Wedding in Korea - if you are invited as a guest of a wedding ceremony

While you are living or having a travel in Korea,

you would have a chance of receiving an invitation of wedding ceremony.

The wedding ceremony is one of the most complicated ceremonies in Korea.

So, there are a lot of rules you have to keep when you go to a wedding hall.

1. When you get an invitation by a couple who are going to get married

If you are an important person and the couple wants you to come and celebrate their wedding, you would get an invitation. Some couples send invitations through mobile sometimes, but still almost couples send them hand-in-hand or by post.

If they really want to invite you, they would meet you in person and inform their event to you. When you heard it, you should celebrate it and promise to go there, because when they say to you they would treat you a lunch or something.

If the couples think you as a person who is a just plain one, they would send just an invitation or call you to invite you. Surely, celebrate their wedding and promise to go there. If you are a person not as important as who should attend the wedding, they would just send it through mobile. You can just ignore and forget it.

2. How to dress for wedding

There are some rules to keep for dressing up in wedding.

The real 'stars' in wedding are bride and groom, not you.

So you should dress yourself thinking that you are just attending there and celebrating.

Be careful not to wear a white one, or overly colored and designed clothes.

Especially primary colors should be avoided.

White clothes are also banned because it is the bride who wears white dress.

Usually women wear blouses and skirts with black or brown color.

Beige dress is also a good choice.

You can get information about dressing through Internet and some photographs taking celebrities who were attending others' wedding ceremony.

Males just wear suits, formal dress.

If you don't have it, you can wear casually with brown or black colors.

Bright blue colors in jackets are also recommendable in summer.

Those colors are fine in spring~summer.

Usually wedding is held in March or April, so those clothes are acceptable.

Women wear skirts or dress.

They prefer black one not to be showy.

Beige is also preferred.

3. Money Gift

축의금(Choo-gie-geum) is very important part of wedding for guests.

It is the money gift for couple celebrating them and helping their wedding financially.

Koreans always agonize how much they will pay for wedding.

The amount of money differs depending on the relationship between you and couple.

If you are invited by bride or groom, one-side, you can pay for only one person.

If you know both of them, you pay for both.

Koreans usually pay 30000won~100000won as a gift.

And remember, don't ever pay as an even number.

40000won or 60000won, those amounts must be avoided except 100000won.

If you feel the hosts intimate to yourself, you can pay more.

But if you don't know the bride or groom personally,

(like you are invited by the parents of them, or their brothers, sisters, cousins..)

you can pay less, like 30000won or 50000won.

When you go into a wedding hall and find the place where couple gets married,

you go to the table where the money is collected.

And write down your name on note at there and pay it.

You should not just give the money. There are rules also.

You put the money in a white envelope and write down some phrases.

축결혼, 축화혼, 축성전, 축성혼, 하의

would be enough. And if you write them down as Chinese Characters, 

it would seem more polite.

祝結婚, 祝華婚, 祝盛典, 祝聖婚, 賀儀

4. Now enjoy the wedding and celebrate them

After you pay the money, you would get a coupon for luncheon.

Keep it and go to the hall and have yourself seated.

When you are available, you can go to the bride's waiting room and meet the bride.

Especially if you are a women and know the bride, you should go there.

Get in the room and meet her, give some words to her.

Taking photos with her in white dress is also great.

When the ceremony begins, the host will come out.

Get your seat and stay politely, with no talks.

If you have a really important talk or phone call, stand up and get out the hall.

You take your errands and get back to the hall.

But not leaving the hall is the best.

Clapping hands is also important.

Don't get overly excited and don't be noisy.

Follow the step and instruction of the host, clap your hands politely.

After the ceremony, you can move to the luncheon hall.

You can enter with your ticket which you received when you were paying.

Have your meal and when the bride and groom come to the hall for greeting,

celebrate them with happy smile.

Don't try to stay too long.

When you have your meal finished, get out the hall quickly after celebrating the couple.

Keep the rules and let's be a polite and cultured person.