Korean Job Discussion Forums

[animalbirdfish]

The ladyfriend and I will be getting married soon and we're looking for places to have the event. As she's Korean, she's been doing most of the research and I feel like I'd like to give some ideas. And, I'm worried about what kind of ceremony we'll have if I don't put in my opinion (though that isn't worth much anyway). We haven't set a date yet, but we're looking at next year (summer, perhaps), depending on availability of place.

Any suggestions? And please: none of those castle-shaped wedding halls.

[helly]

Good compromise if you need it - the Marshall Wedding Plaza (in Yeoksam-Dong, I think). Wedding hall with all the amenities you need for keeping up with the Kims and providing the standard meal fair so many of the guests will undeniably be expecting but not pink, no castles and no French rennaissance flair. Simple, tasteful, practical, fine.

Of course, you can get bubble makers, dry ice, flying monkeys and swordsmen to cross their weapons for you to walk under if you'd like (and someone may be even try to trick you into it, be "en garde!") but you can do it as simple as you want to do.

[skinhead]

Poramae Park in Guro-gongdan has one of those castle-shaped wedding halls. Try that one. They treat foreigners kindly. I got married there. We couldn't afford no river bed nor mountain temple. Maybe next time.

[fidel]

KBS hall on Youido, the building with the solid glass wall. Armed guards to keep out the riftraff and the hold a maximum of two weddings per day so you can have 3-4 hours for the reception. We had Catholic priest perform the ceremony, it went for an hour much to the chagrin of the Korean guests! Catering providing by the New Manhatten Hotel, mix of Western/Korean food, plus you get the presidential suite (for banana republics is my guess) at their hotel for a night. We had an unofficial reception for all my international guests until the early hours of the morning.

[sistersarah]

children's grand park in seoul! our wedding went really well. we were blessed with good weather. but they have a wedding hall in case it rains. average buffet, but the outdoor thing was soooo worth it. we got married in the spring, in may, and the pictures turned out amazing. pm if you want any more info.

here are the pics:

http://photobucket.com/albums/y139/sarahinkorea/

[animalbirdfish]

Thanks for the suggestions. I fully intend to follow up on them (or have the woman follow up on them). In the meantime, please keep 'em coming.

On average, I find wedding halls to be dismal, miserable places and have always vowed that I'd never have my wedding in one. But now that we're planning I'm realizing how difficult it is to do anything out of the ordinary in Korea. No one can understand why I don't want subpar galbi-tang at 50,000/won (or more) a head, or why I think the faux-French trappings are unbecoming of a classy couple such as ourselves. Money isn't the only factor, but I'm already feeling scammed by what's on offer.

[vidphile]

[periwinkle]

I got married at Korea House. Go to www.koreahouse.or.kr Quality through and through. Reasonable package. It's a traditional wedding hall, btw. =)

[joe_doufu]

Lots of people get married in Hawaii. The reason is it's less expensive. Yes. Why? Because you have a good excuse to cut your guest list down to maybe parents only plus those friends who love you enough to buy their own tickets. I think if I marry an Asian I'll get married in Hawaii b/c it's sort of half way between our hometowns, too.

[sistersarah]

[simone]

Destination weddings are the way to go. I had a beach wedding in Thailand with Thai musicians, an elephant, monkey, bountiful local (cheap) flowers, loads of king prawns, and a transvestite cabaret show.

For thirty at dinner, all in all was about five grand. (Tix, hotel, wedding clothes incl.) And it was our style through and through.

If you have to get married in Korea, by all means do the Korea House traditional thing. There's something special about getting all geared up and bowing.

But as far as having to have it here because of all the people who have to attend - I find Koreans increasingly discourteous at weddings. Few dress as well as they do for work, it seems. Last one I was at they didn't even wait until the end of the ceremony to hit the buffet line. It's just so formulaic now - hand over a white envelope, get a buffet dinner. The ceremony itself is incidental and preferably short. The greater the number of acquaintances who come to your "come one, come all" wedding, the greater the number of people watching you get married who don't actually care if you two work out or not. It somehow dilutes the significance of the moment when you actually "get" married.

The wedding can be for you. The crowd will get over it.


Just my opinion.

[joe_doufu]

Also what's with Koreans hiring strangers to attend their weddings?

[animalbirdfish]

I've never pushed for a North American wedding - b/c I wouldn't want to plan it from over here - and I'm glad it's not something I want. It'd be a fight for sure and would come to no good.

Does anyone have experience with, for lack of a better word, subcontracting your own wedding? That is, just renting the space and then finding the florist, photographer, etc. on your own? I'd really like to have more control over the quality of my wedding than any wedding place has thus far been willing to give us.

[fidel]

[chiaa]