Weddings in Japan for couples from abroad
A Western ceremony in an unmistakably Japanese setting, planned end to end by a bilingual team in Tokyo. Venue, vendors and guests handled, so the distance is our problem, not yours.
Wedding planning from $6,000 USD · Free 30-minute call
Who you'll be talking to
Married in Japan is the two of us. Juri is Japanese and runs the venue and vendor side in her own language. Eamon, from London, is your point of contact from the first call to the day itself.
We got married here ourselves, in the Japanese Alps, and we are small enough that the people you meet on the call are the people who run your day. No sales team, no handoff.
Book your free consultationThirty minutes, free, with Eamon and Juri. No scripts, no pressure.
What we handle
A wedding has a hundred moving parts, and in Japan they all speak Japanese. This is the work that separates a wedding from an elopement, and it is all ours.
Temple gardens, hotel ballrooms, rooftops, ryokan. We shortlist, visit, hold dates and contract, in Japanese.
Western vows at the centre, in a setting you could not get anywhere else. Traditional elements only if you want them, exactly where you choose.
Hotel blocks, transport between venues, and day-of guidance for overseas guests. Your family lands soft.
Photo, video, florals, hair and makeup, catering, music. Vetted people, contracted and fully briefed. We handle every vendor.
A minute-by-minute run sheet and us on site running it. You are managing nothing on the day.
Quotes, contracts, changes and on-the-day instructions all run through us. You deal with us in English.
The legal part
Your ceremony in Japan is symbolic; the legal part happens at home, in an afternoon.
Couples register the marriage in their own country, usually a short appointment before or after the trip, and treat the day in Japan as the wedding. Nothing to file here, nothing to translate, and the day stays entirely yours.
The vows, the speeches, the first dance. In a place none of you will ever forget.
Packages
Three starting points, not three boxes. Every wedding is planned from scratch around your guest list and your city. The planning fee is ours; venue and vendor costs are passed through and itemised, so you see every line.
You two and up to ten guests
One venue, a ceremony and a long celebratory meal. A machiya garden in Kyoto, a private dining room in Tokyo, a lakeside terrace in Hakone.
Planning from $6,000 USD
Ten to thirty guests, one city
A ceremony and a proper reception: dinner, speeches, music and dancing, with your guests' hotels and transport handled.
Planning from $15,000 USD
Thirty guests and up, one city or several
The complete destination wedding, up to a multi-city celebration: a Kyoto ceremony, then a Tokyo reception.
Planning from $35,000 USD
In every package the planning fee covers our work. Venue and vendors are quoted separately at cost, line by line, and you approve each one. No markups hidden inside a bundle.
Where
We match the place to your vision. These are the four we plan most, and if you have somewhere else in mind, tell us and we'll find out whether it can be done.
A riverside restaurant
A top-floor chapel over the Kamo River, then dinner in an 1870 riverside hall. For a day that feels centuries deep.
A courtyard chapel and rooftop
A courtyard chapel off Omotesando and a rooftop over the skyline. The easiest logistics for a big guest list.
Lake and mountain views an hour from Tokyo. For vows with Fuji behind them.
Takayama and Kamikochi. Cedar forest, alpine light and privacy for a multi-day celebration.
How it works
Tell us the day you are imagining, roughly when, and how many guests. We'll say plainly whether we're the right fit.
We turn the call into a shape: city, venue style, guest count, and what the day needs to include.
At a second call: venue options with real availability, a vendor team, and a real number, line by line. Nothing is booked until you've seen it.
Every vendor, every timeline, every conversation in Japanese. You show up and get married.
Our work
Every frame below is from a wedding we planned and ran. There are more in our portfolio.
“They made planning a wedding 8,000 km away feel effortless. Worth every dollar.”
Cost
Two numbers matter: our planning fee, and what the day itself costs. The fee is fixed up front. The day is quoted line by line, because a thirty-guest dinner in Kyoto and a hundred guests across two cities are not the same wedding.
Wedding planning from
$6,000 USD
Our fee for planning and coordinating your wedding. Venue and vendors are quoted separately, so you see every line. Elopement planning starts at the same fee.
Planning fee, venue and vendors together. Real ranges from the weddings we see, so you can size the whole thing before the first call:
Where you land inside a range is driven by guest count, venue type, city and season. Peak dates (cherry blossom and autumn colour) carry premiums; weekdays and quieter months cost meaningfully less.
Your real, itemised number comes at the second call, after we know your guest list and your city. For a deeper breakdown first, read our guide to destination wedding costs in Japan.
Questions
The ceremony in Japan is symbolic, and that is by design. Couples register the legal marriage at home, usually a short appointment before or after the trip, and treat the day in Japan as the wedding. It keeps the day entirely yours and free of bureaucracy.
Twelve to fourteen months is comfortable for a wedding with guests, and it keeps the best venues on the table. We are booking 2027 and 2028 dates now. Cherry blossom season (late March to early April) and autumn colour (October to November) book out furthest ahead. We have run tighter timelines when dates were fixed, so ask even if you think you're late.
Yes, and in our experience couples worry about this far more than their guests do. Japan is a trip people want an excuse to take. Direct flights run from most major hubs worldwide, and we handle hotels, transport and day-of guidance once they land, so all your guests book is the flight. Most treat the wedding as the anchor of a longer holiday.
No. That is most of what you are hiring us for. Every vendor is contracted and briefed by us in Japanese, and we are on site on the day, so the ceremony, the speeches and everything your guests hear runs in English while the machinery behind it runs in Japanese.
Almost any season makes a case for itself. Spring means cherry blossom (late March to early April) and a country in celebration; it books out earliest at a premium. Autumn (October to November) is the one we recommend most: crimson maples, warm days and the year's most reliable skies. Winter is underrated, with crisp light, quiet temples, snow in the mountains and the best value of the year. May and early June bring fresh green everywhere before the rains. The honest exception is high summer: July and August are brutally hot and humid, hard on anyone in formalwear, and unless it is truly your only window we will steer you to a different month.
Yes. The call is free and there is no budget gate on it. Tell us your number and we will say plainly what it can do in Japan, and where we would put it. Some of the best days we have planned were built to a firm budget.
Then you want our elopement page, where planning starts at $6,000. We also plan the Shinto shrine ceremony at working Kyoto shrines, described here.
Thirty minutes, no obligation. You'll come away knowing what a wedding in Japan actually involves, whether or not you plan it with us.
Book your free consultationBilingual planners based in Tokyo · For couples from around the world
