It has been over a decade since I left Korea. I attempt to sustain with Korean tradition by being intently linked with Korean media. I take pleasure in watching speak exhibits or real-life television exhibits as a result of they train 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 a protracted time period. Contemplating celebrities as 일반인 (il-bahn-in: unusual folks) might be hyperbole, however this present positively shines a lightweight on disparate components of Korean tradition, significantly in 결혼 문화 (gyeol-hon-moom-hwa: marriage/ marriage ceremony tradition).
The speed of marriage has been continuously lowering in Korea. Youthful generations have totally 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 thought. 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.
As we speak, I want to speak concerning the fast-evolving marriage tradition in Korea.
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결혼문화 (gyeol-hon-moon-hwa: marriage/ marriage ceremony tradition)
Marriage Bills
There isn’t 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 bought married, I used to be in a position to see the similarities and the variations between American and Korean marriage ceremony cultures.
For each cultures, planning a marriage is all the time 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 attributable to 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 remaining shall be spent on the precise marriage ceremony occasions, which I feel is some huge cash to spend for at some point. Do you continue to need to get married?
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Wedding ceremony Presents
In western tradition, a marriage present registry is widespread. In Korean marriage ceremony tradition, 축의금 (chook-eui-geum: cash present for glad events) exists. Some folks, after all, do give 선물 (sun-mool: a present), however presenting 축의금 at a marriage is the norm.
In case you are invited to a Korean marriage ceremony, you wouldn’t miss a small desk in entrance of a marriage ceremony web site. It’s a customized that each visitor provides 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 guide. The married couple will finally 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 might be to the couple.
There are marriage ceremony presents between a bride and a groom’s household. 혼수 (hon-su: presents to a bride’s household from a groom) is meant to be marriage ceremony presents from the groom’s aspect and 예물 (yea-mool: marriage ceremony presents to a groom’s household from a bride) is from the bride’s. Previously, 혼수 and 예물were given to signify love and gratitude. Nevertheless, 혼수 has been generally mistakenly measured as 현금 (hyeon-geum: money) for some folks. It’s unhappy, however true that the amount of 혼수 generally 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 components, equivalent to bridesmaids and groomsmen, even flower women/boys. These additional 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 occasion) 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 celebration), which is geared in direction of celebrating a child’s well being. Nevertheless, trendy Koreans do have a good time 처녀파티 (cheo-nyeo-party: bachelorette occasion) and a bridal bathe.
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Wedding ceremony Venue
Selecting a marriage venue is usually a headache. I’ve seen quite a lot of marriage ceremony venues with totally different themes in western marriage ceremony cultures. In Korea, 웨딩홀 (marriage ceremony corridor: a constructing significantly designed for a marriage occasion and a reception occasion) 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’s not unusual for Koreans to get married at 웨딩홀. Nevertheless, the draw back of this place is over-standardization. Actually, 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 identical 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 on your room!
Younger Koreans are getting extra inventive with their marriage ceremony kinds. Some want an out of doors marriage ceremony, others have a small marriage ceremony, as a substitute of inviting tons of of company whom you will have by no means met earlier than. Actually, the thought 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 totally different subjects within the subsequent posts. Keep tuned!