• Real Weddings

This wedding comes straight to you from Tokyo and Sutherland Kovach Studio! We know you are loving the orange Fendi open toed pumps with the adorable bows! So incredibly cute. Reiko is Japanese, from Tokyo, and Baptiste is French, from Paris. They decided that Tokyo was the best place for them to get married. Reiko goes into detail about their special day so be sure to read on. Enjoy this international delight and be sure to view the entire wedding gallery here.

From Reiko The Bride Baptiste and I both wanted to have an elegant and chic wedding. One thing I was really insistent upon was to wear a kimono (Japanese traditional outfit). Baptiste wore one in white and I wore one in purple, after the ceremony.
When we were choosing the venue, we had a few things in mind. The first was that it had to be beautiful; secondly, it needed to provide good food (usually, in Japan, a venue itself supplies food for a wedding, using a catering service is not yet popular), and third, it needed to have a nice garden. When we visited Ogasawara Hakusyakutei, we liked the place immediately. It had a beautiful marquee where we could have the ceremony, a big garden, and a nice patio and rooftop. Plus, it has a Michelin star so the quality of food was guaranteed. We had the ceremony and reception here, and then for the nijikai (afterparty) we went to a restaurant in the Aoyama district of Tokyo.
My dress was by Catherine Regehr, from Barneys NY in Tokyo. When I found it, I knew it was the one for me. It was exactly my style, very simple and elegant, and exactly my size. I had another dress from Robert Rodriguez for the nijikai.
Originally, I'd picked different flowers for each room at the venue, but the more I thought about it, that didn't sit right so I simplified it, using just white and green. For the dining room, I added in a few different colors - a smoky pink, a lighter green - to create more of a vintage feel, which I absolutely love.
We'd planned to make a CD with all our favorite songs for the music but three weeks before the wedding, I thought it might be nicer to have live music. Though it was very last minute, I got lucky and found a quartet. I requested my favorite classical music (mainly Bach as the Brandenburg Concerto #5 is one of my faves) and they played beautifully.
Our wedding incorporated lots of traditions, and some we changed around a bit to suit us more. In Japan, the bride usually reads a letter to her parents to express her appreciation for them in front of all the guests, but I didn't want to make it too personal, or just between me and my parents. So, we made a slideshow of pictures starting from our childhoods and going through to the present, and including our parents' wedding pictures. We also presented our parents with teddy bears that weighed the same as our birth weights, with our details embroidered on them.
I loved planning this wedding, and I am looking forward to celebrating again at our French wedding which will be held in Paris in October!
Photography: Sutherland Kovach Studio Venue: Ogasawara Hakusyakutei Wedding Dress: Catherine Regehr Shoes: Fendi Suit: Mandarin Tailor Groom's Shoes- Prada Kimono: Yumi Katsura