A Korean couple made headlines by selling tickets to their wedding ceremony, allowing complete strangers to attend their special day for a price. The unconventional event, marketed through a legitimate ticketing platform typically used for concerts and festivals, attracted approximately 500 paying guests who had never met the bride and groom.
In early September, a bright pink poster began circulating online advertising "Untitled: Weddings" through Nol Ticket, a platform better known for entertainment events. The poster read, "This is an ordinary wedding. But anyone who buys a ticket can come." The announcement quickly went viral, sparking widespread speculation about whether it was performance art, a club event with actors, or involved a DJ as the groom.
When the wedding day arrived in Seoul on Saturday, attendees discovered it was indeed a real ceremony between genuine newlyweds. The groom, Jo Kyu-kwon, who works at advertising agency Culture Infra and has organized large-scale pop-up events and music festivals for tens of thousands of people, conceived the idea out of frustration with Korean wedding traditions.
"I didn't like the customs. For example, gathering people just to hand out invitations. It feels like an empty show," Jo told reporters at the wedding. In Korea, couples traditionally host small group meals while distributing wedding invitations in person. "Some people may like that, but it's their choice. My choice was to do it this way."
Jo's philosophy centered on wedding essentials: "If you have two people and a celebration, that's a wedding. More than anything, he wanted people to have fun." He explained, "I think a wedding is basically a janchi (literally a feast in Korean). But at some point, it became all about how much we have to pay and whatnot. Why can't it just be fun?"
Tickets were priced at 50,000 won ($35), 100,000 won, or 150,000 won, following the traditional 50,000-won increments typically used for wedding gifts in Korea. The cheaper tickets sold out almost immediately, with organizers reporting that about 500 people ultimately purchased tickets.
While unusual in Seoul, the concept isn't entirely unprecedented elsewhere. Raquel Bour, a 32-year-old from Mexico who attended the event, noted she had seen similar celebrations in Los Angeles and other parts of California. "It's common with influencers and people like that," she said. "I didn't expect it in Korea." Bour attended because a friend happened to know the bride.
The wedding unfolded more like a festival or wedding after-party than a formal ceremony. A DJ kept the dance floor energized as guests ate, drank, and danced throughout the venue. Some attendees played board games while others relaxed on bean bags or gathered on the rooftop to watch Seoul's international fireworks show, which coincidentally occurred the same day. A fortune teller in one corner offered traditional saju readings to interested guests.
The most striking aspect was the unconventional attire. In Korea, wedding etiquette typically discourages flashy outfits, with most guests wearing conservative black clothing. However, this celebration encouraged creativity. Beforehand, ticket holders had debated online about appropriate attire for such an unconventional event. The poster jokingly stated there were no rules, except that singles hoping to mingle should wear colorful clothing.
Guests embraced the freedom with elaborate costumes including tiaras and white dresses, a frog costume, and even someone dressed as Jesus alongside another as a Buddhist monk. The two men in religious costumes discovered the event on Instagram and prepared their outfits together. "It felt like a fun opportunity. If I get married, I'd love to do something like this," said 26-year-old Kee Mu-sung, dressed as Jesus.
For many attendees, the event delivered exactly the kind of fun Jo had envisioned. Song Chae-woo, a woman in her 30s dressed as a frog, danced energetically and approached Jo for photos despite never having met him. "I got married not too long ago," she said after learning about the wedding through a news article. "If I had known a wedding like this was possible, I would have done it this way." Jo laughed when he saw her costume, telling her, "I knew it. I knew someone would show up in a costume like this."
However, not all guests were impressed with the execution. Choi, a woman in her 40s who moved to Seoul from California, expected the event to be more organized, particularly since it was listed as a concert on Nol Ticket. "I think if they had focused more on the wedding part and made it feel like, 'I'm getting married, come celebrate,' it would have worked better," she said. "Right now, it feels more like monetizing than celebrating. And the actual guests don't really want to mingle with strangers, so people are left wondering, 'Who am I supposed to talk to?'"
The event highlighted growing tensions between traditional Korean wedding customs and younger generations' desire for more personalized celebrations, while raising questions about the commercialization of intimate life events.
