Japanese Wedding Bells

Taken from the ferry, on our way to Hokkaido.

I love weddings. Even though they cost a lot, I just love them because they give me the opportunity to dress up and that's one of my pleasures in life. I know it sounds selfish but saying that I love wedding because of the beauty of two people swearing eternal love to each other would just be a lie; I like dressing up. So I was very excited two weeks ago when I not only had one, but two weddings in the same weekend! (My bank account was wailing.)

I like to pose...

I won't talk about both weddings today because the post would be really long. Today, I'll just cover the one in Hokkaido.

Enter the newlyweds...

Up until two weeks ago, I had never been to a Japanese wedding. The only thing I knew about them was they they were expensive. Oh! And boring. Very, very boring. If I had a dollar for each time I was told they are boring, I would be... well not rich, but I would have enough money to go eat out! However, since I believed I was going to be utterly bored, the wedding turned out to be quite enjoyable; my low expectations saved me from disappointment.

A toast

We didn't get to go to the actual ceremony (we hadn't been invited) but the reception was really nice. Now I won't go through the whole thing because I don't want you guys to fall asleep on your keyboard and die from electrocution because of the drool that fell in between the keys; I will only cover the stuff I thought was interesting/strange/unexpected.

1. The Groom and the Bride don't get to eat.

As a general rule, Japanese people like to have a schedule. They like to know what takes place when and how. It is the same thing for wedding receptions. There were so many different events keeping the groom and bride busy that they never even got around to eat. I don't think they even got to sit more than 5 minutes at a time. Nothing, absolutely, nothing was left to chance. We, the guest, were entertained on a tight schedule, even while we ate. I personally think it is sad that the newlyweds don't get the time to sit down, relax and enjoy their meal. Worse, they don't even have time to chat with their guests!

2. Wedding Stalkers

Since the newlyweds are on such a tight schedule, they are always followed by what I like to call the Wedding Stalkers. These people (usually one for the groom and one for the bride) follow the couple around all evening, telling them when to bow, what to say and all sorts of random cues. They even kneel behind them when they're sitting. There really is no space for spontaneity.

3. The parents of the newlywed have to work.

Usually, in Japanese wedding receptions, the parents of the couple gets to sit in the far back of the room while people from work sit the closest to the newlywed. I personally think this is preposterous but that's the way it works here. Luckily, at this wedding, they were sitting at the front. Once everyone started eating, the parents of both the groom and the bride got up and went around the reception hall pouring beer to every. single. guest. That just blew my mind. I surely wouldn't want my dad to have to go around and serve beer to 200 people. While pouring the beer, the parents would thank the guests for coming to the wedding. Personally, I prefer thank you cards.

4. Paper cake.

Cutting the cake together is something newlyweds also do in Canada. It's a cute custom and there is always a lot of cake to face "accidents." The cake for this wedding was HUGE. I was amazed that the whole thing did not topple over until my friend told me it was actually made of paper. In fact, they only insert whipped cream at the base so that when the couple "cuts" the cake something sticks on the knife. How sad is that?! I was looking forward to eating that delicious looking cake! Apparently, the cutting the cake tradition made it here but the eating part got lost on the way!

You can't have your cake and eat it.

5.Candle lighting ceremony.

I thought this was really romantic. After we were mostly done eating, the lights were turned off and the bride and groom walked around the hall, lighting the candles on each tables. Then, they would ask everyone to stand with them for a picture. It was really cute to see them come and go and really funny to watch one of our friends go to each table to be in each picture. My guess is that the tradition comes from the actual Christian wedding ceremony during which the couple light up candles at the church.

6. Wedding favors

In Canada, I have never been to a wedding where the guests got to bring bags of goodies home. I don't know if it's not part of our customs of if I was just never lucky. The bags we got were really nice; we got cake, sausages and bacon! This was all really new and exciting to me. I love receiving gifts!

7. Underwear Men Dance

Since the groom is a snowboard addict (he's really good and has been in many competitions, according to Mr. kanmuri,) many of his snowboarder friends were present at the reception. And since their snowboarding group likes having a good time, we had the chance to see their trademark dance; the underwear dance. This was the highlight of the whole reception and I now strongly believe that no wedding reception is complete without guys dancing in their underwear! I'm sure the parents and older folks were appalled but I surely did enjoy the show!

My heroes

They were amazing!

All in all, it was a nice wedding reception and I really enjoyed myself. I still think, however, that I have yet to see a real Japanese wedding.

Mr.kanmuri and I are totally dwarfing them.