Traditional Korean weddings (전통혼례) are full of symbols. Every item used carries a deeper meaning for the couple’s future that can never be left out. Let’s explore the most significant items you’ll find in a traditional Korean wedding and what they stand for:

Hanbok (한복)

The bride and groom wear the traditional Korean attire. The bright colors of the attire symbolize purity, joy, and a fresh start. The bride often wears a red dress for passion, and the groom wears blue for stability, representing balance in marriage.

Hwarot (활옷)

The bride may also wear a hwarot, a ceremonial robe embroidered with symbols like phoenixes, peonies, and cranes that stand for wealth, honor, and long life respectively.

Samogwandae (사모관대)

The groom traditionally wears this official’s robe from the Joseon era to reflect dignity, authority, and the responsibility of becoming the head of a family.

Paebaek Table (폐백상)

During the paebaek (폐백) ceremony, the couple bows to their parents and presents food on the table that includes chestnuts for fertility, jujubes for prosperity, and rice cakes for family blessings.

Jujube (대추) and Chestnuts (밤)

In Korean ceremonies, jujubes represent sons, while chestnuts symbolize daughters. Together, they express wishes for many children and a strong family lineage.

Mandarin Ducks (원앙새)

On the wedding table, wooden mandarin ducks or geese are displayed as tokens of fidelity, harmony, and everlasting love because they mate for life.

Wedding Ducks (혼례오리)

Just like the mandarin ducks, they are given as gifts to the couple. If the beaks of the ducks face each other, which points to affection, if turned away, it may suggest conflict, so it reminds the couples to nurture harmony.

Honrye-deung (혼례등)

Gireum, also known as oil lamps, are lit during the ceremony to paint a bright future filled with hope, purity, and guidance.

Traditional Knot (maedeup- 매듭)

Decorative knots are used to adorn wedding outfits and tables as a symbol of intertwining the couple’s destinies into one harmonious life.

Wedding Screen (honrye byeongpung – 혼례병풍)

The couple sits in front of the wedding screen that’s painted with phoenixes or peonies. These drawings represent the protection, dignity, and wealth of the union.

Rice Cakes (Tteok - 떡)

The guests get served rice cakes to celebrate the sweetness of union and to spread blessings of happiness and prosperity.

It’s interesting to know that every detail from the food to the items in the traditional Korean wedding has a wonderful meaning. The understanding of their significance makes the ceremony a generational treasure that will be passed down for centuries.