Ham and Squid: Traditional Korean Wedding Rituals

Modern Korean weddings are big business. According to a Reuters article, in 2012 the average cost of a wedding was $200,000 USD, or more than four times the average annual income. The same report compared the cost of Korean weddings in 1999 and 2011 and showed costs rose by 270 percent in a little more than a decade. Wedding halls that dot city streets across Korea offer quick assembly line style ceremonies that shuffle wedding parties in and out of banquet halls like clockwork. The bride wears a white Western style wedding dress and families exchange luxury gifts. But today’s weddings do not resemble what until about 15 years ago was a common wedding. In fact, traditional Korean wedding rituals were intimate, festive affairs stretched over a few hours instead of minutes and they were fun. One of those rituals involved a ham and squid.

A few days before the wedding ceremony, the groom along with his friends would carry a wedding box (in Korean ham) from his house to the bride’s house. Three essential items were included in the wedding box: marriage papers wrapped in black silk, gifts for the bride’s family and five colored satchels containing beans, millet and cotton seeds for luck. The wedding box itself was covered in yards of red and blue silk representing ying and yang. Later, the fabric would be used to make clothes. During the groom’s journey, he wore a mask made from dried squid to ward off evil spirits. The groom and his friends cried out, “Buy a box! A box for sale!” By the time the groom’s party arrived at the bride’s house in the evening, all the lights around her house would be turned on. The group continued to chant that they were selling a box and the bride’s father pretended to try his best to keep the group from selling the box to someone else. First, he offered money in an envelope to the groom’s party. Then, the father would offer food and alcohol. Afterwards, the bride’s friends would join the groom’s party. With each new offering, the groom’s party shuffled closer to the door of the bride’s home until the groom entered the home. Upon entering, the groom broke a wooden bowl and placed the wedding box on a plate of rice cakes topped with red beans to ward off evil spirits. Finally, the groom and bridal parties as well as neighbors gathered for a party.

While quaint wedding traditions such as this are no longer fashionable in Korea’s high-tech, fast-paced society, there is hope that future generations will eschew the growing extravagance of modern weddings and look back to older generations for a more culturally rich experience.