Jun
25
An Asian Wedding Theme
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For lovers of all things oriental, this is completely acceptable; after all, it’s your wedding party and you can laugh (or cry, as the old song says) if you want to. Asian weddings usually break down into two main types: Japanese “Zen” style Shoji lanterns and river stones, and the bolder Chinese use of colorful fans and red satin cheongsam (traditional gown). But the range of choices are so much wider than Japanese or Chinese, and you might want to consider other options for your customized Asian wedding ceremony.
A Japanese pearl theme might well be your perfect Asian wedding venue and can be accomplished fairly easily. To enhance the atmosphere of your Asian wedding, drape centerpiece vases in strands of costume pearls (or real if you have access to royal coffers) and stuff with white ostrich feathers. Fill the room with iridescent balloons in ivory, pearl gray and pale pink and select pearl hair-combs and necklaces for the bride and bridesmaids and a pearl tiara for the bride. To drip in pearls is, as Martha Stewart says, “a good thing” (to drip in). The groom need not drip in anything as long as he behaves himself in the company of all this jewelry.
An Asian Pacific theme has nothing at all to do with time zones and provides another beautiful vehicle for an Asian wedding ceremony. Bedeck the room, not with boughs of holly (even if you have some on hand since last Christmas), but rather with fishing nets and swirling glass flotation balls. Hot-glue faux pearls into large mother-of-pearl oyster shells and scatter them all about the Asian wedding reception room. Name your tables for famous tree varieties (Chrysanthemum, Cherry, Weeping Cherry, Yoshino Cherry), but whatever you do, don’t get them mixed up with the names of your guests! Serve traditional foods and beverages such as sweet dumplings (dango) and sakura blossom tea. You might even want to consider hiring a sushi chef to put a very special flourish on your Asian wedding.
Asian wedding favors can take many forms. One very popular choice are fortune cookie wedding favors. Other ideas for Asian wedding favors might include: bamboo place card frames, incense sets, gifts of tea, fortune cookie key-rings, jeweled votive candles, almond cookies, lucky bamboo plants, paper or sandalwood fans, sake cups in different materials and shapes and porcelain tea cups with the double happiness symbol.
For bridesmaids at Asian weddings, popular wedding favors can include: gold-tone hair combs, decorative chopsticks (hair adornments) jeweled flip-flop sandals and a feminine shirt with each bridesmaid’s name custom-embroidered upon it and tucked into a large-size fortune cookie box.
The old saying that “the world is your oyster” can be true on your Asian wedding day. If you decide on such a theme, there are sure to be many beautiful pearls of wisdom, beauty and countless other things inside.
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Melissa Ingram -
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Find this and many more wedding articles at Truly Wedding Favors. Truly offers high quality wedding favors and accessories for every theme and occasion.
9 Comments
June 25th, 2010 at 6:13 am
I run a wedding related business here in Singapore (South East Asia) and the theme – Zen was very popular quite a while ago.
Follow the link below to a local forum site where brides and wedding vendors talk about their own big day and you might find some discussions about making a chinese and zen style wedding.
By the way, a big congrats!
June 25th, 2010 at 6:15 am
How about doing ivory tablecloths and chair covers. Instead of alternating the red and black napkins, I would just stick with black napkins and black sashes for the chair covers. I would still use the red throughout the flower arrangements or center table displays. I think it would give your reception a very classic look without looking so busy.
June 25th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Pink chrysanthemums. They have a center with a little black in them and are very asian.
June 25th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
The first link is the picture of the symbol, and the second link is some ideas for the invitation cards
June 27th, 2010 at 6:29 am
That is soo cute! Love the idea of the koi in the centerpiece.
For the shower, you could ask the guests to dress in asian-style dresses or blouses, and serve sushi and sake and egg rolls, etc. You could go all-out with it, have the low-lying tables and pillows to kneel on, on the floor, and serve fortune cookies with personalized fortunes.
I know that somewhere I saw a kit where you can personalize your fortune cookies … that would be a great activity for people to do at the shower, and they could even be favors at the wedding later!
June 27th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
To keep your costs low you would be best to choose Asian inspired colors. A very modern and popular color scheme is coral and turquoise and it looks stunning.
You could have the glass hurricane lamps on each table, with colored linen and then scatter rose petals on the top for a floral touch.
For your food a buffet works well for an outside wedding, you could either have an Asian themed buffet – maybe talk to some local restaurants to see if they could do the catering, or have a summer buffet beautifully displayed.
For evening entertainment include having a display of sky lanterns it looks amazing. I have included a link at the bottom for more information. Plus a link for cheap wedding tents.
Good luck with your wedding plans, contact me if you need more information.
June 28th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
You have good intentions. But remember, Asian is a very broad word and Japan has its own culture. Its a great idea to use Japanese elements, even modifying them in a unique way. For example, the obi belts (cant see them though) are a great idea, and could be tied any way you choose. I like that idea! Sushi bar is a great idea too.
Chinese takeout on the other hand, is not Japanese at all! And fortune cookies are an American invention, neither Chinese nor Asian. So skip those, please. I dont think your future MIL would be impressed that you think thats Japanese.
Stick to Japanese things.
**Now I can see the belt link. That is really cool! A modern, versatile take on the obi. I might have to buy one for myself!
June 28th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Asian cultures do not have exclusive rights to lanterns and some of the other details you mentioned. It is perfectly fine to use them, just as "Western" style weddings are becoming more popular in some Asian countries.
My only advice to you is to keep things simple and minimal. Be tasteful (and be careful if you want to use Chinese or Japanese "characters"). Its easy to get carried away and things can start looking more like a cheap carnival than a wedding. I see this happen all the time in Japan with Western weddings. They dont really know whats tasteful, so they just throw it all in there and it just looks like a lacy, puffy, sparkly, mess!
Also the countries in Asia do have their own unique cultures, in my opinion its best to stick to one country and draw your inspiration from that– rather than just going "Asian" which could really be anything. But, thats up to you.
June 28th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Perhaps you can try this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11028443@N07/2555316945/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11028443@N07/2555316869/
Or this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17272370@N07/1905182460/