The elaborate wedding styles in Asia

Having spent the last 6 months traveling through Asia, I was fortunate to witness many wedding ceremonies.. Although I tried to appear discreet and watch from the back, in some countries the parents of the bride and groom would invite me to the front to take photographs. Oftentimes, I would be conspicuous as I would not be dressed for the occasion, but I was never made to feel a foreigner without a real invitation.

The bridal party was almost always attired in traditional clothing, and the ceremony was very long in contrast to ours, which should not be more than 20 minutes or so. In Sri Lanka, there was a great deal of singing and dancing to accompany the bride and groom as they exchanged their vows. The little flower girls, dressed in traditional outfits, sang their hearts out to the bride, while the pageboys sang to the groom. I couldn’t guess the couples' ages, but they looked extremely young and highly influenced by their parents. Peeking into the reception rooms, I felt the wedding ceremony was more important than the party, which is probably the opposite of what it is in the USA.

In Japan, the ceremonies were even more formal, with less joy and more seriousness. I felt as if I were in another era, where tradition and conventional standards seemed to be the rule by which to abide. The brides were so petite and beautiful with silky black hair cascading down their backs. Their wedding dresses seemed to be fashioned from white paper with simple lines, often a kimono, and rarely a Western style. Men wear a montsuki haori hakama, which includes a black or white kimono with family crests, a matching jacket, and pleated trousers. The ceremony includes the san-san-kudo ritual, where the bride and groom drink sake in a symbolic act of unification. Several other rituals are included.

Overall, I would say that there is little attention to bespoke ceremonies that speak to the bride and groom or address their original story. There isn’t much gaiety or humor. Instead, there is an emphasis on tradition which is beautiful in itself.