Weddingbee Blog

We got off to a rocky start with our ceremony; lots of things were going wrong, including missing guests, yours truly almost face planting down the aisle, and Poppa G’s crazy antics. BIL, our officiant, started our ceremony with an introduction and a brief reading, then introduced each reader. Neither of us is deeply religious but we wanted to give a nod to our upbringings and backgrounds; we had Bible readings, Buddhist readings, a Shinto ceremony, and atheist selections.

BFF Trojan, our videographer, took time away from the camera to read 1 Corinthians 13:4.

BFF Cano read the ever popular “Union” by Robert Fulghum.

BFF Becky and Erika compiled Buddhist thoughts on love and marriage.

Since I didn’t have a bridal party, it meant a lot to me to have my girls read in our ceremony. They each included their own words of support and love at the end of their readings.

After the readings, we had a Shinto San-San-Kudo ceremony. Our friend Katy, who had come all the way from England, performed it for us. First she gave an explanation which we blatantly ripped from this site (thanks, dude!).

San-san-kudo literally means “three, three, nine times.” The cup used at san-san-kudo is a special one called “sakazuki,” which is only used to drink sake and no other beverages. The bride and groom take turns taking three sips each of three different bowls of sake, each one larger than the next. Three is an indivisible number, and it is considered a sacred number in Buddhism. Nine means triple happiness. But just as the san-san-kudo sake sips may not be altogether delicious, the couple’s marriage life may not always be delightful, but they will have to overcome their hardships with the co-operative spirit of the san-san-kudo. By exchanging the nuptial sake sips—three times three—husband and wife are united.

My mom insisted we switch the ceremony up a little bit. She only brought one special sake cup from Japan for the ceremony.

(guest photo)

This cup was given to my grandmother by the Emperor of Japan. She lived to be 107 years old and there is an inscription on the bottom of the cup commemorating her good health.

Since we only had one cup we shortened the ceremony to one pour and three sips, which my mom insisted is how the ceremony works in modern day Japan. I’m not too sure about that but I guess she wanted to make sure the bride didn’t get too tipsy (…I was later on, anyway!).

After the San San Kudo ceremony we rejoined BIL under the arch. It was time to say some nice things to each other, which we called “declarations.” Neither of us had time to write out speeches but I could tell Mr. G thought about what he was going to say a little more than I did!

“…as one of Mrs. G’s favorite songs goes, I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend. She is my best friend…”

My declaration was all of the promises I had for Mr. G as a new bride.

“….I promise to love you forever. I promise to be the best wife I can be. I promise to be there for you always…”

After our declarations it was time to take our vows. BIL instructed everyone to turn to the last page of their programs, where we had printed the vows. He asked the guests to help us in taking our very traditional vows.

I, Mr. G, take you Mrs. G, to be my lawfully wedded wife,

to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.

I, Mrs. G, take you, Mr. G, to be lawfully wedded husband,

to have and to hold from this day forward,

for better or for worse,

for richer or for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.

I was so happy to have the wedding band on my finger. Since I never had an engagement ring it’s taken a little getting used to wearing a ring, but I love the symbolism. Although we had been officially married for 7 months the rings made it feel complete. The whole ceremony provided incredible closure and meaning for us. So much of our relationship (actually all of our relationship!) had taken place overseas with no one around to witness it. It was a great feeling to celebrate our marriage with family and friends at last!

With our wedding bands exchanged, BIL wrapped it up.

Mr. and Mrs. G, you have made your marriage vows to one another, witnessed by your friends and relatives. You have sealed your vows with the giving and receiving of your rings. Now in front of your friends and family who have come to celebrate your marriage, Mr. G you may kiss your bride.

Our guests applauded and with that, we walked off into the sunset.

All images were expertly taken by Tam T. Nguyen.

Did you take very traditional vows, or did you do something unique? Did you have a special part to your ceremony?

Missed something?

• First, we prepped the yard.
• Then, the girls got ready.
• After that, our ceremony got off to a rough start.