My wife and I got married in December 2022 in Switzerland. We celebrated at my grandparents house, in which my parents had organised a perfect family celebration with balloons, a big table for all the people I love to sit around and an amazing decoration made by my mum. My dad tried his best to translate his speach into japanese so that my wife would feel more at home.

 

Before we moved to japan, during my first vacation trip here to meet my wife's family, we decided to get married again but in a traditional japanese style, since her parents and family couldn't be there for the one in Switzerland. So you could say that my wife and I have been blessed twice.

 

This event was a the closest thing to what I imagined a traditional Japan to be like. We had a ceremony on top of a mountain in the heart of Kyotofu, in a temple lost in the forest called Motoise.

We went trough all the steps required for traditional wedding. The clothes, the purification process performed by the monks, the shared sake cups, the blessing from the shrine god and a dance performed by a traditional japanese dancer. This is the moment we exanged rings I made by myself, metling my parents wedding rings as a way to infuse them with their blessing during this event as well.

 

Now that I think about it, these two experiences show how two cultures came together through love and our family's efforts. Both were the extreme opposite of eachother yet similar at heart. The swiss wedding was celebrated while snow was covering Switzerland and the japanese wedding, during the typical japanese hot summer. We were shivering from the cold and sweating from the heat, but you know what they say ; Going through hardship together, makes the bond stronger.

 

As always pictures describe things better than words so here are the highlights ;

 

Japanese wedding :

The home made rings :

Bonus picture :