General
Koreans think marriage is the most important passage in one's life and a divorce is regarded as a disgrace not only for the couple but also for their families ¡ª still the divorce rate is growing rapidly these days.
Today's typical wedding ceremony is somewhat different from what it was in old times: first a Western-style ceremony is usually held at a wedding hall or a church with the bride wearing a white dress and the groom wearing a tuxedo, then later in the day the bride and groom have a traditional ceremony at a different room in the venue, in colorful traditional costumes.
Traditional Wedding

In Korea, the marriage between a man and woman represents the joining of two families, rather than the joining of two individuals. As such, the event was often called Taerye (Great Ritual), and people from all over participated.
Steeped in traditional Confucian values, the ceremonies and events surrounding the actual marriage were long and elaborate, from the pairing of the couple to the rituals performed after the ceremony.
In the traditional Korean marriage, the elders of the prospective bride and bridegroom's families decided on all matters regarding the wedding, including the decision of whether or not to marry their son and daughter to each other.


Ewheehon ¡æ Nabcheh ¡æ Nabpheh ¡æ Chinyoung
1st Step: Ewheehon
It is a formality that the bridegroom-side and the bride-side discuss about nuptial. In the korean traditional wedding ceremony they value family and customs of a family above everything else. A matchmaker from both families look into family, scholarship, personality and a material harmony of the bridegroom and bride as predicted by a fortuneteller. Then they determine whether they will permit this nuptial or not. In general the Ewheehon is determined when the bridegroom-side sends a proposal letter of marriage and the bride-side sends a reply letter which permits this marriage. In this process only the parents of both families could see the bridegroom and bride.
2nd Step: Napchae (Date Setting)
It is a formality that they send a Sajoo and receive it because an engagement of a young couple has been accomplished. When the bridegroom-side receives an engagement letter or a message from the bride-side, the bridegroom-side sends the Sajoo and a Nabchehmoon which are wrapped in a red cloth wrapper to the bride-side. They estimate a fortune of the bridegroom and bride and the bride-side let the bridegroom know of a wedding date. That is a Youngil. Now a days they change a Nabcheh to Nabpheh.
3rd Step: Napp'ae (Exchanging Valuables)
After they finish the formality to send the Ewheejejang , the bridegroom-side sends an article essential to a marriage ceremony, a marriage letter and the Honsooharm for the bride before they have the wedding day. It is called a Nabpheh. The marriage letter is an important thing and the bride keeps this letter for her whole life as a mean of serving but a single husband. When the bride dies, they bury this marriage letter with her. If the bridegroom-side is not rich, they send just the marriage letter and a Chehdan. The Chehdan are a red and a blue silk for skirt. If the bridegroom is rich, they often send other dress materials. It is called the Bongcheh.
4th Step: Chinyoung
It is a formality that the bridegroom goes to marry to bride-house .
The Chinyoung is performed as order of the Junanlyh, Gyubealyh and the Habgeunlyh.The wedding ceremony is progressed by an officiator.
The Junanlyh
It is a formality that the bridegroom arrives at bride-house with a Gilucabi and gives a wild goose to the bride's mother. these days they use a wooden wild goose instead of a live wild goose. The wild goose keeps a preordained tie until they die so bridegroom gives the bride's mother a wild goose as a promise to grow old together.
The Gyubaelyh
When Junanlyh is finished, the bridegroom and bride face each other in the Choilyechung . That is their first meeting. After they finish the meeting, they bow to each other. They promise to grow old together in this Gyubealyh.
The Habgeunlyh
It is a formality that they fill two cups and two gourd dippers with wine and drink. It is called a Geunbealyh. Drinking the wine of the cup means that they enter into a relation as a husband and wife. Drinking the wine of the gourd dipper means a harmony of a husband and wife.

The Pehbeck
It is a formality that the bride sgreets the parents-in-law. It is her first time to meet her parents-in-law. According to the past wedding ceremony, the bride has the bridal night in the bridegroom house and gives a big bow to the parents-in-law early in the next morning. It is called a Hyungoolyh or Hyungoogolyh. The Pehbeck is that the bride prepares some foods for the parents-in-law when she salutes them.
The Pehbeck ceremony
Lay a mat on a main floor and set up Byunghoong which is a folding screen .
The bride's father-in-law sits to the east and the bride's mother-in-law sits to the west. Even though there are the bride's grandparents-in-law, the bride first bows to her parents-in-law ?and then bows the grandparents-in-law. After that, the bride bows the other family members. Today the bridegroom and bride give a big bow to the parents together but in the past wedding ceremony only the bride bowed and the bridegroom stood behind his parents.