It has been over a decade since I left Korea. I attempt to sustain with Korean tradition by being intently related with Korean media. I take pleasure in watching speak exhibits or real-life television exhibits as a result of they educate me the uncooked actuality of Korean tradition. One of many actuality exhibits I take pleasure in watching is 나혼자산다 (I Reside Alone). This present options celebrities who stay alone. It portrays their every day life over an extended time frame. Contemplating celebrities as 일반인 (il-bahn-in: extraordinary folks) might be hyperbole, however this present undoubtedly shines a lightweight on disparate parts of Korean tradition, notably in 결혼 문화 (gyeol-hon-moom-hwa: marriage/ marriage ceremony tradition).
The speed of marriage has been consistently lowering in Korea. Youthful generations have completely different concepts of 결혼 (gyeol-hon: marriage/marriage ceremony). If folks as soon as thought of marriage as an inevitable milestone in life, younger Koreans are hesitant to simply accept the concept. They measure each ounce of bodily, monetary, and emotional burden as a married particular person and evaluate that with their limitless freedom as a single particular person.
Right this moment, I want to speak in regards to the fast-evolving marriage tradition in Korea.
Picture by Vitamin on Pixabay
결혼문화 (gyeol-hon-moon-hwa: marriage/ marriage ceremony tradition)
Marriage Bills
There is no such thing as a doubt {that a} marriage ceremony is an enormous festive event universally, but additionally it might be an costly occasion. When my brother-in-law acquired married, I used to be capable of see the similarities and the variations between American and Korean marriage ceremony cultures.
For each cultures, planning a marriage is at all times exhausting. Most of all, it makes your pockets very skinny in a short while. The reality is that many Koreans keep away from getting married as a consequence of 결혼 비용 (gyeol-hon-bi-yong: marriage bills). In 2019, common marriage ceremony bills had been about 2억 3186 만원 (231,860,000 gained), which is equal to $195,766 as of December 2021. That is together with housing bills as a result of about 73% of your marriage ceremony bills will go straight into acquiring housing. The remainder shall be spent on the precise marriage ceremony occasions, which I believe is some huge cash to spend for sooner or later. Do you continue to wish to get married?
(https://weblog.naver.com/officialduo/221477201809)
Picture by briannad26 on Pixabay
Wedding ceremony Presents
In western tradition, a marriage present registry is widespread. In Korean marriage ceremony tradition, 축의금 (chook-eui-geum: cash present for joyful events) exists. Some folks, in fact, do give 선물 (sun-mool: a present), however presenting 축의금 at a marriage is the norm.
If you’re invited to a Korean marriage ceremony, you wouldn’t miss a small desk in entrance of a marriage ceremony website. It’s a customized that each visitor offers away white envelopes which have cash in them on the desk. Then, an individual on the desk will ask your title and write the quantity of 축의금 on a report ebook. The married couple will ultimately see the data and you’d doubtless get the identical quantity of 축의금 in your marriage ceremony day. There’s a customary guideline of 축의금depending upon how shut you’re to the couple.
There are marriage ceremony items between a bride and a groom’s household. 혼수 (hon-su: items to a bride’s household from a groom) is meant to be marriage ceremony items from the groom’s facet and 예물 (yea-mool: marriage ceremony items to a groom’s household from a bride) is from the bride’s. Up to now, 혼수 and 예물were given to characterize love and gratitude. Nevertheless, 혼수 has been typically mistakenly measured as 현금 (hyeon-geum: money) for some folks. It’s unhappy, however true that the amount of 혼수 typically causes household feuds and turns into a deal-breaker between soon-to-be-married {couples}.
Wedding ceremony Tradition
Probably the most excellent variations that I seen was marriage ceremony cultural parts, corresponding to bridesmaids and groomsmen, even flower women/boys. These further company in a marriage don’t exist in conventional Korean weddings, however many younger Korean {couples} have adopted the concepts of their weddings.
So far as I perceive, there’s 총각파티 (chong-gak-party: bachelor get together) tradition in Korea, however no bridal bathe. The closest idea of a bridal bathe I can relate to Korean marriage ceremony tradition is 돌잔치 (dol-jan-chi: the primary party), which is geared in direction of celebrating a child’s well being. Nevertheless, trendy Koreans do rejoice 처녀파티 (cheo-nyeo-party: bachelorette get together) and a bridal bathe.
Picture by GemmaRay23
Wedding ceremony Venue
Selecting a marriage venue is usually a headache. I’ve seen a wide range of marriage ceremony venues with completely different themes in western marriage ceremony cultures. In Korea, 웨딩홀 (marriage ceremony corridor: a constructing notably designed for a marriage occasion and a reception get together) may prevent from a headache.
웨딩홀 is an all-for-one sort of place for an indoor marriage ceremony ceremony. 웨딩홀 is a particularly designed constructing that’s for the marriage ceremony, together with 피로연 (pi-roh-yeon: a marriage reception). Subsequently, it isn’t unusual for Koreans to get married at 웨딩홀. Nevertheless, the draw back of this place is over-standardization. In reality, a nickname of this constructing is 공장형 웨딩홀 (gong-jang-hyung-wedding corridor), which is translated as a factory-style marriage ceremony corridor. You aren’t the one bride on this constructing as a result of a dozen or extra {couples} are getting married on the similar time in the identical constructing however simply in a distinct room. You even have restricted time to complete your marriage ceremony occasions as a result of the subsequent couple is ready to your room!
Younger Koreans are getting extra artistic with their marriage ceremony kinds. Some choose an outside marriage ceremony, others have a small marriage ceremony, as a substitute of inviting lots of of company whom you might have by no means met earlier than. In reality, the concept of getting a small marriage ceremony with household and buddies has been widespread after some Korean celeb {couples} selected that methodology.
What did you concentrate on Korean marriage ceremony tradition? I’ll discuss fast-changing Korean cultures with completely different matters within the subsequent posts. Keep tuned!
