A Korean wedding is full of symbolism from the gifts to the food served.

Many couples now opt to marry in fancy wedding halls that surely leave some of the elderly guests wondering whatever happened to the traditional Korean wedding. There are those who still opt for the version steeped in history, but even then, there are of course differences.

A typical traditional wedding ceremony begins with the entrance of the groom to music following a flower boy with a hand lantern. Soon after, the bride in a palanquin adorned with flowers arrives. The traditional wedding ceremony is rich in symbolism and showcases time-honoured cultural values of Korea.

According to a Korean fairy tale, there was an old man with long hair and beard named Wolha, who mated a man and a woman by tying a blue thread to him and a red thread to her, thus making them a couple. The story explains why blue and red threads are important in the traditional wedding ceremony.

In traditional Korea, marriage consisted of matchmaking, a wedding proposal from the groom’s parents to the bride’s parents that was signalled by blue and red silk threads being sent to the bride’s house.

First, however, a matchmaker would go to the potential candidates’ parents and ask about their children. If the two families agreed, the groom-to-be’s parents would send their son’s saju (literally meaning four pillars), that is, his horoscopic data including the year, month, day, and hour of birth.

Then the bride-to-be’s parents would notify the groom-to-be’s parents about the wedding date after consulting a fortune teller, who would pick an auspicious date based on the saju of both the groom and the bride. Once the wedding day was finalised, the groom’s parents would send nuptial gifts to the bride right before the wedding.

A pair of wooden geese

In the past, Korean wedding ceremonies were held at the bride’s house. On the wedding day, the groom travelled to the bride’s house by horse and was greeted by his soon to be in-laws. He then presented them with a pair of wooden geese, which signified his marriage vow.

Geese carried three important meanings related to marriage. First, geese symbolised the promise of love as the average lifespan of a goose is between 15 to 20 years and geese mate for life. Second, they signified hierarchical relations between husband and wife as geese establish a pecking order. Third, they implied traces of life, which connoted the groom’s bright future.

After the delivery of the geese, the groom and the bride would dress in formal court clothing and face each other with a table between them. The groom wearing a black hat called a samogwandae would stand to the east and the bride adorned with a headpiece and red rouge spots on her cheeks to the west.

Jujubes and chestnuts

The table between the groom and the bride was riddled with symbolism. It was traditionally covered with blue and red table clothes and blue and red candlesticks were placed next to bamboo and pine twigs on the table.

The bamboo and pine twigs symbolised marital integrity and faithfulness. Also found on the table were various plates full of jujubes, chestnuts, dried persimmons, red beans, beans, and phoenix-shaped white rice cake. Jujubes and chestnuts implied a healthy life together with many children and the blue and red clothes, the union of yin and yang.

A rooster and a hen wrapped in blue and red wrapping clothes, respectively, and a pot of wine was placed on a small table beside the main one. The rooster and the hen also implied some important meanings. The rooster’s crow symbolised a fresh, brand new start and was said to drive evil spirits out on the wedding day. The hen represented fecundity as hens lay eggs everyday.

The union of two into one

The groom and the bride would wash their hands, which symbolised the purification of their bodies for the wedding. The groom and the bride then would bow to each other twice and share a cup of wine by holding the cup tied with blue and red threads high and low in order to swear by the gods of heaven and earth. The wine would then be shared three times. The first cup of wine for themselves as two individuals.

The second and the third rounds of wine were served in a halved calabash symbolising marital harmony. The gourd halved into two signified two reunited into one, implying that the groom and the bride were separated into two at birth and then reunited into one through the wedding ceremony.

After the groom and the bride finished the second and the third rounds of wine, the gourd was put together and placed on the table. The blue and red threads were braided together and hung across the pine twigs and bamboo which meant that marriage is the union of two families as well as two individuals.

Following the wedding ceremony was the pyebaek ceremony, a ritual offered to the parents of both the groom and the bride. When the pyebaek ceremony ended, the groom and the bride would retreat to the bride’s room and spend their first night together.

Certain aspects of traditional Korean weddings have stayed the same over the years. Much of the symbolism, such as the wooden geese, is still present at today’s traditional weddings. Perhaps one of the big differences is that instead of on a horse, the groom probably shows up in a Hyundai. (By Annabelle Lee in Seoul/ The Korea Herald/ Asia News Network)