Contemporizing the Traditional Korean Ceremony, Pyebaek/폐백

Welcome to Part 2 of my journey in learning about Korean Weddings before I leap into my vows this winter in Seoul. Each post is structured to help me and any interested Steemian understand the implications of marriage in the country.

A Royal Affair

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One of the most definitive practices of a Korean wedding is the Pyebaek//폐백, a custom reserved historically between the couple's immediate family. The event is characterized by the groom and bride dressed in colorful royal clothing and is traditionally meant to be a private address for the bride to be officially integrated into the groom's family. Today, the practice has become much more balanced, incorporating both sides of the family.

• Source: Youtube

The affair looks very intricate and ornate but the practice has actually been distilled to very simple elements. The couple wears traditional gowns and performs a short ceremony in front of their immediate families. Family members recite their own personal messages and offer their wishes... in the form of chestnuts and dried jujubes!

• Source: Yahoo

This is one of the more charming parts of the wedding day as the couple suspends the bride's long skirt, almost like a hammock between themselves as family members throw in little goodies. The typical throws are both chestnuts – that signify past meeting future since they sprout from both ends – and jujubes – to symbolize children... because... they look like testicles? I actually couldn't find a substantive explanation of why jujubes culturally represent offspring/family/fertility so I'll be taking the more humorous route, much in the way the word Avocado was developed...

A Modern Twist on a Dying Practice

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My wife and I had a bit of trouble deciding how to integrate this ceremony, if we should at all. In modern-day Korea, where the population has already adopted wedding gown and tux ceremonies, fewer and fewer couples are maintaining this art. Buying/renting traditional garb is expensive and transforming into such wardrobes midday is burdensome. A western-style wedding schedule is just not conducive to having the ceremony.

But of course we saw this as a creative opportunity. How could we effectively integrate this into our ceremony without it being so obnoxious or private or an overall annoyance?

So we'll be executing a bit of a twist on it. Instead of transitioning into a private room for this event, we'll actually attempt to host it in front of the audience. We'll do public family recitings and then subsequently invite all guest to come up, say their short wishes, and have a chance to throw in their chestnuts/jujbes as well.

We'll see how well this plays out but thought it might be an interesting fusion of traditional practice in a modern setting.

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What do you think? Have you ever incorporated old customs in a different way as well? Let me know in the comments below!