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As someone from the UK, I usually associate wedding receptions with open bars and a bunch of drunk uncles writhing around to Gangnam Style on the dance floor. So when I got invited to my first Japanese wedding, I dug out my dancing shoes and prepared my liver, but in reality most Japanese weddings are much tamer than what I’d expected. For a start, not a single wedding I’ve attended here has had a dance floor, nor any live music like a DJ or a band.
Rather than a chance for all the guests to mingle and let loose, Japanese wedding receptions seem to involve a lot of speeches and presentations from the newlyweds, and act more as a ceremony than a free-for-all party. As such, it’s crucial that couples choose the perfect background music to accompany key moments in the reception, and Japanese wedding planning company Anniversaire asked 3,000 couples to rank what songs they deemed the best.
As there are several defining moments in a Japanese wedding reception, Anniversaire surveyed couples about specifics, starting with the most impactful moment in any Japanese wedding reception: the moment when the newlyweds enter the room for the first time. With many couples opting to limit attendance at the ceremony itself to close family and friends, the reception may be the first time that many other guests, such as extended relatives and work associates, have seen the couple in their wedding attire, so it’s crucial that the perfect background music is chosen.
So which songs came out on top?
Bruno Mars takes the top spot and also the third spot, with Japanese electro-pop unit Q;indivi‘s take on the traditional wedding march coming in at number two. Other songs that made the list were Arashi‘s mega-hit "One Love," and Namie Amuro‘s classic ‘Can You Celebrate?’
Next up, the cutting of the wedding cake. It’s another key moment in any Japanese wedding reception, and usually ends in the bride feeding her new husband a slice of cake. Of course you need the perfect BGM for that.
Bruno Mars and Maroon 5 return again in the top rankings, with Australian singer Che’Nelle coming in at number three with her hit "Baby I Love You."
Another important moment in a wedding is when the guests toast the happy couple. What kind of music do Japanese newlyweds want in the background when their friends and family clink their glasses together in celebration?
Surprisingly, Maroon 5’s "Sugar" makes the top five again. This may seem strange, as none of the lyrics in the song seem particularly wedding-appropriate, but seeing as the music video features the band crashing various weddings, this might be why it gets played at so many Japanese wedding receptions.
The most popular choice for the toast was overwhelmingly Ulfuls’s "Banzai ~ Suki De Yokatta," by the oldest song in the rankings, which was released way back in 1996.
As anyone who has been to a Japanese wedding reception will know, the bride will usually change her outfit at least twice throughout the ceremony, changing from her initial wedding attire into traditional kimono or evening gowns. The moment that the couple re-enter the venue is also considered a key moment, so what kind of BGM have Japanese couples decided is best for such a momentous occasion?
Apparently, lots of Disney, as songs from "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin" and "Tangled" all make the top 5. Fingers crossed the most popular choice, "Beauty and the Beast,"’ is solely a reference to Belle coming down the stairs in her beautiful gown, and not a comment on the bride and groom themselves.
Anniversaire recommends that any potential newlyweds start working on their playlists at least three months before the big day, but hopefully these rankings should help anyone looking to get married in Japan. And if you’re really stuck for ideas, just whack on a Bruno Mars playlist and you should be fine.
Source, images: PR Times
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2022/08/27/going-to-a-wedding-in-japan-make-sure-you-like-bruno-mars-or-maroon-5-survey-says/
20 Comments
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Chico3
Also, make sure you bring at least 3 man en, depending on your relationship with the couple.
starpunk
Too many weddings in the US have that dumass 'Macarena' and I have always hated that song - even back in 1996. But one great 'wedding song' is fit for every kind of happy event. That song is of course, 'Celebrate1' by Kool and the Gang. That got played ALOT when Joe Biden won the 2020 elections and well, celebrations broke out all over America.
Tom San
I hate Bruno Mars.
Same goes for Maroon 5.
