Wrap · Weddings & rites
Wedding food gift wrap
Bojagi wrapping for the trays of wedding food one family sends the other, in odd numbers.
- For
- Ibaji: food sent between families around the wedding (customs differ by region)
- Wraps
- Food trays
- Cloth
- laid as a diamond
- Closed with
- Bow tie
- Level
- Easy
Family account (남서울교회 online board): 21 pink-bojagi trays sent for a daughter's wedding; odd numbers required. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture notes regional differences: Jeju calls the goods sent to the bride's house 이바지; Gyeongsang families exchange food the day before or on the day.
Double-layer cloth made at a hanbok shop
- 1Pack each food in its tray and film-wrap it.
- 2Wrap each tray in pink hanji and tie with a ribbon; add a flower.
- 3Wrap each tray again in a double-layer bojagi.
- 4Send an odd number of items.
History & tradition
Korean wedding custom; varies by region
이바지 comes from an old word for feasting. After a wedding the families once sent each other a laden table (상수); now the bride's mother sends prepared food such as dried meat, side dishes, rice cakes and sweets, partly to spare the new bride cooking. Practice varies: in Jeju the word means goods sent to the bride's house, while Gyeongsang families exchange food on or before the day. Trays go wrapped in bojagi, in odd numbers.
Still widely sent around weddings, with the trays wrapped in bojagi.
The odd-number and pink-cloth details come from one family's 2014 account.
Researched with medium confidence.