Showing posts with label traditional wedding. Show all posts

Tips on dealing with possible arguments when marrying with Korean


Being an international couple means living a life full of discovers and also means learning to live with deep differences most of the time occurring from deep gap of two other cultures.
When dating, such differences can become difficulties but how is it when planning a wedding ?


International couples can face different kind of obstacles during the process : 

Planning difficulties


Most of the time, only one person can speak the language of the country which makes it difficult for the other person who can be frustrated not to be involved as much as she/he would like to be. When contacting vendors, or even searching for anything related to the wedding, if everything has to be done in a language we don’t know or not fluently, it could make the other one to be put aside.



Our tips
If you are the one being in your own country, try to involve your other half in every things she/he can do. Good at mathematics ? Taking care of the budget can be great ! Want to have a DYI decoration? Try it with your fiancé, because there is no need to communicate that much to build things ! etc. The most important point will be to find everything she/he can do so she/he feel like you two are planning your own wedding together.

Our help
As we explained in our last article, Wedit can contact vendors for you and/or do the interpretation if you need too. In order for you two to be involved at the same level, we offer our services in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese and French !

Cultural difficulties


You probably faced some cultural difficulties while dating your other half. But while planning a wedding, these can get even bigger. Korean culture and traditions are still pretty strong, especially in older generation which can lead to some misunderstandings. Indeed, most of our international couples encounter the following situations :

When planning a wedding, even if you wish it to be the best day of your couple life, you also want your guests and especially families to know how beautiful that day is and to feel the love all around. But with two different cultures, it can be difficult to satisfy both sides :
you are having your wedding in Korea so your Korean part of the family might not understand why you don’t want to follow all the proceedings they are used to ; for example, inviting the WHOLE family whom you've never met them at all, as well as the parent’s friends or coworkers.

Another difficulty you have probably faced already can be due to daily life cultural differencies. Ever went in your family-in-law house and received stress because « if you marry our son/daughter who is Korean, you should do this and that, etc » ? If not, you are lucky enough to be in a less conservative family than some other people who are. But if you do, this kind of pressure can be even less bearable during wedding planning.

And finally, more « wedding technically » speaking, the ceremony scenario writting can also be an obstacle. Indeed, both countries probably don’t have the same kind of ceremony and sometimes it can be very hard mixing the two.  


Our tips
Most of our couples had difficulties with the Korean side of the family. This is the reason why we are giving you these examples but keep in mind that the cultural difficulties can also come from the other side of the family!

Also, those situations are very difficult for the one who is stuck between his family who is putting pressure on him and his partner so try not to fight because of it and keep remembering that the most important thing in your wedding is your couple ! You will never be able to fully satisfy each of your guests so concentrate on what you two really want.

As for the scenario, have a talk about which part you really want to be included in your ceremony and which one you can take off to make a perfect mixture of your two cultures.

Our help
With our international experience, we are able to give you advice on how to mix your two worlds. We also often get to talk too-worried or too-demanding parents in order to explain them that you might not be able to do everything they would like to.
As for the ceremony scenario and other technical things, we do have special tools at Wedit which make a fusion between Korean and Western cultures.

Distance difficulties


Another difficulty for the non-Korean person is the distance between her/him and her/his family. Having this important day planned, most of the time with the Korean parents very present, without his/her own parents, family and friends can be difficult for both side.

Indeed, the family staying far away can feel put aside while the other family can be involved more easily and the foreign groom or bride can also feel put down, as she/he can’t have all the support and help wanted for its own family and as her/his guestlist will be less important, for example.


Our tips
You are the Korean one of the couple ? 

  • Take care of how your the other half would feel, considering that his/her family is distant from him/her. 
  • Try not to invite hundreds of your friends if she/he will have only 5 of them willing to come in Korea for the wedding.
  • Try also to involve the family members (or at least the parents) who are far by updating them on how the planning is going by skype or phone call more than emails which are less personnal.

Our help
We sure cannot make your country come closer to Korea but we do can give you tips on how to involve your family and also try to explain your Korean partners and his/her family that they have to take care of you and your family even more than they would normally do, because of this distance situation.



You might not face all those difficulties but if you do, we will love help you planning your wedding and facing those obstacles, source of a stress you don’t need during the process of organising your ceremony.



You can visit our homepage to know more about our service or check our pdf here.
Don’t hesitate to ask all your questions through our website chat box or at hello@wedit.kr well !

Hope to hear from you very soon ~

Wedding in Korea, from traditional to wedding hall ceremony


Last time, I talked to you about my feelings concerning wedding hall ceremonies. 


<About Korean Wedding Hall Ceremony, in the point of view of a foreign guest>
click here to read previous post


But then I asked myself, why is it like that ? How and why is it different from the wedding ceremonies I know ?

How is it different ?


One of the first big differences is probably the length of the ceremony. Compared to other cultures where the ceremony can last a whole afternoon and night, a wedding hall ceremony will last no more than 30 minutes.

