Hi all. I am British and my fiancée is half British, half Japanese. We are getting married this year in England in a very traditional country Manor, in a non religious ceremony.
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions please as to what Japanese elements we could potentially add to the wedding, and what would be seen as appropriate?
I have seen the following online:
– sake sharing
– bouquet presentation and Bride’s letter to the parents
– gifts for guests called hikidemono (sake cups, fans?)
I was also thinking of suggesting having some Japanese songs or readings during the ceremony but I don’t know any unfortunately. I don’t speak much Japanese but I have been practicing to do part of my groom’s speech in it.
Thanks in advance!
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/129ie9b/japanese_elements_to_add_to_a_british_wedding/
3 comments
Do what you like, really. It’s going to be odd. Maybe you should let your better half drive this bus? It’s her partial heritage after all.
If you want a more Japanese experience, ask your venue and caterer to charge you 50-75% extra by default and then add surprise surcharges if you want your guests to have a choice of coffee AND tea, sugar AND milk.
IMHO – do the British thing. It sounds nice and Japanese people will like it.
If you come to Japan, do a Japanese party in honor of your wedding.
Unless you are going to have heaps of Japanese people at your wedding, you should probably stick with the above. Shoe-horning some surface level Japanese stuff into your wedding is possibly awkward.
That’s just my opinion. I got married in Japan to a Japanese citizen. In the US we had a ceremony on the beach near where I grew up, and then a typical, but low-key reception with a jazz band. The only thing Japanese was my FIL’s speech which my wife translated into English and that part was brilliant.
Instead of a gift registry you should ask guests to give you “goshugi” aka “gift money”!
Traditional amounts are 30000yen for single attendees, 50000yen for couples and 100,000yen for closer family. Needs to be in crisp bills!