Words & Photos by: Charles Yu Badua | c2photography.com
I was honored when asked to photograph Jalen’s 1st birthday in Bellevue at Maggiano’s. In Korean culture, the 1st birthday or Dohl is a very important event. Just look at the great job her parents did with everything!
Being half Korean, it was nice for me to experience some of the traditions and some of the food. They brought me back to some things I remember as a kid (food, clothing, language). When I was very young, I lived in Korea for a couple of years, but I don’t really remember much. It was nice to jog the memory a little bit.
One of the events I enjoyed watching at Jalen’s birthday was the Doljabee tradition. This tradition basically involves putting different objects in front of the baby to choose. In Jalen’s case it was a gavel, a stethescope, rice, microphone, pencils, and money. A gavel represents a Lawyer, stethescope (Doctor), rice (Abundant Life), pencils (Scholarly), microphone (Entertainer), and money (Wealthy). She first chose the stethescope and then money. Guests who entered the raffle and picked what object Jalen chose also got a chance to win prizes.
Jalen was pretty good with all the attention and didn’t cry too much. It must be pretty intimidating to have 50+ people vying for your attention! Thank you Susan for having me as your photographer and also for the yummy rice cakes and red velvet cupcakes! Also congratulations to you and your family.
Thank you for featuring our Jalen's Dohl party! It was a special and memorable event for everyone. We really appreciate Charles and his photography talent to capture this important milestone!
Posted by: Susan | 02/20/2012 at 11:08 PM