Wedding wear

Just love it - - looks so elegant and gracious - - I can never understand why bride go for the white western wedding dress look.

Is the bride's headwear sponsored by Pringles?

@semperfi Money, Shinto weddings are longer, more complicated and more expensive than Christian ones. For instance underneath the bride's white kimono is another red one. The white represents the bride's symbolic death from her parent's family while the red represents her rebirth into her husband's. In Japan they have a saying: Born Shinto, Marry Christian, Die Buddhist. It is starting to change though, the number of Shinto marriages and funerals are increasing.

We'd be better off dispensing with the pantomimes of all weddings and I hope my comment about the Pringles hat wasn't seen as an attack on Japanese customs in particular. These ceremonies are rip-off lining the pockets of people ( many of whom don't even pay tax ). The 'Christian' or western weddings in Japan are often presided over by IT engineers, English teachers or musicians ( they are the three I know ) making a bit of extra cash on the weekends. If you have a sincere religious belief, do it, but otherwise this gaudy show is nothing but a show of vanity.

@songwillem2011

@semperfi Money, Shinto weddings are longer, more complicated and more expensive than Christian ones.

Maybe times have changed since the "good old days" but I wore a kimono under my white "uchikaké" and the price for "renting" these articles was extremely reasonable. I could have bought the red kimono for 3 000 yen from the rental shop but decided I would hate to "cut off" the extremely long sleeves after becoming a "Mrs". The Shinto wedding itself was about 15-20 minutes long after which, the reception all in a big, famous hotel n Kobé.

Come off it !!! J weddings are not the only ones that are expensive !!!!! Do you all have ANY idea whatsoever what a wedding in North America costs ?????? A "CHEAP" wedding is $10 000 - - - - Weddings in No. American are equally commercialized . . .with brides having their special BRIDAL REGISTRY and "gift suggestions" at Nordstroms or Sears . . .or where-ever . .and that is just the beginning. OMG !!!

Japanese wedding ceremonies are beautiful occasions guided by customs and traditions as old as the culture itself. The bride and groom are done up from head to foot to prepare them for this special day in their lives. Each aspect of a traditional Japanese wedding carries with it certain meaning and significance while the layers of clothes may sometimes be a bit uncomfortable for the modern bride and groom, traditions are still best followed to insure that all the blessings and good fortune come to the newlyweds.

What do they call the white head covering of the bride? It's distinctive and I wonder what the symbolism behind it is, if any. The bridegroom's kimono looks pretty cool, too.

2 - 3 layers of clothing for the bride sounds heavy, but I can't just imagine how it was during the Heian period, when empresses wore 12 layer dresses.

The Japanese bride-to-be may be painted pure white from head to toe, visibly declaring her maiden status to the Gods. Two choices of headgear exist. One, the watabōshi, is a white hood; the other, called the tsunokakushi, serves to hide the bride's 'horns of jealousy.' It also symbolizes the bride's intention to become a gentle and obedient w

For me without any understanding of japanese culture, this looks beautiful , respecting japanese tradition. The most important thing is how the bride and groom feel inside.

I know I'll get a lot of heat for this, but I don't see a lot of emotion on display here. IMO a wedding is supposed to be about two people declaring their love for each other. These two look like they are just so caught up in their outfits, and where they are supposed to walk and when, that the meaning is lost -- process/symbolism rules -- like in most of Japan.

Traditionally, marriages were categorized into two types according to the method of finding a partner—miai, meaning arranged or resulting from an arranged introduction, and ren'ai, in which the principals met and decided to marry on their own—although the distinction has grown less meaningful over postwar decades as the proportion of miai matches has dwindled.

From what I've heard, Shinto weddings are very reasonably priced and brief. The whole thing is over inside of a half an hour.

We mixed things up, so my husband wore a hakama like in the photo, and I wore a western style dress. It was a fantastic day full of great memories. This pair dont look very happy though. I know that kimono has about 12 layers so may be she was hot?

What a beautiful ceremony. They look so dignified. May they have many days, years of Happiness together. ( oh, and lots of children!)

Folks, it's their wedding and their money so I see no reason why they shouldn't do what they want to do. The look very nice and I hope the marriage goes as well.

People in Japan spend too much money on weddings. You don't need to impress other people. After couple years of marriage, I never heard of newlywed couple say they wish they'd spent more money on their wedding. In fact, a year or two after the wedding day dissipates, most couples wished they'd spent far less cash on their big day. The financial problems is one of the biggest causes of divorce, draining savings on wedding day holds potential for starting marriage on the wrong foot. Instead of spending substantial for the wedding in Japan, look at other financial options by spending far less and use the savings for buying a house .

All the best to them!!! Beautiful attire, by the way....