First post?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Mark-san, how did you do that?? よい週末を！

Peterちゃん、

You went to ramen for your wedding dinner? What a romantic you are. Actually, although I had a wedding ceremony and reception, we took care of the city hall business a few days before. And, funnily enough, we had ramen after.

Oh, btw, Protestants don’t have “mass”, nor do they have priests. In fact, these are major divides between the two. Good thing this is Japanese Culture Class and not Western Cuture Class.

Hmm, interesting….

Do they have the drive through weddings in Japan yet?

In Florida, you drive your car up to a window on the side of a chapel (with bride and groom in the car of course), sign some papers, and then you’re married without even having to leave your car!

I think you can order a big mac while you’re at it too!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!

My step-Dad is originally from London is part Scottish, and his brother-in-law is 1/4 Scottish. So when he and my Mom got married, he and his brother wore full Scottish wedding regalia. Kilts and all. Imagine this if you will. Two men dressed to the T in fancy Scottish garb, with kilts, in the middle of a tiny Baptist church in rural Louisiana. It was quite an experience.

But the best part was on the way home from the reception, my Mom was thirsty and made my step-Dad get out at a local convenience store to get her something. Still in kilt and all. I wasn’t there, but I hear he drew quite a bit of attention from the locals.

The following site has some nice pictures of a shinto wedding. I do like the traditional bride’s headdress. Shinto Wedding.

Daniel-san, ramen is the standard. This is what I came up with:
The Protestant wedding differs from that of other religions in that it is a worship service through which the will of God is served and the Lordship of Jesus is proclaimed. The wedding guests are participants in the service by sharing in hymns, scriptural readings and responses to the couple’s exchange of vows.
Sometimes the couple shares in communion during their wedding.

Please post more about the differences, as it’s quite interesting.

スティーブン2112-san, they have some nice Denny’s over here.

Mique-san, thank you for sharing! You’re English is very good! Wow, a Shinto style wedding! Very interesting. Did you see the pictures that Alan-san provided? Could you comment on them if possible. Thank you! Again, great to have you join the community!

Brody-san, you are too funny! Are you the same Brody from the video? And, do they have a divorce menu too?
http://www.vowsweddingchapel.com/

Jason-san, great story. Were you a “true Scotsman?” I went to a friend’s wedding in Scotland, and I was able to were a kilt. I got the Braveheart tartan.

Don’t know about the Drive thru wedding, but the train station weddings sound very convenient!

Alan-san, thanks for the great link! Really nice pictures.

Katie-san, watching a wedding online!!! Wow, now that is interesting. Do you have a link?

Daniel -san

I married with a Catholic ceremony to a non Catholic. There have been some changes after Vatican II (I am old enough to remember before VatII - ouch!) but basically the couple exchange vows in front of a priest in church. They nominate up to two people from each side attending as official witnesses, although the congregation also acts as witnesses in general.

You do not HAVE to have mass, as the wedding ceremony can stand on its own, althought it is considered more serious if you do (and, of course, most believers will have mass and communion as this is the key part of it). I don’t know about the UK but in Italy the priest also does the civil record after the ceremony- I think in France you have to go to the registry office separately.

As you would expect Italian weddings end up in a very good restaurant for a mny course meal…..

About 地味婚　(じみこん), registry office weddings are now quite common in Italy and UK (especially for marriages between people who have been married before) but in the UK they are not necessarily simple. In fact loads of people delay they wedding because they want to splash out on a big cerimony - as a result fewer people get married!

A note for non-Westernes. ‘Protestant is a term that can be applied to several confessions and these may well have very different usages, beliefs and interpretations- so always ask for details before making assumptions.

Jason-san,

my husband, although only by descent, is part of the Dunbar clan and his tartan can be seen at the following link:

http://www.scotclans.com/clans/Dunbar/tartan.html

(No, he did not wear a kilt on our wedding!)

Does your family have a tartan?

mikuji

Peter-san, I don’t know how that happened.

Brody-san, I haven’t heard of that in Florida although I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me. Seems like anything unusual that could potentially happen in Florida has already occurred.

Interesting to hear all the different wedding styles as well as the differences amongst religions. The Christian weddings that I have attended typically have some scriptural readings as well as communion which includes the congregation.

On a completely unrelated note, good luck to Japan in the Little League World Championship game later today.

By coincidence, today I was helping a friend and classmate prepare a presentation for Japanese class about his brother’s wedding in Japan this June. Andrew-san has kindly alllowed me to post the photos on the web for you guys to see.
Later I hope to have some video snippets I’m preparing for him. Maybe if you’re good I can put his 日本語　presentation up as well after he does it next month.

I quickly put this together. I’m amazed that the bride changed costume 3 times. White western style dress. tradition dress (back into white dress again) then a pink “bo-peep” style dress.
http://www.shiawase.co.uk/jpod/wedding/

If ever I do this I think I want to opt for the Ramen Reception.

I assume that the western style ceremonies have no religuos significance and are more about having a theme wedding. I wonder if the rings are a western introduction or was it always common in Japan? (I think the wedding ring was originally Roman)

On western culture class. In my parents day it was neccessary to fast from midnight before recieving communion (catholic church). Therefore wedding ceremonies were held quite early and the reception was a wedding breakfast.

We just did the city hall thing as well. We planned it in two weeks for Halloween and only wanted two people to come just to sign the papers but…our who family showed up anyway (about 20 people). We where all crammed into the judges office while she read a beautiful speech about love a commitment.

We are planning on doing a ring exchange ceremony someday when we have the money.

Belton-san, thanks for sharing! ありがとうございました！And the ramen reception is where it is at!

Mique-san, thanks for the information! Don’t be surprised if it shows up in part 3 of the series.

Ali17-san, that’s great everyone showed up! And regarding the ceremony, I know the feeling! Still planning mine. At this rate, we’re going to have 25th anniversary/1st vow and ring exchange. (Hope wifey doesn’t find this comment. )

Nate-san! 久しぶりです！Long time! How have you been?

Hi minna-san,

I have read somewhere that the hat the bride wears at a Shinto wedding is for her to hide her “horns”. As if a bride were some kind of an oni before she unites with a man, or something like that.

Can someone give any more information on this?

Thanks a lot,
M.