Remembering our wedding

With all the excitement of Rikuto’s birth, I completely forgot about our second wedding anniversary! Mami and I tied the knot two years ago today, so I thought I’d take a little trip down memory lane and tell you about how special that day was.

The French restaurant our wedding was held at.We officially registered our marriage on the 22nd, now Rikuto’s birthday, but had the ceremony on a warm, slightly overcast yet otherwise perfect Sunday in the Japanese summertime. With my family unable to make the long trip from England to visit, there was no pressure to have a large, elaborate, western-style wedding which has become so common in modern Japan. Instead we opted for a comparatively smaller event in a delightful French restaurant, organised by friends and attended by about forty people close to our hearts.

The ceremony.Our priest wasn’t a real priest at all, but rather than paying an English teacher to masquerade as a one, we asked a good friend to perform the ceremony for us. He was so nervous, but he did a wonderful job, conducting the service in both Japanese and English, so my parents could understand when they watched the video.

Mami gave her vows in Japanese, and I gave mine in English. When it came time to put the ring on her finger, I accidentally picked up my ring by mistake, but when it slid on her finger far too easily and she squeezed my hand angrily, I recognised my mistake and switched it for her smaller version without anyone else noticing!

Wedding speechesMy best friend in Japan had contacted my parents and asked them to send a speech for him to read at the wedding. This was a wonderful gesture and the speech was so personal, my parents may as well have been there in the room with us. He then went on to give his own endearing speech which had both Mami and I in tears, and one of my wife’s closest friends gave an equally touching, and fun-filled speech in the form of a doctor’s prescription, outlining carefully how the patient, Mami, should be treated!

A guest appearance by Michael Jackson!The party had all the elements of a professional wedding: music, speeches, cake cutting, great food, a beautiful speech from Mami to her mother – which had everyone balling their eyes out with tears of happiness, photoshoots, a bouquet for one lucky bridesmaid, and even – unlike a typical wedding for sure – a guest appearance from Michael Jackson himself!

The after-wedding party!Later in the evening, we let our hair down, put on the hawaiian shirts, and partied on the rooftop of a hotel until we were all so drunk we couldn’t stand up any longer. It was, without any doubt or regret, the best wedding day either of us could have imagined, and the memories will keep us smiling for long to come.

Now with Rikuto’s birthday so close, I have no excuse to forget our anniversary again! Perhaps Mami will need to make a little bear to join these two she made for our wedding…

Mami's homemade wedding bears

Note: Although this post is dated July 25th, our anniversary was the 24th. By the time I finished this, it was past midnight and a new day had begun!

If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!

9 thoughts on “Remembering our wedding

  1. With your wedding anniversary and Rikuto’s birthday so close, it sounds like you’ll get to enjoy Christmas in July 🙂

    I wish you, Mami and Rikuto all the best.

  2. Wow, I can’t believe Michael Jackson played your wedding! He must have cost a fortune! His dance moves and hip jerking must have been truly outrageous too!

    Thats cool you had such a nice wedding. It might have been small but when you have an international superstar show up to sing you some songs who cares!

    Seriously though, it sounds like you had an awesome wedding and one that you will forever remember. I hope I can have one as fancy and as memorable as yours… Something tells me that Wacko Jacko might show up at mine, or perhaps even Elvis will come back from the dead to play it! Or who knows, maybe even Louis Armstrong will also crawl out from the grave to sing “What a wonderful world.” Or then again maybe an extremely retarded bear will show up and sing me the Disney classic of “Bare Necessities”

  3. Well, what a coincidence Nick. July 25th just happens to be out anniversary as well. This is our ninth.

    Happy anniversary!

    Allan

  4. Geez that was a fun day mate and glad you remember it with such fondness!!! Really cool that Rikuto’s birthday is so close and certainly cuts down on the chances of forgetting it!!
    There was a rumour going around that is was the real “MJ” as he was out of work at the time and needed the exposure!! I personally can not comment but will just say that there is a little bit of “MJ” in all of us. (I certainly mean all the nice things he has done and mean this in the absolute nicest way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
    Keith

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