Our Photo Shoot

One of my "must do's" before we left Korea was to have pictures taken in my hanbok--the traditional Korean dress my sweet mother-in-law had made for me when Mike and I were married.  Wedding photography here is a BIG DEAL--Korean couples often spend upwards of 8-10 hours, and multiple millions of won (thousands of dollars), for a pre-wedding photo shoot that involves a lot of costume changes (brides often rent several wedding dresses for the event, and the grooms of course must always match), etc.  In short, just what my handsome and long-suffering husband would NOT want to do on his day off.  So when I asked one of my Korean friends for help finding a photographer, I asked for the mini version--an hour or so, just two outfits, no need for crazy backgrounds or rented clothing or professional hair/makeup.  And is there something for under $500?

I kind of expected her to just help me with the search terms on Naver--Korea's Google--but she truly went above and beyond.  She called around and determined the average starting price for a wedding package was around $700 U.S.; she then started looking for deals.  She ended up finding an "event sale" that offered a 90 minute shoot for $75!!!  She made all the arrangements for us, even calling to schedule the shoot after she called me to see which day was best.  So sweet of her!

So off we went last Saturday to keep our appointment.  First up was the trusty green dress, that's gotten me through two Battalion Balls here.  Handsome Husband wore the suit he had made in Dongdaemun.

Every scene was orchestrated by the photographer.  "Bride!  Tilt your head like this!"  "Groom, sit up straight!"  "Fold your hands like this!"  "Look at each other!!"  "No, at EACH OTHER!  How do you say that in English?"

  

We followed his instructions, even when it resulted in some pretty cheesy scenes.  Since we were only allowed to pick our favorite ten shots, I didn't feel one bit bad about not keeping the ones where I was leaning against my handsome husband reading a book, or he was holding a suitcase and I had him by the tie...

Had to keep this one, though--it was too funny.  The shot was taken through a "window"; the writing on the outside read "When I walk on the street with my happy coffee, I feel so good and magical coffee."

  

I will admit, I wasn't too excited about the TVs.  When my friend saw this one, however, she remarked, "Oh, it's old-style Korean televisions!  Cute!!"

Mission accomplished!