Japanese Wedding Trends (just in my case)

During two years since I left the wedding industry, there have been many wedding trends emerging.

Before I restarted my business, I read "Zexy," which is a Japanese wedding magazine, to preview wedding trends.

Candle relay, balloon service, unity candle, time capsule candle, surprise by groom's transformation to a server(discreetly,) opening & ending DVDs with the couple's "avatars..."
I have learned a lot from the magazine and...the Internet!
However, I didn't imagine how wedding actual sites advance much more than the Web-sites.

When I had a meeting with a couple, I asked the bride.
"So, would you want to read a letter to your parents before the ending of the reception?"
A typical ending of Japanese wedding is giving the couple's parents bunches of flowers as signs of appreciation.
Before that, it's common that a bride reads a letter to thank her parents for growing her up.
That sort of shows "she is making a line between single and married. She is not anymore just her parent's daughter. She is a "bride" of the groom's family. See, she is saying good-bye to her family!"
I know, many couple believe marriage is between individuals, not families now.
However, reading a thankful letter by a bride to a bride's family is a beautiful tradition.

So, I asked the bride, "Would you want to read a letter to your parents?"
She said "yes," but I heard the groom said, "Yes, I would." at the same time.
I asked him again. "Would you...read a letter?"
"Certainly, I would." He answered, filling with tears in his eyes...
"Oh... I mean, Wow! So nice of you two! Your parents must be pleased about it!"
I made an instant smile immediately.
That's one of important jobs as a wedding emcee!

After the meeting, I asked my wedding mentor, a very nice lady who has been a wedding emcee and was a TV reporter.
She said, "Ah, it's getting common! The world is getting gender-free, as well as wedding field. Why doesn't a groom read a thank-you letter to his own parents if a bride does!"
...OK, OK, I knew stuff crews at my English school are kind of gender-free, ( I mean, guys are so sympathetic like girls, and girls work for a long time like Japanese typical male salaried workers...) but I didn't know gender-free wave is cutting into wedding scenes, too.

The other day, another bride called me and suggested,
"I'm wondering what if you read a letter from the groom's ex-girlfriend?"
"Ex...who?" I thought I mistook who.
But she exactly said, "EX-girlfriend! That's a kind of surprise. You, emcee, say, "I got a letter from his ex-girlfriend. She knows well about him. Let me read her letter here."
You start to read it...then, gradually, guests get to know that is from me, a bride, not from his ex! Don't you think it's funny? I read the episode on the Internet. They said they got a big laugh. Don't you want to get a laugh at our party?"

"Well.. you might want to get a laugh, but don't you want to get your dignity?"
I wanted to ask her back, but surely, I didn't.
Instead of asking, I was advising.
"Well, it might be funny...among friends. But...think about it. At your reception, half of your guests are relatives. If the groom's relative think it's a bad joke... I want to make what you dream of come true on your wedding, but I don't want to make your impression nasty in front of his relatives. (Actually, I don't want to make MY impression nasty in front of guests! Who says "it's from his ex!?" That would be me!!) Wedding party is a kind of live stage. Depends on the couple and the audience, the funny surprise might turn to be faulty."
The bride understood, and thank God, she stopped suggesting the deadly surprise.

After the call, I talked about it to my wedding mentor again.
She said, "that's always a catch! Recently, many brides and grooms want to try funny(faulty) surprises or events what they read on the Website. It's a kind of trend. But we are like...you know, personal trainers. We need to get them back on the right truck, showing understanding what they want to do. Because if we make everything what they dream of come true, the reception would not be coming true! We stay on their Never land, but we are like the shepherds who advise," You NEVER want that!"

...I see. I knew "surprises!" have been trendy in Japanese weddings... but, I would say, "No more surprise to an emcee!" like the "ex-girlfriend" announcement surprise.