Kekkon Shiki
Leaving the chapel. The bride and groom then changed into formal kimonos for the reception.
Yesterday I had the honor of attending my friends
Kamei and Waka's wedding. Almost a year to the day after Erik and Kim's wedding
(Happy 1st Anniversary Erik and Kim!!), I got to witness the Japanese version,
or at least the Japanese version of a Western
wedding.
Like in the US, there are many options when it comes to weddings. There are traditional weddings at shrines, completely western-style weddings, and various shades of the two mixed together. Kamei and Waka had their wedding at the Royal Hotel in Kushimoto, about 30 minutes from our town, where it seems like about 75% of local weddings take place. The hotel is up on a hill overlooking the ocean, and the hotel staff is very good about taking care of just about everything. The ceremony was held in a small chapel on the hotel grounds. There was a minister, vows, rings, and an electric pipe organ programmed to play all the right songs. The only real difference was that all of the women present, except the bride, were wearing kimonos, and there was women from the hotel staff in a plain kimono (in picture behind bride) who kept constant watch on the bride, fixing her hair and keeping her dress perfect.
Unlike most weddings in the US it is very common for the bride to wear 3 or 4 different dresses throughout the event. After the ceremony, Kamei and Waka both changed into formal kimonos for the reception. Waka would then change into a third dress about an hour later. The reception was quite different from any wedding reception I had previously been to (worlds away from the pool-side bungalow party last summer). There was assigned seating in the large reception room and the whole thing was extremely planned and run by a female MC who announced everything, including when to clap. The reception lasted for about 3 hours, during which we ate, drank a bit, listened to people give speeches and sing karaoke, watched a video, and took pictures with Kamei and Waka when they came by our table. They had asked me to sing something at the reception, a ballad or love song, so I sang "Georgia on My Mind" with karaoke accompaniment in front of the crowd of maybe 100 of their friends and family. I would have been more nervous if I had known that I would followed by a friend of Waka's who is a professional singer in Tokyo who sings broadway type stuff in Japanese. In typical Japanese style, the party ended abruptly, and everyone filed out of the room, giving their last congratulations to the couple and their family on the way out. There is often a second reception, at a different location, less formal and with more friends of the bride and groom (the groom cannot invite female friends to the wedding and vice-versa), but Kamei and Waka decided to wait and have that party next month sometime.
Still working on the highlights album. I'll try my best to get it up this week, but I have a busy one coming up with lots of rehersal and preparations for Jeremy's sayonara party in Taiji. Jeremy and Sunny will be leaving Japan in a little over a month and we a having a final concert in Taiji next weekend.
Like in the US, there are many options when it comes to weddings. There are traditional weddings at shrines, completely western-style weddings, and various shades of the two mixed together. Kamei and Waka had their wedding at the Royal Hotel in Kushimoto, about 30 minutes from our town, where it seems like about 75% of local weddings take place. The hotel is up on a hill overlooking the ocean, and the hotel staff is very good about taking care of just about everything. The ceremony was held in a small chapel on the hotel grounds. There was a minister, vows, rings, and an electric pipe organ programmed to play all the right songs. The only real difference was that all of the women present, except the bride, were wearing kimonos, and there was women from the hotel staff in a plain kimono (in picture behind bride) who kept constant watch on the bride, fixing her hair and keeping her dress perfect.
Unlike most weddings in the US it is very common for the bride to wear 3 or 4 different dresses throughout the event. After the ceremony, Kamei and Waka both changed into formal kimonos for the reception. Waka would then change into a third dress about an hour later. The reception was quite different from any wedding reception I had previously been to (worlds away from the pool-side bungalow party last summer). There was assigned seating in the large reception room and the whole thing was extremely planned and run by a female MC who announced everything, including when to clap. The reception lasted for about 3 hours, during which we ate, drank a bit, listened to people give speeches and sing karaoke, watched a video, and took pictures with Kamei and Waka when they came by our table. They had asked me to sing something at the reception, a ballad or love song, so I sang "Georgia on My Mind" with karaoke accompaniment in front of the crowd of maybe 100 of their friends and family. I would have been more nervous if I had known that I would followed by a friend of Waka's who is a professional singer in Tokyo who sings broadway type stuff in Japanese. In typical Japanese style, the party ended abruptly, and everyone filed out of the room, giving their last congratulations to the couple and their family on the way out. There is often a second reception, at a different location, less formal and with more friends of the bride and groom (the groom cannot invite female friends to the wedding and vice-versa), but Kamei and Waka decided to wait and have that party next month sometime.
Still working on the highlights album. I'll try my best to get it up this week, but I have a busy one coming up with lots of rehersal and preparations for Jeremy's sayonara party in Taiji. Jeremy and Sunny will be leaving Japan in a little over a month and we a having a final concert in Taiji next weekend.
Posted: Sun - June 26, 2005 at 09:53 AM
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Published On: Jun 26, 2005 09:53 AM
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Published On: Jun 26, 2005 09:53 AM