Sanjinosebleed
We used to call them McDonalds weddings as they would usher you in then usher you out in quick fashion and usher the next group in ad infinitum. On top of which they milked every penny hence the 3man from all the guests which still wouldn't cover half the costs. It was cheaper for me to fly my wife and family back to Australia and have something a bit more stylish there!
Jonathan Prin
If wedding were parties and not only ceremonies, there would be more happiness and a better demography !
And less financial hardship to start your couple life.
Chico3
My wife and I did the same in America. Yup, far cheaper and much more enjoyable for everyone. No fake chapels or wedding package combos. Even our priest was real. Not to mention, the food and drink portions were great.
starpunk
Bruno Mars has talent but too many times the songs he sings are super sucky. He needs the right SONGS. And I don't mean like recently with that wretched autotuned crapola either.
Maroon 5 is beyond hope. And none of them comes even close to the 'Jagger Swagger', nuh-UH.
buchailldana
What I don't get about Japanese wedding receptions is there is no mixing of guests at the table
No attempt to introduce both sides.weird
And the the second party, all games and things zero time to actually let people mingle and chat freely.
Everything controlled.
That's what I got married in a park.
wallace
People should just have a party to their liking and then down to the city office to register the marriage. No need to spend millions.
wallace
I always find Japanese formal weddings very strange when compared to my home country. Division of people into groups, no mixing no dancing.
The last one I went to cost the father of the bride ¥5 million.
Yrral
Loveless Wedding
starpunk
At one wedding as a 'best man' I got told about 'traditions' this and traditioons' that, you gotta dance with the groom's sis/mother-in-law, etc. Oh yeah, who sez? Mister Rogers on the TV? And Emily Post is from two centuries ago, you know - Victorian Era, Bubba.
It's much more intimate to me that way w/o all that pomp and circumstance. And it's all before the eyes of God who sees, witnesses and knows everything anyway. Real love is all in the heart, God knows it and sees it all. What else matters? You shouldn't have to spend all that moolah for one day. True love should triumph over materialistic showboating anyway.
The first wedding I went to was so structured up and it was boring as hell. I was just 14 years old but the pomp and ceremony put a bad impression on me.
I did that once as well, and all I could come up with was something really dopey. That and the klinking the spoons on the drinking glasses and the cake smearing on the face thing which I never understood. Senseless and dumb! And some of those kinfolk and guests you probably will never see again.
Obscene, man.
Mark
Many reasons why I do Not go to weddings, but one that really turned me off from the start is I was told where to set, what to eat, when to take a break, and how to dress and walk.
starpunk
That's how it was for the first one I went to at the age of 14. And the reception had a lousy band and yucky food and almost everybody there were total strangers.
Another one I went to was a New Age trend-chasing exercise complete with a vegetarian slop cuisine agenda and a 'Mother Earth' dance. A choreographer told each participant (I wasn't one of them) where to step and then somebody would strum a chord on his acoustic guitar and they'd chant 'Good day to you, et al' and bow to ones left and right of them. When the dance was completed, none of the participants were back where they started. And they did this 'Mother Earth' dance TWO times (with the choreographer instructing each 'player' the second time around too. And may I mention that the 'first kiss' took about 10 minutes? Oh my Genesis, OMG. SMH, man.
Nemo
Mark and Starpunk,
I completely understand and sympathize with your objections. Might I point out one small benefit of weddings? Single jealous women (sometimes bridesmaids) upset that it's not them, with bad decision-making skills as a result of too much time at the open bar.
I mean the entire hypothesis of Wedding Crashers was based on this right?
Now being married, I myself no olnger partake of such opportunities (being old and ugly helps). But you pry you bucks - why not have a bit of fun?
Just a thought from a middle-aged codger looking to live vicariously......
FizzBit
Bruno Mars - Just the way you are
Just out of curiosity I researched this song. I wondered if it was a cover of Billy Joel.
Nope. Wiki had his quote about the song writing and he talks about Eric Clapton and somebody else, but NEVER Billy Joel. How is that possible? It ain't.
By the way, I though the song sucked, but I don’t like poppy computer Michael Jackson wanna-be music anyway.