Osaka - Aki's Wedding Party

Last weekend I went to Hiro and Aki's wedding party. I'll try and explain what that means.

In Japan, it's not uncommon to have a very private wedding ceremony with just family, and then later (possibly months later) have a 'wedding party' for friends of the bride and groom. And this party is what I went to.

The party was in Osaka, and since it's Golden Week, I had to look for a cheap ticket well in advance. So a few months ago in Toronto, I bought a ticket from ANA (All Nippon Airways).

The ticket was only about 20,000 yen, but it was EARLY. My plane left at 7am, which means I had to be at Haneda airport around 6am, which meant I had to get on the first train from Kichijoji at 4:34am, which means I had to wake up around 3:30am to get ready.


I met Nao before the party (she had booked a hotel for us). It was cool to see her again. She couldn't find the hotel so I teased her about being an 'airhead' since I could find the hotel quite easily.


No one gives blenders or fon-due sets at these kind of things, it's all cold hard cash! And to give money, you need to prepare a special envelope and put the money inside. You also have to write your name with a brush. So this is my envelope with my name on it.

The wedding party was fantastic. Hiro's friends are so funny and friendly. And I could also meet some of Aki's friends, like Hachiko (who I haven't seen since 2005) and Risa who I met for the first time (she kept saying how she heard so much about me from Aki).


Hiro did this rather amusing spanish dance before pulling back the curtain to reveal Aki in full wedding attire. They made a striking pair coming down the stairs!



I had to give the "wedding toast" speech. I didn't have much time to prepare (I was notified about it 4pm the day before) so I did the best I could. Nao helped me check the grammar, etc. before I gave the speech.


After the wedding party, we went to the "after party" which was at a nearby spanish bar. As the group got more drunk, the antics got even more ridiculous..



and later we went to an Izakaya where the jokes and generally silly behavior had me in tears I was laughing so hard. After the izakaya we went to another bar!

After this Nao and I finally went back to the hotel, although I later found out that Hiro was up drinking until 7am!


The next day we met my friends Sachi (from Kyoto) and Dominic (from Toronto). It was cool to see them again, and all six of us (Sachi, Dom, Nao, Hiro, Aki and myself) went out for some traditional Osaka food, namely Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki. Soo good!


I first met Aki in 2002 and at that time she was 25 years old, but in my eyes, she was just a young girl. Over the last 5 years or so, I feel like I've watched her grow into the woman she's become. It reminds me of a song called "Last Dance" by The Cure:

But older than me now
More constant
More real
And the fur and the mouth
And the innocence turned
To hair and contentment
That hangs in abasement

A woman now standing,
Where once there was only a girl..