Korean Job Discussion Forums

[GottaBeKD]

A few people online here had a traditional korean style wedding. I'm lucky to be planning that same style of celebration for September myself. Some questions I have are the following:

Can you recommend a good planner/company to handle photos?
A company to handle the traditional-style ceremony itself?
Can you recommend a good location to hold this type of ceremony?

and finally

Can you provide any other useful advice regarding the planning of this type of ceremony. Thanks in advance. I look forward even to just hearing from the people who have had a traditional-style wedding, so that I might ask you some questions personnally later on.

Take care,

[elmer]

KD, whereabouts??

There's some good outdoor spots, but where are you thinking?

[GottaBeKD]

Hey elmer,

We are in Incheon. Looking to do it here or Seoul, Seoul is not a problem, my parents will be flying in and staying there in Seoul.

[mokpochica]

I have questions about weddings in Korea also, but am in Mokpo and probably will have a Wedding Plaza thing.

We are planning on getting married in December, on or around Christmas Day (after already having a ceremony in the US in November).We will be in the US before that and are planning to come back to have a wedding in Korea (to please both sides of the family). So...I was just wondering how hard--or impossible--it is to plan a Korean wedding from another country (with help from Korean friends and family who will be in Korea). We're probably just going to do it at a Wedding Plaza because I figure it's my fiance's home country and so more for him than me and he has no prob with the Wedding Plaza scene.

My other question/comment is that I would like to get those cool 'pre-wedding' photos done here (you know the ones where they do your hair and make-up 'glamour shots' style and dress you up in a bunch of rented outfits. We really only want to have the Western wedding clothes, hanbok, and then a couple-t outfit though. Will Wedding photo places do just a few outfits like this, or do all go the whole 9 yards and do about 100 poses with 6 or 7 wardrobe changes? In any case, these pics seem really well done and lots cheaper than at home. One of my friends said that she is paying $4,000 US for her photos, going all out. Another friend who got the minimum version paid $1,500 US. Yikes! It's about $800-$1,000 US here from what I heard (of course this is all b-4 the wedding).

[Bulsajo]

This won't be of much use if you're in Mokpo, but-

The Lotte Folk Museum has a great package- they'll take care of everything and the price is very reasonable. THE CATCH- well, you'll be in a 'museum', so strangers will also be attending your wedding. Some might not know that the ceremony is real, and others might make rude/insensitive comments when they see that a foreigner is involved.

I've heard good things about ceremonies at the Folk Village in Yong-In but I imagine the same negatives apply, plus the ceremony is outdoors [a posititive or negative depending on the weather].

[anae]

[mack the knife]

we got married in seoul at seonggyungwan (it's a an old, traditional korean university in hyewha). it was great fun (if not a little chilly). i highly recommend it. if you want more details just ask.

[mokpochica]

Yeah--My boyfriend mentioned that people get married at the Mokpo National University capus (students and maybe alumni) and that it is free to get married there--at least for students. I wouldn't mind getting married there except that December isn't a great month here weatherwise. Also, I don't know about dress rentals, etc. in case of an outdoor wedding.

Thanks for the comments so far. I'll keep following this thread to hear more about traditional and Wedding Plaza weddings and maybe I'll be able to make up my mind then...

[Ryst Helmut]

KD,

Well, I've been to many (ok, about a dozen ) weddings, including my own, and there is one common thread in all of them....they are LOUD and tacky. Well, the only ones that are quiet are at churches, and more so at Catholic churches over Protestant churches...just my experience. However, I doubt you'd be asking about weddings ceremonies if you already planned on a church, soooooooo.

Have you been to a traditional wedding? First off, they are not 'that' traditional. Secondly, holy-schnikes are they BORING?! Ok, all weddings are boring, but the traditional ones are sometimes twice as long....ohhh, the torture. The traditional wedding 'plaza' in Lotte World is cheezy. A combo of cheezy Korean wedding halls with a traditional sense thrown in next to booths of crap for sale. Ahhhhh, the splendor. Then again, your wedding isn't for everyone else, but for you (duh), so this style may make you happy.

