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Event Description
Shinto-style Wedding
It’s been more than a year since I had declared “We’ll do a Shinto
Wedding”, and I still have no idea what had made me say that. But I now
believe it was meant to be…
The most difficult part was to plan the program as a cultural event not a
private ceremony while it was understandably one of the arguments I
received. Then there were issues and problems we had faced from the
beginning, including having failed 2 ideal venues, unsuccessful grant and
online donations, no Kannushi priest, and so many more. Nothing seemed
working. At the same time, however, some things had strangely and
unexpectedly started coming together little by little:
First, we had a couple willing to volunteer, the perfect candidate for a
bride and groom, except they were living in Tokyo. So, when I learned they
were coming to NY, the August 11th was set for the wedding day. Only problem
of the date was that the bride’s wedding costume weighs easily over 30Lbs
and the gown is made of materials like thick futon-mattress, so it’s no
doubt unbearably too hot to wear outside in mid-summer. So, we had to change
the venue from a Japanese garden to the auditorium of Millbrook High School.
But still, the costume was extremely heavy, but our bride was brave enough
to tolerate it throughout the ceremony. The Bridal Procession, “Hanayome
Gyoretsu” is one of the attractions of Shinto wedding since traditionally
families and relatives wear beautiful Kimono. So we needed not only Kimonos
but also lots of additional items to wear them, and luckily I found a center
where we could borrow them for free. I looked for a Kannushi priest for free
service but failed. Then I was just about contacting two Broadway actors my
friend introduced me to hire when I received email from a college student.
So he got the acting job over Broadway actors. Two students did great job on
researching items and music relating to Shinto wedding. Then one played the
Sub-Master and the other did Miko the Maiden and she also wrote an essay
about “Future” which we published in the Program. We had Millbrook High
School Japan Club members made Mizuhiki-ties for invitation cards, and three
of them helped for decorations and participated in the bridal procession
wearing Kimono. Another played the Master leading the program and also
completed a beautiful origami crane craft piece formed a word “Mirai - the
Future”. Our audio man, said he didn’t know what he was supposed to do at
the beginning. The day of the event, however, he was perfectly in control.
The four students had only a month to practice on speaking Japanese, but
when they performed no one could guess they had never done it in public
before. It was extremely difficult as it wasn’t just speaking the foreign
language but also understanding what others saying also in Japanese in order
to follow the scenario. They did it so perfectly and I was very proud of
them. I regret that I had forgotten to mention that in my speech, but I’m
glad I now have a chance to tell everyone.
So, all things had finally started coming together in July only a month
before the event. After hearing we had the audience with well over a hundred
people in spite of rain and road restrictions, and we were still receiving
praise from people days later, I cannot thank enough all the volunteers who
came to support this program at the end. In spite of limited time to
practice, Kimono Kitsuke was done very well by our members, and students did
great job on leading program. The decorations were simple but very special
because these students worked together to create the image of the Shinto
Wedding which they had never seen before. As I mentioned in my speech, we
always have to work with other people no matter what we do and where we are,
but I always believe a good teamwork is the best tool for a successful job.
And we’ve proved it.
I’d like to thank to Millbrook Educational Foundation for a grant, Arts
Mid-Hudson for PR, Japan Education Center for Kimono materials, and
Millbrook High School and Millbrook School District for the facility. I also
thank to our volunteers who did Kitsuke, tea serving and photo & video
filming, to whom for their generous donation, members and friends who made
or lent us precious wedding utensils and stage items, and to whom gave me
valuable ideas and advice. Respectful Senior Kannushi, Rev. K. Barrish, of
the Tsubaki Grand Shrine may have no idea how much I appreciated his kind
word as it had given me such encouragement. It was a true blessing. And
last, I’d like to sincerely thank to Georgia-san, my codirector, who had
never given up on me during entire period. Her trust was the very thing kept
me go on.
Thank you, everyone, for your support. It was such a rewarding work I’ve
ever experienced as a project leader.
Midori Shinye
Director, Culture Program - Shinto Wedding Project
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