the awaited wedding I

Last Saturday a korean friend, 광취 (李光喆，Peter), brought me to his friend's wedding after he knew my interest in hanbok, the country's traditional costume. Being a foreign guest, I thought it would be polite to go with a lil' wedding gift for the couple :)


I got them a set of porcelin wares from Kosney. 2 hearts on a nice neat tray :)


and an inexpensive gift card to go with it.


I wanted to write my well wishes in korean but I thought it would be more special (and more impt for it to be special for them than for me!) for them to receive in english! I also googled for a christian wedding poem (as seen on the left side of the card)! Come to think of it, this is my first time preparing a wedding gift on my own!



I hope it was at least decent enough for the occasion ;)


The wedding took place in a wedding convention hall, located inside the Korean War Memorial. We were an hour early that day and we were lucky to witness another grand wedding in traditional costumes outside the war memorial! Besides that, we had some good time exploring the war memorial exhibits! Pictures up next post!

Back to the friend's friend wedding.

We went to have our photographs taken with the bride before we enter the wedding hall. The bride, Yejin, was gorgeous. Like a princess waiting to be found by the prince, she was envied by all the ladies in the room :)


there you are, my first and very likely the last photograph with a korean bride in Korea.


We went to the hall earlier as 광취 had to prepare his song with his friends. As it is a public convention room, the wedding hall was painted in a romantic shade of white with minimal decorations.


Me snapping away while 광취 and his friends practiced their songs for the couple. The song is lovely despite me not knowing the language. After all, the love songs for every wedding are always pleasant to the ears ;)


the ceremony started with the mother of the bride and the groom greeting each other before the rostrum. Nina saw this picture and exclaimed, "how diplomatic!" lol!




The father handing over her precious girl to the man. Actually, the groom bowed down on all fours before he hugged his father-in-law. A pity I missed that shot.


I guess this is one of the most awesome wedding down I've seen ever since I begin to appreciate wedding gowns. Yejin resembles princess mermaid, doesn't she? :)



광취 and his church friends sang their wishes to the couple. The scene was really heartwarming. It always feel good to be blessed by your friends on your special day. EH FRIENDS, ZI DONG HOR! WAHAHAHA!



The man and his wife, while listening to the song performed by their friends. Their expressions say it all. awwwwwwww!!!!


More light-hearted songs to liven up the atmosphere after all the touching performances. 광취's friend sings really really well! Guess what, the guy in the foreground is doin a rap in korean! COOL!


The groom, Jong Gyu, is the music composer in the church! He composed a song specially for his wife on their wedding day. He topped the 'sweetest guy' in my list for the day! Awwwww!!!


Tears of joy seen on Yejin when the man was singing. If it were me, i bet i would have cried buckets!



The ceremony officially come to an end with the giant poppers while the couple walked down the red carpet. Then, it was photo taking time!


I LOVE HANBOK!!! I AM SO GONNA WEAR ONE ON MY WEDDING!


After all the photo frenzy, the couple was brought to a special room called the Pye Baek Room to get changed to traditional Korean wedding costumes. Usually, only the relatives will wait outside the room but 광취 brought me up too to see the entire process!


Jong Gyu looked sooooo cute in the outfit! The thing about hanbok is that it livens up everyone's spirit with its colours. Bright cheery colours for a lovely happy occasion, shouldnt it be that way?


The bride took a much longer time to get dressed! She needed more assistance too!


Notice the 2 red dots on the cheeks? They are merely red stickers!




This special room is only meant for the relatives of the couple. Here, they give them their well wishes (in verbal and monetary form hehehe!) after the couple gave their traditional bows. The bride also had to keep her hands at that position throughout the ceremony.


Ever wonder whats beneath the hanbok? teeheehee! Arnt the shoes cute?! I feel like getting a puny pair and frame it up in my room in singapore!

While the couple pay their respects to their families, the guests were treated to a buffet dinner downstairs. 광취 brought me to join his friends at the table. They are really friendly and approachable! Here I made another new friend, 阎明, from Shanghai! He is actually a film maker! Woohoo! My first friend from the film industry. More about him next time.

Okay, back to the wedding.



The couple changed into another set of outfit and joined the guests at the dining area. Expectedly, I stopped snapping after I got my plate of delicacies! =X

So that marks the end of the wedding experience. 광취 and I then left for the Hi!Seoul festival at City Hall. Count us lucky, we met a peaceful demostration! It was so peaceful that I told 광취 it looked more like a celebration hahaha!


Both the young and the old were holding white candles in the cold night. The citizens were unhappy with some government decision regarding the education system.



When there's protestants, there's policemen!! I really pity them becuase they probably wouldnt be in action for thr night but they had to bear the cold in the open ground! I saw some of them sitting on their shield on top of their helmets!


That glowing cube is the visitor information centre for the Hi!Seoul festival. A big bright cube at the entrance of the field. Hmmm.


The field was packed with people. Everyone sat on the grass and enjoyed the classical pieces by the symphony orchestra! Oh by the way, it was a Poem and Symphony night.



Cushion seats and blankets were provided by the government! There were some tentage around to provide these accessories. I thought the government was being generous and thoughtful but 광취 thought otherwise. He said that the government had to pacify and please the angsty citizens these days due to the U.S. imported beef issue. HAHAHAHAHA.

It was a super long and tiring but fruitful day out! Best of all, the day ended with a free cab home from the station because this other guy who was also waiting for the shuttle-bus-which-never-turn-up decided to share cab with me back to the dormitory and refuse to accept my money when he knows Im a foreigner! Muahahahaha!