I don’t know much Japanese’s and I was wondering if it was possible to have a wedding in Japan and reserve a wedding venue. Without knowing a lot of Japanese. Or does it just depend on if the venue has a English translator? I would google translate but I know that it can probably be miscommunications.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/17mkzq8/westernstyle_wedding_in_japan/
5 comments
Inbound weddings are becoming more common and most larger venues can handle an English inquiry. A little mountain village venue, maybe not so much. I did a wedding recently for a couple that spoke not a lick of Japanese. Their families and many friends flew in for it, and they didn’t speak Japanese either. Don’t be shy about asking for changes in the wedding program to suit your desires. Most of them can be accommodated.
Tbh I would recommend against having a wedding in japan. Me and the wife did it (she’s japanese), and it’s been a headache after a headache having to deal with the time difference, often times waking up in the middle of the night to talk to planners and other staff .
And while some place may have a translator stuff, WILL get lost in translation. Do what me and the wife were going to do before her mother got involved and hijacked everything for a traditional wedding and just have a little ceremony somewhere, then go rent a restaurant or something in tokyo. It will save you stress and headaches
I would start with major western hotel chains like Hilton and Marriott that have locations in Japan. Many of those hotels have english websites.
To be legally married in Japan you just register as a married couple at your local city or ward office, which you can’t do if you aren’t a resident. Wedding ceremonies in Japan are literally just ceremonial.
We had a Shinto wedding in Japan. But the company also did western weddings. We had a western wedding overseas so wanted to keep it simple and small. So thought the package would be easy as it included everything. Such as wedding planner, photographer, makeup hire, kimono hire, etc. you had to add on the venue fee. And you could add on reception for various guest sizes.
BUT get ready for a lot of paper work. Japan loves making sure everyone is on the same page. You can’t just sign a contract. They sit down with you and go through every single point on the contract and make sure you understand it and sometimes initial it. (I also got a phone contract once and they did the same it took over an hour to sign a phone contract.) It was of course all in Japanese. They would stop for a moment so my wife could translate the contract for me at each step. (Ie, they wouldn’t let me just sign it without understanding it). So unless they specialise in English speaking. It would be extremely difficult without a translator. .