casual concert; people may wander in and out and there is usually a stage. On the stage is the MC, the wedding official and the parents of the bride and groom. Often the bride and groom must bow deeply before both sets of parents. Apperently there is no performative aspect to the ceremony, that is it is purely for show, and the legal aspects of the wedding may occur a long time beforehand. After the wedding, the guests are free to use the meal ticket issued to them earlier at a nearby restaurant. We had beef-rib soup at a restaurant across the street.



The third wedding was between my Canadian friend and former co-worker Bennett and his Korean fiancee Ji-hyun. Sometimes Koreans as a group are criticized for being unaccepting of foreigners, particularly those that marry their daughters, but there were only warm feelings to be found at this ceremony. The Korean component of the audience were particularly delighted when Bennett made the formal bow to Ji-hyun's parents. As I was one of Bennett's friends, I was allowed to observe the traditional tea ceremony performed after the main ceremony. This involved close family members only, grandparents and parents. Bennett and Ji-hyun were dressed MOST adorably in traditional Korean dress. For the ceremony itself, tea was served, and at one point Gran was tossing what appeared to be chestnuts onto Ji-hyun's lap; this is apparenlty to encourage the procreation of lots of kids.

View the gallery here.

So on the whole, three quite different and lovely ceremonies. Congratulations to all!