Remember the darling couple Erin and TJ who got married this past May at St.Regis…well off to Japan for wedding number 2! I personally admire Japanese traditions and culture and just fascinated with Japanese art. I collect Japanese woodblock prints, something my hubby got me into years ago..he loves Japanese antiquities. Doesn’t Erin looks like a doll, flawless skin.  I love her hair which took 2 hours to do!  And TJ, was lucky to get an outfit to fit him since he’s much taller than the average Japanese man.  

TJ describe for us Shintoism: Shintoism is a Japanese religion revering ancestors and the spirit that resides in all of nature. Our weddings took place in a shrine where our guests made their entrance procession to traditional drums and flutes. A priest, the bride and groom, and the their parents sat closest to the altar, along with the miko, two young maidens dressed in red and white. The priest bowed to the altar and waved the haraigushi, a tree branch decorated with white linen strips or paper streamers, to purify the space. He then invoked Izanagi and Izanami, the deity couple who created the universe. The centerpiece of the ceremony was the San San Kudo, or three by three ceremony, in which the miko poured sake into three cups and the couple took three sips of sake (rice wine) from three cups. The miko then serve sake to the entire congregation. The groom reads aloud the couple’s vows of faithfulness and harmony until the end of time. The ceremony ends as the couple made an offering of the evergreen branch (tamagushi) presented at the “alter” to honor the appropriate deity. A second tamagushi offering was made by the bride and groom’s fathers to pay respect to their ancestors.