Celebrity-Style Wedding at Shilla Hotel

So recently Nara and I were able to attend another wedding here in Korea that we thought was worth sharing with everyone on the blog~  the wedding of Nara’s old classmate Minah and her new husband Seunghun at the extremely high class Shilla Hotel in Seoul!

Jang Dong Gun X Go So Young  |Kwon Sang-woo X Son Tae-young |Kim Hyo Jin X Yoo Ji Tae |Jun Ji-hyun X Choi Jun-hyuk

I wanted to feature it here,  One- because it was a gorgeous wedding and the bride and groom are stunning~ and Two – because Shilla Hotel is pretty much THE place to get married in Korea if you are somebody, be it an actor, singer, etc.  When I checked online I saw that plenty of blogs mention celebrity weddings at this space, but no foreigners actually blog about attending a Shilla Wedding since not everyone can afford such a place~ so here I am to show you a closer look at one of the most prestigious wedding locations in all of South Korea ♥

Wedding hall at Intercontinental Hotel

To start, most of the “high class” weddings in Korea take place at Hotels~ I still need to do a general wedding post since it is a bit different here overall, but people usually get married in a wedding hall or hotel wedding hall which vary in price a lot.  Early this year I visited Intercontinental Hotel  for a Korean Hotel Wedding Hall Wedding~  you can read about that experience HERE since it is a bit more typical!

Minah’s Wedding was quite a bit fancier and more Western-style vs the norm here~ so keep that in mind! ^^

The Shilla is a famous 5 star hotel in Korea, perhaps you can say it is like Korea’s Ritz-Carlton~ if you hear something going on involving “Shilla” here you know it will be something fancy.  I have yet to stay in the hotel myself as a guest, but it looks quite luxurious and beautiful so maybe a reader can comment on that.

Shilla has 2 locations in Korea, Seoul and Jeju which are both extremely notable to get married at.  The Seoul hotel has just a few Wedding spots/halls to pick from, and Minah’s wedding was held in the garden with a beautiful traditional Korean building behind it~ it is easy to see why this is such a desirable and expensive location to get married, the juxtaposition of  old and new motif was beautifully balanced at this location.

We got first dibs on a seat, hah!  Just like western weddings, most Korean weddings have the areas labeled with designated tables for family, friends, and general open seating for everyone else and obligation invites.  Bride’s guests sit on one side of the aisle and groom’s can sit on the other. 

The Shilla Hotel has 6 areas that are able to accommodate Wedding receptions~

Dynasty Hall 

Ruby Hall

Topaz Hall

Emerald Hall

Memories Hill (outdoors)

The Garden Reception (Outdoors)

Minah had the Garden Reception! Nicest one IMO! ♥ ^^

We arrived early because Nara was asked to snap a few photos since event photography is his hobby, so most of the extra beautiful ones in this feature are with his fancy pants camera!

We found Minah setting up in her viewing room, which is a common occurrence here in Korea~ basically it is a side room that guests can come in and visit to take photographs with the bride before the ceremony. Sometimes the groom is there as well. In Korea they do not have the superstition about seeing the bride before the wedding! In fact, they have entire photo shoot sessions in the wedding gowns before the wedding.

 So pretty!!

Since we had some time before more guests arrived we stopped by another area they had set up for the bar and after-party to grab a drink They are still setting up in the photo above though ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Wedding entrance though the beautiful traditional building Oh hey it is Nara snapping pics!

Nara brought back an extra pretty drink for me!  Good job hun!

The lower area  by the main entrance was filled with adorable photo collages of the happy couple and really adorable old family photos!

~ They had a shot with the “Lovely Day” signs from when Nara and I got engaged. They snapped during the proposal event rehearsal ! ! The video and related post is HERE if you have not checked it out before, it is really sweet if I do say so myself! :P heh heh can you see them in the background of the video when the cafe all stands up to wave signs?

cute garden decorations ♥

Awesome fisheye shot of the tables!

 

Some beautiful family photos Nara snapped ♥

The bridesmaids line up for photos!

A few last minute details before the wedding starts!

Although bridesmaids and groomsmen are not very typical here, this wedding had a bit more western touches vs most Korean weddings~ Don’t they look great? ^^ I love the contrast of the fun purple with the tan!

Also got to hang out with beautiful Minsun~ Minah’s older sister! She looks so amazing in Hanbok, doesn’t she?

I LOVE how she did her hair with this!  She tied the bun with a cute bright red ribbon Hanbok-style and finished it with a pretty Korean butterfly pin! Totally going to copy this next time I have a reason to wear my Hanbok ^^

All done!!  Some people got up to throw flower petals at the new bride and groom as they walked back down the isle to wardrobe change into Hanbok for the dinner!

After the ceremony they had some beautiful live performances ♥

Since this was at the Shilla Hotel it was a given that the food would be extra yummy!  The presentation was quite beautiful for each dish as well~

Time for the cake cutting!  Just like at the other Korean wedding I attended, the cake cutting was only a quick ceremonial thing that they did during the dinner manly for photos.  This is a bit different vs the weddings I have been to in America where we usually cut the cake at the end of the dinner, the Bride and Groom feed each other a piece (or smash in the face seems to be a popular 2nd choice)  and then everyone actually eats it for dessert! The cake was a real cake, but just for show so it was not handed out to be eaten.

At Minah’s Wedding we got to see the adorable and touching gift her Sister had made for her! Minsun collects playmobil and other miniatures, so for her gift she made this photograph inspired by when they were young and shared a bedroom and a single vanity together because it was a treasured memory for her. HOW SWEET IS THAT? T_T

One thing I love about any celebration or wedding here is the fact that all flowers are up for grabs.  As soon as the Wedding is over everyone proceeds to pick the place clean of as many flowers as possible! They actually encourage people to take them because any that get left behind will go in the bin. I love having fresh flowers in my house, so I am always happy to partake!

FREE FLOWERS GET! Can you see the lust for free stuff on my face? I am becoming an Ajumma~

Time for the afterparty!  They had another beautiful area set up behind the traditional Korean building with a DJ, Bar, and more food!  Typically in Korea after the ceremony the bride and groom take a few more pictures, then are swept away to their honeymoon.  After-parties + dancing are not common here in Korea, but occasionally extra nice weddings may have them or rent out a club for all the young friends to celebrate.

♥ LOVE ♥

Oh look~ Wedding glow sticks and Nara used the heart boceh ! DOUBLE AWESOME.

and finally~  our free gift to take home was this lovely box of chocolates!  They were really good, haha I ate them in one night *_*

What a beautiful wedding, huh??? It had so many lovely planned details and everything seemed to go perfectly, we had such a wonderful time!  Thanks again to the happy couple for letting us be a part of their special day and allowing me to post photos online to share with everyone what a Shilla Hotel Wedding looks like!  Nara and I wish them all the happiness in the world and hope our own wedding (whenever we sit still long enough to do it lol) will be even half as beautiful! ♥

Have you been to a Korean Wedding before?  What was it like for you?  Have you ever been to Shilla Hotel for a wedding before or know of any celebrities that have been married here? Share in the comments below!  

 

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