Korean Wedding and City Hall

I was invited by a member from my church to attend her son's wedding. She wanted me to be able to experience a Korean wedding. I noticed that there were several things that were different than how we traditionally do weddings in the states. They've adopted parts of our wedding ceremonies and added their own twist.
First of all, weddings don't take place at a church. They take place at a wedding hall, where there are usually at least 2 or 3 weddings going on at the same time.

When you arrive at the wedding hall, you give a money gift and in return you receive a ticket to go eat at the buffet. The amount you give the couple is determined by how well you know them. If they're acquaintances, you give 30.000w (about $27). If they're friends, you give 50.000 (about $45). If you're close friends or family, then you give even more or maybe give a personal gift. It is considered a social faux pas to give anything other than $ unless you're a very close friend or family member. No wedding registries here.

The buffet takes place before the wedding ceremony. There are two types of weddings here. Those that have a buffet before or after the ceremony, and those that have a sit-down meal during the ceremony itself. There was a lot of good food and some new stuff I had never tried before.

The wedding ceremony itself is short and sweet and is completed in less than 30 minutes. Many times, there will be guests standing in the back, as more guests are invited than there are seats. From what I could tell (since I don't know enough Korean) it was a nice service.

At the end of the ceremony, the couple greeted their parents and then cut the cake. I got a kick out of them cutting the cake with a giant samurai sword. Not only that, but they didn't eat any of the cake! Who doesn't eat cake at weddings?!?! Also, only the top layer is real cake, the rest is fake...so the venue can keep re-using it. Basically the purpose of cutting the cake is for the pictures and not eating.

A couple of venue assistants shot off streamers as the newly married couple walks down the isle.

With Grace, the groom's mom. Usually the moms of the wedding couple wear hanbok, traditional clothes during the ceremony. I believe there is another private ceremony that takes place afterwards that follows more of the traditional Korean style, but that is only for family and close friends.

After the ceremony, we were invited to have coffee on the top floor of Daejeon City Hall. It is the highest building in Daejeon, and you get a great view from there. There's a little coffee shop on the top floor, as well as a room where they hold small concerts.

I love that rooftop garden.