I couldn't have been wedded at a place like this due to the number of guests. This is important, as many halls and what-not don't cater to groups of great size. There were about 4oo or so guests, maybe this will help you determine location.

Unless you are on holiday, and will be with your folks all the time, I would put your parents in a hotel near you. Also, as for location of the wedding, I highly suggest having it in your wife's hometown. That way, all of her friends and family can get there with ease. If not, find out if your facility has a bus that can pick up people (mine did).

Regarding photoes, well, if you go through a wedding hall (of whatever quality) they'll have their own photographer, for both pre-wedding and ceremonial pictures. Buyer beware: cheap CAN mean cheap! I've seen some bad quality. The cost for the photos (in a nice binder) ran us about 1.2 million for pre-wedding shots....I don't recall for the ceremony.

I would shop around, go into the studio and see the choices for clothing. See his/her work. The make-artist too! My friend's wedding had a make-up artist that had her make-up painted on like KISS...and she did the same for her customers.

Hotels are somewhat classy, in that they've only one room (usually), so only one wedding per day. They also can cater large groups. In addition, they MAY be able to have outdoor weddings. Hotels are more expensive, so if dosh is an issue......

Just my two cents...
but why do I pay a penny for your thoughts?


Shoosh,

Ryst

[anae]

Sorry. I guess I should have been more specific. Traditional weddings can really vary as well. They vary a lot according to region. I got a little scared when my bridesmaids and I went up to Seoul to watch a few traditional weddings at palaces. It all seemed complicated with the helpers switching sides and passing wine certain ways etc. However, our actual wedding in Chonju was much simpler. My friend also had a traditional wedding in Kwangju which was in the same vein as mine, but it still had differences. If you get married in Mokpo I am sure that it will be more similar to the Kwangju affair than something at Lotte World.

There are some down sides to a traditional wedding like having to learn how to bow properly which wearing hanbok and those shoes. Plus some women don't like the idea of bowing in the first place. At pyebek, if he is from a big family that can mean a lot more bowing too. One woman I worked with bowed for about a hour because her husband had so many male relatives. My husband only has one uncle, so I got off easy!

The upside was my in-laws. They were so proud of this wedding. They even dusted off their old wedding photo from the early 60s and hung it back up on the wall. Though, my in-laws are farmers, salt of the earth type people. In-laws from a different social status might have a different take on the matter.

Congratulations Mokpochica! Best of luck!

[mokpochica]

The wedding is coming up on December 28th and we will have it at a wedding plaza in Mokpo. Maybe I will regret it, but I figure for this ceremony it's up to my fianc�. We'll have a small ceremony in Michigan later with my family so I'll have more say on that one.

The traditional wedding just seemed too intimidating to think about and plan because I'm not in Korea right now and will only be arriving a few days before the ceremony.

My fianc� keeps telling me that he thinks there will be a lot of people we know that won't come because they won't want to give us money (since we will most likely be living in the U.S. when they get married). I hope he's wrong because that kind of makes me sad. Maybe that's just his worst case scenario.

Anyway, if anyone has any good wedding plaza ceremony stories to share, I would be interested in hearing them.

[GRK]

We were married overseas-layed back ceremony, lunch at a riverside hotel etc. Then - married at a plaza-type place in Mokpo. One thing I now know (in hindsight) is that when the Korean family puts the 'wedding process' in motion, it is a process, and its best not to mess with it. Maybe things have changed now- I must say the wedding dresses look less like a Barbie repro. Difficult to get photos that aren't run-of-the-mill stereotyped. The traditional part of the wedding was best, they knew how to do that.
NB....Beware the 'make up' lady!

[whatthefunk]

I saw one Korean wedding and it featured several spot lights, a bubble machine, a circus announcer, and a flim crew of about twelve. I was shocked and then we ate kimchi in a cafeteria in the basement with the guests of weddings which we did not know of. good luck

[lush72]

[mokpochica]