Korean Job Discussion Forums

fezmond · Joined: 27 Oct 2008

can anyone share any advice on getting married without going down the wedding hall route?

some friends rented a restaurant last year and that was alright. i'm not religious anymore so that rules out a church.

where have other people been married?

Illysook · Joined: 30 Jun 2008

You can always rent a church, (or just a room from one of the bigger Korean churches) and find your own officiant. The fees are usually reasonable and there's often room for your reception as well.

I haven't researched places to hold a wedding in Korea, but back home people are very creative about it. I've heard of weddings in places like McDonald's and Wal-mart....strange taste if you ask me, but whatever floats their boats. More common places are parks, hotels, restaurants, conference facilities and that sort of thing.

And has anyone been to the Wedding Goods Market? I'm curious about it.

Harpeau · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Coquitlam, BC

My wife and I got married in a park. It was a wonderful artsy ceremony. We had the reception at a university kyosu shikdang. It was a very special day. Be creative.

fezmond · Joined: 27 Oct 2008

cdninkorea · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Seoul

I had mine in a restaurant that we (my wife and I) rented out. It was a wine bar with Italian food, so each table got a couple appetizers, two pasta dishes, a pizza, and dessert (all for sharing except the dessert). There was also a lot of wine, which was expensive, but we didn't want guests to feel we were being cheap, so we had about half a bottle for each guest (it was actually more because there were children and some other guests who didn't drink).

Be prepared for complaints if you do this though; the place was nice and the food was good, but a few of my wife's older relatives from the countryside hate Western food, and apparently bitched out my mother in law (as if it was her fault; my wife and I were the ones who decided to have it there and chose the menu) about the lack of rice, kimchi, etc.

Most people were happy though, and most everyone said it was better than the factory-style wedding hall they're used to.

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

We were married at the Yonsei Alumni Hall. Think all their food is catered by the Plaza. Easy parking, great facilities, and easy to deal with. Pretty sure you have to be affiliated with Yonsei, though, to use it. You could check.

SNU has an awesome facility in a building in the research park. Again, though, you might need to be affiliated in some way to the university.

Captain Corea · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: Seoul

I was married in the Shilla Hotel Yongbingwon.

Decent place.

NYC_Gal 2.0 · Joined: 10 Dec 2010

City hall

hamie · Joined: 27 Nov 2009 Location: The middle of nowhere Korea

My husband and I got married, just the 2 of us, at the New Zealand and then the American Embassy. (You can't have a wedding there, you just fill out the forms.) The American Embassy lady thought it was cute and when she pressed the notary stamp on the form she told my husband he could kiss the bride.
It was an amazing, beautiful way to celebrate. That night we went to an Indian buffet for a wedding feast. It's not where you do have it, or what it looks like, it's who you're with on the big day.

Jane · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

I got married in a wedding hall, but I had a fantastic experience. I had the ceremony in mid-July, which is low season for wedding halls.

The wedding hall staff told us we could take as long as we liked, as there was no other scheduled weddings for the rest of the day. We had the whole place to ourselves and I would do it again the same way. Not to mention the discount rates they offer for low season weddings, which was a bonus.

Harpeau · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Coquitlam, BC

There is a really charming church in Kyungleedan that is tiny and has a nice piece of grass with trees. It's just above us and think it would be an awesome spot for an outdoor wedding ceremony. From the bottom map, it's an inch below and to the right of the pin. http://harpo.ca/map.html

SeoulMan6 · Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Location: Gangwon-do

My wife and I had a traditional wedding in a traditional hall. It was much cheaper (the hall is subsidized by the gov't). There was also a traditional outdoor village setup at the local museum which would have been FREE, but seeing as how it was winter we declined.

ThingsComeAround · Joined: 07 Nov 2008

My (soon to be) wife and I are also having a traditional style wedding. Heaps cheaper than what I expected, we are really only paying for hanboks, the rings and food.