By Honorary Reporter Alexia Hurtado from Mexico

Photos = Alexia Hurtado

I recently attended the multicultural wedding of a Korean woman and Mexican man in Mexico. The bride is my friend and invited me to this event.

The wedding was held on Feb. 25 at a small traditional house in Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan, featuring a ceremony and celebration mixing the traditions and practices of both Korea and Mexico.

The bride and groom's parents both wear the traditional Korean costumes Hanbok.

The wedding began at 2 p.m. and the families and friends of the bride and groom gathered around. The bride's family traveled all the way from Korea for the event and the groom's came from the U.S. and Mexico. Close relatives and parents of the couple wore Hanbok brought from Korea featuring a color combination of pink, white, blue, gray and gold. 

The ceremony was conducted by three priests who gave Mass in English, the common language between the couple and the attendees. During Mass, Korean and Spanish ​​were also used on occasion to thank the dedication of the parents toward the newlyweds or wish the couple a happy marriage. The groom's parents gave blessings in Spanish and the bride's in Korean. The Christian-style wedding also featured several traditions usually held after a Mexican wedding.

Dishes from both countries are served at the wedding.

The celebration after the wedding combined the colors, flavors, activities and games of the two countries. Tables had tacos from Mexico and desserts from Korea along with japchae (stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables), Korean curry croquettes, bulgogi (marinated grilled beef) and a do-it-yourself corner for bibimbap (rice mixed with vegetables, beef and red pepper paste).

The activities included the classic game of who knows the bride and groom better and bingo featuring the names of the event's guests.

The wedding attendees gather to play the Korean drinking game mandu (dumpling).

While sipping the distilled or diluted Korean alcoholic drink soju, we learned to play popular Korean drinking games. The first was the bottlecap game using caps from a bottle of soju. Players take the long end of the cap and twist it to form a rod. Everyone takes turns flicking it, and the one who flicks it off usually has to drink a shot, though a variation allows him or her to make everyone else do so.

The second game was named after mandu, which means "dumpling" in Korean. After chanting the game's title, the tagger shouts a number in multiples of five while others choose whether to open their fingers. The person who says the number matching that of fingers wins, and everyone else must down a drink. A variation is to have the winner exit the game one by one and have the last one remaining drink.

Another activity popular in both countries is karaoke, and this wedding was no exception. Everyone joined in singing or humming songs in Korean, English or Spanish like "Nobody" by the K-pop girl group Wonder Girls and "Payaso de Rodeo," a highly popular dance song in Mexico. The attendees also joined the bride and groom on the dance floor.

This was definitely a beautiful multicultural wedding to remember.

kalhong617@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.