With our 5-year wedding anniversary coming up, I thought I would indulge in a trip down memory lane, remembering the time that we had a wedding photo shoot in Kyoto. Don’t ask me how five years have passed already. I guess the old saying really is true, “time flies when you have a baby in the midst of a global pandemic.” Or something like that. With Japan now open to tourists again, perhaps a destination wedding or destination wedding photo shoot is on the cards for you too. This is what our experience was like, and what we learnt from it.
Wedding planning is stressful enough as it is, but when you are marrying someone from overseas, from a completely different cultural background with different wedding customs and ideals, you have A LOT to consider when it comes to planning your perfect day. As is always the case with us, we were on a tight budget, so a lavish, over the top Japanese wedding seemed out of the question. But we still wanted to incorporate Japanese elements into our wedding somehow. Our compromise? An intimate day-time ceremony in Australia, and a Japanese wedding photo shoot on our honeymoon two months later.
We decided on the ‘indoor garden’ studio plan at a photo studio in Kyoto because it had a traditional Japanese vibe at what we thought was a good price point. Also, unlike outdoor on-location shoots, it didn’t matter if it was raining on the day (it was). The studio was glamorous and professional. First up, we were escorted to the kimono room, where they had dozens of beautiful wedding kimonos delicately folded and on display in their respective drawers. The catch was, they only had a handful of kimonos included at the entry-level price, and the rest were premium kimonos at an additional cost. Here we go, I thought, the dreaded “wedding tax”. This was the beginning of our fight against the upsell.
In Japan, wedding kimonos are traditionally white or red. At this studio, the standard kimonos included at the base price, while still beautiful, were slightly out of the box colours like gold, or not-quite-red-orange. Let me tell you, these studio ladies meant business, and were selling the crap out of the pricier, more traditional, more beautiful kimonos. To be clear, we were talking hundreds and even thousands of dollars more to upgrade to a nicer kimono. Just to wear for only a few hours during the photoshoot. After you look at the catalogue, feel the soft silk of the premium kimonos, and the ladies talk you up and convince you that orange isn’t your colour, you’re pretty much ready to hand over your credit card. I was thinking, well-played ladies, well- played. After much debate however, I settled on the cheaper gold kimono with the not-quite-red lining. It had a crane pattern on it, and I love cranes (thus Crane and Maple). There is an old Japanese proverb that says cranes live for 1000 years, therefore they are often used as a good luck symbol in weddings as they symbolise longevity in a marriage. How beautiful is that?
Then came the accessorising. I knew there were many layers to a kimono, but I didn’t know just how many layers were involved. There were under garments and under-under garments, all made with different materials, colours, and patterns. There were collars and sashes and fans and purses and things I should know the name of, but I don’t. All at an additional price, of course. My husband, strong in defence against the sales lady, was met with encouraging phrases like “come on, it’s a once in a lifetime experience”. However, she could see that she had worn me down, and was pushing against the cracks to the point that my husband and I almost had an argument over it. Maybe she pushed harder because she hadn’t managed to upsell us on the kimono. It’s silly thinking about it now, but I ended up paying an extra $180 for a pop of red accessories to give a contrast against my gold kimono and changed my collar to a chrysanthemum embroidered one. While I am happy with my choices in the end, (my whole outfit was beautiful!) the whole experience left a bit of a bitter taste in our mouths. It was eye opening, because we had never encountered such an aggressive sales lady in Japan before. It just goes to show, that the wedding industry is cutthroat no matter where you are in the world.
With our clothing choices made, it was time to be whisked away to the dressing rooms. My husband was told that he wasn’t needed for an hour or so, so off he went to relax at the Starbucks downstairs while I was dressed in my kimono. After being wrapped up like a Christmas present, my accident-prone self somehow had to figure out how to carefully sit in the hair and make-up chair without falling over. Moving and sitting gracefully in a kimono is no easy feat! I trusted the make-up artist to take her own creative direction in arranging my hair and doing my make-up. But after she left and I was staring at my face in the mirror for a while, I didn’t recognise who was looking back at me. This wasn’t me at all! My face was pale, and the blush on my cheeks was heavy handed and bright red. Different beauty ideals, I thought. I rubbed off some of the blush to a point that I was happy with, but then the lady walked in again and saw that her make up had been messed with. Oops. She never directly acknowledged that I ruined her work, but quietly reapplying the blush she said to me ‘the photo shoot washes you out, so it helps to lay it on a bit thickly’. I just had to go with it. Just then, feeling not so confident in my new and improved clownish make-up, my husband walked into the dressing room looking like he’d come straight off the set of a jidai-geki (Japanese period drama), hair slicked back, all done up in his black and white kimono and well hellooooo. He looked good.
Pretending to be Emperor and Empress, we took a few obligatory selfies before shuffling into the studio. The studio was set up as a traditional looking Japanese tatami room with shōji (sliding screen doors), a rock garden, fake sakura (cherry blossoms), momiji (maple leaves) and parasol props. As naturally awkward people, we were grateful that the photographer’s sassy assistant directed us into every position, but she was painstakingly thorough, down to the angle of our chins and proper placement of our fingers. Even the positioning of the fan and opening of the bottom of my kimono had symbolic meaning. Nevertheless, we had lots of fun and laughed the whole way. Could this be the beginning of our new career as models? Ha!
After we changed back into our normal clothes, we sat at the monitors at the front of the studio to choose our wonderful, already touched-up photos and select our plan. The base plan was 7700 yen including tax for one photo print out (about $84 AUD). Cue the hard upsell again to convince us to go with the photo print out, plus the photo album including 20 pages and a USB with all digital photo files. Including our upgrades that we had already agreed to, this would cost somewhere around 165200 yen (roughly $1800 AUD). A long back and forth ensued between the sales lady and my stubborn husband, until it was finally revealed to us that there was a smaller photo album with 10 pages that they could offer, that was not advertised. Deal! That’s what we went with, one photo print out and a small photo album for 44000 yen ($480 AUD).
The adrenaline of playing models in the photo shoot had started to wear off and our energy was fading. That’s when it hit us, the whole experience lasted about 5 hours and we had been so busy, we hadn’t eaten anything throughout the day. We were starving! So off we went, clown make-up intact, to down a massive bowl, and I mean massive bowl, of Jiro ramen (If you know, you know). What a delicious way to end the day.
So, to finish off, here are some things to consider if, like us, you are thinking about getting a wedding photo shoot done in Japan:
- You might want to have a bigger budget than us!
- If you aren’t on a big budget, one way we saved on our photoshoot was by having it done on a weekday instead of a weekend.
- While I am not Japanese and can’t speak on behalf of a Japanese person, the general feeling is yes, foreigners can wear a kimono if it is worn properly and respectfully. It is not cultural appropriation. The word ‘kimono’ literally means ‘thing you wear’- it is traditional dress.
- It helps to have an idea of your preferred look before you enter the studio. Consider auspicious colours and patterns, all accessories, hair and make-up e.t.c.
- Indoor studios are great, but if the weather is good and you aren’t restricted to a certain date, a photo shoot on location in Kyoto (or anywhere) can make for special memories. After all, you’re in Japan!
- Do you or your partner speak Japanese? There is a lot to communicate from both parties to get your desired outcome, from deciding on a kimono, deciding on a photo plan, to your hair and make-up, to your positioning in the photos. If not, you may need to shop around for an English-speaking service.
- Bring all the snacks! The photoshoot is likely to take up the whole day, and you will work up an appetite.
- Lastly, it helps to keep your sense of humour and have fun with it. It should be a celebration of your love for each other. Congratulations!
Crane & Maple 