While weddings in other cultures may focus on the bride and groom, family is a major part of Korean culture. This is highlighted in the paebaek ceremony, where the couple bows to their parents who sit behind a low table stocked with traditional and symbolic wedding foods like chestnuts, dried persimmons, and jujubes. The parents https://www.tlc-ltd.co.uk/dos-donts-engagement-parties/ offer blessings and wisdom to the newlyweds, who then play a game of throwing dates and chestnuts at each other (trying to catch them on fabric that’s part of the bride’s dress) to predict how many daughters and sons they will have.
The mother of the bride and groom walk in together during this ritual, with the bride’s mother wearing red and the groom’s mother dressed in blue. These colors, like the yin and yang symbol, represent the balance of complementary entities.
After the ceremony, guests are invited to the reception hall for a simple meal of noodle soup and rice (dokbokki), dumplings, deep-fried vegetables, and sticky rice cakes (dok chigim). Then it’s time to exchange cash gifts with one another – called chug ui-geum, or money gifting – as a ticket to the banquet.
As the couples eat, their korean dating culture attendants wash their hands to symbolize washing away any bad luck and wishing them health and happiness for the future. Unlike at American weddings, where an RSVP is usually required, it’s not customary in Korea to give the bride and groom a heads-up as to how many people they should expect.
