Marriage between a man and a woman is the starting point of creating a family. In modern times, it is performed in a wedding hall, but in the past, marriage in Korea was a union between families.

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The expression ‘getting married’ for a man and ‘getting married’ for a woman is a unique Korean traditional culture.

Therefore, it had to be formal and was conducted in a solemn atmosphere. Let’s take a look at the order.

1 Preparing for the wedding

• When the marriage is discussed and decided, the groom’s family first officially informs the bride’s family of their intention to marry, and they accept this condition and give permission.
• This is called ‘napchae’, and once the intention to marry is confirmed, the groom’s family sends a gift to the bride’s family as proof of the engagement, which is called ‘nappae’.

2 Holding the wedding ceremony

• When both parties confirm their intentions and promise to marry with gifts, the next wedding ceremony is held, which is called ‘chinyeong’.
• First, the groom goes to the bride’s house, offers a goose as a gift, and welcomes the bride and brings her home.
• The groom went to the bride’s house to welcome the bride, and when she came home, a feast was held, and a sacrifice was prepared, a ritual was performed, and the groom and bride shared the sacrifice to show their unity.

3 Stages of the bride going to the groom’s house

• The Confucian wedding, which ultimately takes place through the chinyeong, is a process of entering the groom’s house from the woman’s perspective.
• When the bride first visits her in-laws and meets her in-laws, she offers a wedding gift to them. She offers jujubes and chestnuts to her father-in-law, and offers dried meat seasoned with ginger or cinnamon to her mother-in-law.
• After that, there remains a ritual of visiting the ancestral shrine and reporting it, but this ritual was not performed immediately after the wedding ceremony, but waited for about three months before being performed, and thus the bride became a member of her in-laws’ family.

4 Traditional Wedding Ceremony