Then, several weddings take place in the same building while in European culture, for example, the wedding will be in a private place so unknown people cannot invite themselves.

Prices are also confusing. Indeed, if you get to meet a wedding planner, they will offer you packages with what they call the "스드메" (studio, dress, makeup) but you will not know how much is the dress, or the makeup exactly. And weirdly, if you wish to have your dress from someone else, the package price will go up. 

Plus, the decoration is very standardized. No customized decoration; if you have the chance to have choice, you will still not be able to modify it from A to Z.

Mandatory things are countless. Wanted some freedom at your wedding to choose your decoration, your scenario, the way you want your pictures ? It is not the right ceremony for you; the wedding planner will control everything, in a very standard proceedings. 

Moreover, in European culture, 50~100 guests wedding are not uncommon but in wedding hall, most of the time, you will have a countless number of guests. Most of them will be absolutely unknown people because they will be your parents' friends, coworkers or other acquaintances.

And finally, when western culture see the wedding as a festive day to spend with the bride and groom, it will be very difficult (or impossible) in wedding hall ceremony to spend time the main characters of the day.

Why is it different ?


The difficult question is now, why is it like that ? Why did Korea went from a very traditional wedding ceremony to this kind of ceremonies which want to look more westernized?

We can look at history first:


If we follow the thoughts of few authors, this change would be due to a society of consummation which push people to control and create their image following the one they admire, which is in Asia, the European image. 



This is probably why, due to their absence in the Korean traditional wedding, we can feel that the meaning of the proceedings is reduced and that the ceremony is more like a show.



Indeed, in the Korean traditional ceremony, there is no aisle, no officiant as we have in western culture, no vows, no greeting speech, etc etc.



Even if every culture change and grow over time, an important ceremony like a wedding has a logic and a cultural aspect that is anchored in a country. But through the quick change of the Korean wedding ceremony, we can absolutely feel the (very) quick modern Korean society change.




Some will like this change, others will not but it sure is the reflect of the society.
This is only a thought so do not hesitate to leave a comment and let us know your opinion!


And as always, if you wish to have a customized and intimate wedding in Korea, check our homepage here and contact us at hello@wedit.kr !

Interrested in our International Wedding Directing Service, click on the link:

[International Wedding In Korea] When the Korean tradition meet the Western tradition


Danielle from Chicago and Kyumin from Seoul, who have met like a fate and fell in love in Korea, have dreamed of a meaningful intimate wedding which could satisfy both American and Korean cultures.
This is the reason why they combined both traditional Korean wedding ceremony and Western reception and night party. Take a look at their beautiful wedding story.


Part 1 Preparation

Danielle and Kyumin, who introduced the most traditional Korean wedding possible to their guests coming from the USA and other countries also planned an after party so that they would not be too confused by the cultural difference.
For the ceremony, they chose the place called Unhyeonggung and as an after party, they chose this one-of-a-kind River that we already introduced you for Nari and Brodie wedding.


You can also see our cute international Danielle and Kyumin couple snapshots, dressed in beautiful hanboks here ! (*in Korean only)
Kyumin dressed up finely and folded the Danielle's jacket
The bride's younger brother was also dressed in Hanbok
Their friends and family all came to celebrate this wonderful day
Their foreign friends started to arrive to the venue and were full of curiosity and happy to experience a traditional Korean ceremony 
Guests taking pictures of the bride and groom
The two mother made their entrance caring geese as a symbol of the bride and groom
Time for the Kyumin and Danielle to make their entrance
The bride's mother couldn't hold back her tears
The ceremony ended smoothly and the newlywed couple received the guests blessings. 

Part 2 The After Party

After a meaningful traditional ceremony, they came to The River where the Han River sight by night was as nice as always.
The bride was dressed in a stylish black dress and attended as the protagonist of the party.
Using a projector, the bride and groom have created a video of their meeting and love story from their childhood to their present, giving the guests a great smile.
In a box, guests put message notes prepared by WEDIT to congratulate and wish happiness to the couple.
The bride and groom picked up and read these message cards one by one and enjoyed memories with their guests.
The party kept going with fun games like the "Shoe Game" that has been done a lot in America these days.
It is a game where the newlyweds take off their shoes, hold the groom's shoes in one hand and bride's shoes in the other, sit without facing each other and make quizzes, putting up the shoe of the person who fits to the answer the best. "Who has the worst sleeping habit?", "Who is better at kissing?" And so on. 
The party lasted until late at night, and the guests has been offered variety of activities such as learning salsa dance, cutting and sharing the cake, etc. All this, with a beautiful view on the river. The guests from abroad and those from Korea did not know each other but they did spent and enjoyed this unique time together, which made this ceremony very meaningful.


Thank you, Danielle and Minkyu for this significant cultural mixed ceremony, we wish you all the joy and happiness you deserve!


Searching for vendors (venue, catering, photographer, dress,...) to prepare your wedding, take a look ate Wedit's website

If you're interested in our International Wedding Planning Service, click on the link
Wedit Full Directing Service