Got a 3 day weekend? Why not crash a wedding?

So my school decided to give everyone the day off last Friday. I found out about it a month ago, and I was super excited for the long weekend because it would mean the perfect chance for me to hop on over to China. When I told my co-teacher, though, she said I couldn't leave the country because of swine flu. (The government's enacted a policy were you have to be quarantined away from public schools for a week if you leave the country.) I was super bummed. My co-teacher, seeing how disappointed I was, wanted to make a up to me...

So she invited me to experience a Korean wedding :D One of her friends was getting married, and she got her to sent me an invite, lol. I love weddings in general, but I was super excited to see how this wedding would be different from ones in the States, even though Koreans rarely do traditional weddings anymore.

It turned out to be really nice. We when to this really gorgeous wedding hall in Gangnam (the rich, nice part of the city), and it was absolutely beautiful. The theme of the hall was kinda a winter wonderland decor, so there were white trees at every table, snowflakes and crystals hanging from the ceilings, and beautiful flower arrangements. I was very impressed.

The wedding was very Western, but there were some interesting parts.

Instead of a church, the wedding ceremony took place in this wedding hall. They set up a runway and a main stage for where the ceremony would take place, but instead of guest seats lined up in neat little rows, the seats were arranged around dinner takes. AND we actually ate during the ceremony! Right when they were saying their vows, the waiters came and brought us our own set places. I felt kinda awkward eating during the ceremony, but everyone else was just eating and chattering away like it was any normal restuarant.

The most random thing, though, happened after the vows. The couple were at the front of the stage watching the chorus sing a song, and then all of a sudden, the Shreks run up the stage and started dancing for the couple. They made dance motions to fit the song. It was really random but kinda cute. You could tell it was a surprise from their friends though cuz of the look on the couple's faces. But hey, they enjoyed it and that's all that matters.

After that, the doors opened, and my heart lept. It led to gorgeous buffet. Even the food was beautifully made to fit the occasion. There were 7 different rows of all types of different foods: cold sides, sushi and sashimi, soups, meat and seafood, and of course, desserts. Some of the food was so pretty that I didn't want to eat it, but of course, I did, lol. The food was excellent.

Oh, and another really interesting thing... You know how we have a prime rib/ham station in US buffets where the chef stands there to carve it up for you? Well, instead of that, they have a live octopus station. The chef stands next to a tank of like 50 or so small live octopuses and serves it right then and there for the wedding party. (Live octopus is a popular dish here, but I was just surprised to see it at a buffet).

I can't wait to go crash another wedding ;D