Dreams of a romantic, nostalgic marriage ceremony came true for Edward and Lynn when they celebrated their wedding in a traditional Hanok House in Seoul. Filled with the tranquil beauty of nature and surrounded by family, and friends from both Korea and abroad, it was nothing but an enchanting event. We invite you to share Edward & Lynn’s magical moment through this blog post about their Hanok house wedding!
Lynn and Edward’s story is a tale of love that stretches across continents and cultures. Born in Sydney to Korean parents, his upbringing was a fusion of traditions from different worlds. When it came time to celebrate their union, Edward and Lynn (who hailed from Thailand and Indonesia), knew that their wedding had to honor their diverse backgrounds and embrace their loved ones from all corners of the globe.
Originally, the couple dreamt of a destination wedding in Tokyo, the city where their love story began. However, fate had other plans. Both sets of parents expressed their desire to celebrate in their respective countries. And so, what started as a single vision transformed into two extraordinary weddings, each an enchanting blend of ancient customs and modern flair.
In the end, Edward and Lynn’s love not only traversed borders but also wove together a tapestry of rich cultural experiences. Two weddings, united by love, grace, and the beauty of heritage. A testament to the power of love and the joy that comes from embracing the traditions that shape us.
THE VENUE: Dugahun Hanok House Wedding Venue in Seoul
We were both set on NOT having to walk down the aisle with spotlights in a hotel or typical Korean wedding hall setting as we didn’t find that intimate enough. So Lynn scoured the Internet (specifically Instagram) to find a few Hanok restaurants as potential venues. As soon as she found Dugahun, she fell in love with the venue and decor they had for weddings. The fact that they serve Modern Italian cuisine sealed the deal as Lynn’s dad isn’t a big fan of Kimchi….hahaha.
THE VIBE
Colourful and bright colours that represent Korean traditional weddings were our theme. We wanted a big contrast to our Thai wedding which had a clean white/silver theme to it. This was a big task as most Korean weddings also seem to have very pastel and harmonious colours these days when it comes to flower decor. Either way, the Fleur au Coin decor team was amazing. We had 1 meeting with the flower design team to tell us what we wanted and they delivered! What they had prepped for us on the day was all we wanted and more. Very unique and lovely bright colours 🙂
TAKE ON TRADITION
We actually originally wanted a full traditional wedding but the team said this was difficult to pull off with the amount of space that the hanok house venue has and weather dependencies so we decided to incorporate as much as possible into the ceremony without having additional vendors like the sumonim who have to help us do the big bows, folk music and dancers etc. We eventually settled on a modern version of a lot of the Korean traditions like the mothers opening the ceremony, the groom delivering the wooden ducks to the bride’s mother, exchange of tea/alcohol to symbolise 2 souls coming together…and we did the vows and ring exchange all in Hanbok! We also said the pyebaek is a must and involved the bride’s side of the family as well so that we could share this lovely tradition with our guests from overseas.
FAVE DETAILS
The venue itself was perfect! We loved how small and intimate it is and with all the flower decor, it was truly a wonderful little place. Pyebaek was also a lot of fun, especially with our overseas guests. We opted for a live jazz trio which was awesome – in hindsight this was definitely a better choice than going full traditional. Last but not least, our guests LOVED the food! High ratings for the abalone pesto dish which is a great example of how they take Korean ingredients and cook them Italian style. Thank you Dugahun!
THE DRESS
Our Hanboks were from a shop called Bangaui – we custom-made Lynn’s hanbok as we wanted something super bright (again, in contrast to what we wore at our Thai wedding). The shop wasn’t convinced at first as most wedding hanboks are pastel…but Edward and his parents went in person to design everything from the details on the jacket to the layers of the skirt. It was a wonderful experience for us all! Edward’s rented hanbok was in a colour that matched and complemented Lynn’s! Our after-party outfit was something we had both prepared ourselves. Lynn ordered the bridal jumpsuit from Rime Arodaky online…it was a dream come true as it didn’t need any alterations. She first saw this in 2017 and pinned it…fast forward 5 years, no other bridal jumpsuit has caught her attention so she decided to go for it.
In fact, we all loved this outfit so much that we flew down to see Lorryn in Jeju for some post-wedding fun shoot!!
THE SUIT
The tuxedo was made by Edward’s good friend and tailor Gennaro Annunziata. Edward opted for a shawl lapel to match the fun evening feel of Lynn’s jumpsuit. It was a in a clean and sharp kid mohair in a midnight blue so that I would look out together and elegant, but detract no attention from the beautiful bride. Edward also wore traditional tuxedo shoes, which many people in Asia have never seen. They work well with the hanbok as well as being the most formal shoes a man can wear. The same tuxedo also made it to Jeju for some very dramatic shoots in the forest!!
WE’RE GLAD WE…
Hired Lorryn!! We had done a pre-wedding before so we trusted that she knew how to capture us from all angles. We were having a lot of fun on the day without any worry that the photos will come out amazing. We’re also really really happy with the Dugahun team (even though the planning stage got stressful at times) because they were truly all in and super efficient on the day helping us run the whole wedding program. Another shoutout to our bilingual Wedding Planner Sarah (who Lorryn recommends) and also bilingual wedding MC Jay – without these 2, the day would have been a lot more chaotic! Thank you for helping all our overseas guests feel settled in and follow along with all the Korean Traditional ceremonies!
A WORD OF ADVICE…
Planning an overseas wedding is never easy…take the time to find vendors who are willing to help you out! If speaking Korean is a challenge, definitely find a bilingual planner who has the experience and can help you. And on the day, enjoy it all. It truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
LITTLE LOL
Doing pyebaek with my side of the family was a lot of LOL. They all had a lot of fun (especially when they expected a “tea ceremony” but were served alcohol haha) and when each of the couples had to give us words of wisdom after feeding each other snacks, everyone was laughing so hard it was super fun and memorable for us all! Also, the hanbok set came with their own shoes which both Ed and I looked at for one second and said no to. We ended up wearing our own footwear that made us feel the most comfortable
