Jean and Mike Paebaek.

This was my first time shooting a Paebaek, a Korean ceremony, where the couple will bow to the parents and honorees present and pour tea. It's very similar to the Chinese tea ceremony, but they have their own variation. It's so interesting how in Korean tradition, the marriage between a man and a woman represents the joining of two families, rather than the joining of two individuals. I've attended several of these, but didn't learn what everything symbolized until last Saturday. It's good to learn new things!

Mike is all ready and waiting on his beautiful bride. For preparation for weddings, the men usually only take five to ten minutes to put themselves together whereas the ladies have to have an entire morning. I guess that's pretty typical even day-to-day. lol

And the bowing begins.

After they bow and pour tea, the honorees impart some wisdom or advice to the couple.

This is the part where the honorees throw dates for girls and chestnuts for boys which the bride catches in her skirt. It is supposed to symbolizes how many kids they'll have and what gender. I wonder why there are always more chestnuts than dates. A daunting number. If these numbers are correct, it looks like they can expect over 20 kids. hehe

Mike needed to good stretch before having her on piggy back. Anyone know what carrying her around the room means?

Good choice, Mike, with the anti-glare feature on the glasses. You can't even tell there's anything in the frames! :)

Paebaek is serious business. No smiling.

A little more old school look. I really like it. Reminds me of my grandparents photos.

Busy week, but I need to do a lot of work before I head out to LA next Wednesday. I'm going to try my best to blog every weekday before LA. Jean and Mike's wedding ceremony pics are scheduled to be up tomorrow. :)