Traditional Korean Wedding

Last weekend Riley and I got invited to a wedding for a friend of ours.  She is from China and she married a Korean guy.  We had heard the Korean weddings were strange combinations of Eastern and Western culture, but our friend insisted on a traditional Asian wedding. 
The beginning and ending of our journey was a long bus ride full of Chinese students.  It was strange not understanding a word anymore.  Not that we know Korean, but we can pick up words.

Once we got to Seoul, we drove into the War Museum parking deck.  We were very confused until we realized the wedding was going to take place in the War Museum courtyard.  They had everything set up for traditional weddings near all the missiles and tanks parked outside.  Luckily we got there early so Riley and I could look around the yard some at the tanks, airplanes, and boats.

Our friend had decided on a Royal wedding where the bride and groom were dressed as the prince and princess of Korea.  The dress was really elaborate.  The groom's hat kept getting in his eyes.

The bride and groom.  The colors of Korea are red, blue and yellow.

The first part was getting the bride and groom into chairs to be wheeled to the top of the aisle.  This took a long time for the bride since it meant getting her headdress off and on again.  Then the bride walked down the aisle first.  There was lots of yelling in Korean and drumming.  Then the groom joined her with more yelling and drumming.  They also brought the two wooden ducks down the aisle and set them on a table.  Speaking of tables, there were tables of fruits, candles, and incense arranged at the front. 

After the drumming and yelling (translated "Congratulations"  "May you live a thousand years") they walked back down the aisle.  Then they came back and took a lot of pictures.

We then went to an all you can eat buffet with sushi, fried mushrooms, fish, potato salad, and ice cream.  The bride and groom came back in more comfortable looking traditional Korean clothes (Hanbok) and greeting everyone.

It was really interesting, but the odd part was all the attendants were from the wedding set-up.  They were basically actors helping the couple through the ceremony.  They had really neat outfits, but I think I would prefer knowing the people who helped me get married.

I loved the colors, though, everything was really bright!  It was a beautiful wedding, and the couple looked really happy (especially when the groom got to change his hat).