Korean Wedding Tradition
The PaebaekCeremony
The family ceremony at the heart of a Korean wedding — what happens, what everything on the table means, and the order it all runs in.
What It Is
A private ceremonyfor family only.
Paebaek — also written pyebaek, from the Korean 펙백 — is the ceremony in which a newly married couple formally greets the family they are marrying into. Traditionally it was held a few days after the main wedding, in the groom’s family home, with only relatives present.
Korean-American couples almost always fold it into the wedding day itself: most commonly in a private room during cocktail hour, between the Western ceremony and the reception, though some families hold it before the ceremony instead. Either way it stays what it has always been — a small, closed-door ritual of respect between two families.
The Table
Nothing on itis decorative.
Every item laid out for the paebaek carries a meaning, and the exact spread varies by family and region. These are the pieces you will see most often.
The Order
Four moments,in sequence.
Families vary the details, but the spine of the ceremony is remarkably consistent. Elders are greeted in order of seniority, beginning with the groom’s parents.
The couple performs the deep bow. It begins standing and ends kneeling, foreheads pressed to their hands. This is the formal greeting, repeated for each set of elders in turn.
The couple pours and presents a cup to each elder, who drinks, then offers words of advice and blessing to the new marriage.
The elders throw jujubes and chestnuts back toward the bride, who catches them in her outstretched skirt — the most photographed moment of the whole ceremony, and the loudest.
Many families end on a laugh: the groom carries the bride — and often his own mother — around the room, a show of strength and of the care he owes them both.
What Is Worn
The hwarotand the jokduri.
The bride changes into ceremonial hanbok: a green jeogori jacket over a red chima skirt embroidered with symbols of longevity, fertility and good fortune, with long white sleeve extensions covering the hands. On her head sits the jokduri, a small ceremonial crown, and on her cheeks and forehead the three red dots — yeonji gonji.
The groom wears samogwandae — the robe, belt and winged hat modelled on the dress of a court official. Because both are dressed and both families are together and in one room, the fifteen minutes immediately after the ceremony is the single best portrait opportunity of the day — and one that never comes back once everyone changes for the reception.
Questions
Before yourpaebaek.
When in the day should the paebaek happen?
Who takes part?
What do the jujubes and chestnuts mean?
How long should we allow for it?
Do we need to hire a paebaek set?
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Photographingyour paebaek.
Our full approach to Korean weddings — coverage positions for each ritual moment, hanbok portraits and a timeline that fits the paebaek into the day — is on the Korean wedding photography page.