Gifts of Money

When you are invited to a Japanese wedding reception, you are expected to bring gifts of money to the couple. The amount is generally approximated in advance by the level of one's income and social station. There are many online Q&As regarding the amount, but the innocuous amount is 30,000 yen (about $300). Be sure to use the special envelope for congratulatory gifts of money with the gold and silver (or red and white) strings. There are many cute envelopes at stores these days!

At a Japanese wedding, guests will receive physical gifts (including food and drink) of about the same value as the monetary gifts they brought. Also, for the guests who come a long distance, almost half the amount of transportation expenses are paid and accommodations are arranged. Thus, you don't have to deduct the expenses from the gifts of money you bring. Long ago, it was said that the gifts of money helps the couple to start their new life together, but nowadays it just helps to pay for the incredibly expensive reception.

Knowing the facts behind, if you cannot afford it, excusing yourself from attending the reception is not at all discourtesy.

Anyway, how about in your country?!
I am really curious to know how the wedding works out!!!

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Wedding Favors

Wedding favors are the gifts given as a gesture of appreciation or gratitude to guests from the bride and groom after the wedding reception. In Japan, we usually combine a food gift and a product gift.

The most popular food gift is Baumkuchen, since it represents longevity and the long-lasting prosperity of the family. Of course, you can present a pound cake or whatever you like, but we chose Baumkuchen without question! Same as our wedding cake, our Baumkuchen is from the pastry shop anniversary!

Then the most popular product gift is a "catalog". I don't know how we call it in English, but we call it "catalog gift". As you can see, it's a catalog that you can select an item that you want to receive later at home! Long ago, it was simply a booklet, but nowadays, it's in an album style, so you can use the album later!!! You can include a thank you card in the catalog, too! No wonder I chose the heart-patterned album. hehe! Of course, instead of catalog gift, you can present anything you like, but we wanted to give our guests a choice ;)

Last but not least, we also prepared a petit gift. It's a butterfly with 5 Jordan almonds. Five Jordan almonds symbolize five wishes for the bride and groom: health, happiness, fertility, financial stability, and longevity ;) I hung them on my arm and gave one by one to the guests when we saw them off! Why not heart?! Because we wanted to close with a butterfly since our invitation card was a butterfly, too!

Hope you enjoyed our idea :D

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Already A Month!!!

Can you believe it?! It's been already a month since our wedding!!! Time really flies!!!

Should we celebrate it tonight?! Maybe too much! Ha-ha!!!

Anyway, as you can see, my gel nails are all cracked!!! I was going to remove them yesterday but I put off the day till Friday because I love them ;P For my cooking, I can't do them again, but I really think gel nails are cool!!!

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GOTO FLORIST

Our wedding theme was "Heart Full NY Central Park". GOTO FLORIST decorated our wedding hall (LA COLLEZIONE) to meet our expectations.

A month before the wedding, we had a meeting with president Goto. On that day, we couldn't see all the flower arrangements but had few samples and drawings. One of the samples was the heart-shaped flower arrangement for guest table C. (left bottom drawing)

What was amazing was president Goto's creativity! In the vase, he put some strawberry jam to make it look red and sweet! Moreover, he said he's gonna use red sand, stones, gel window stickers and many other fun stuff on the day! The flower as you can see is no longer flower, but a creative object. He says he wants everyone to see, touch, and play with it. Isn't that amazing?!

However, we were worried about the Central Park, since we only saw the drawing with a huge heart in the park... we had an option to remove the heart from the park since it cost a lot, but we kept it because we thought it would be something nicer than what we expect...

... and that was true! The huge pink heart was in nice contrast with the green park!

Everything was beyond challenge! The lawn grew beside the guest tables was just like the Central Park, with some trees and rocks, of course! You can find birds and squirrels in the park, too! In the park, there is a table where you can have a break. In contrast, all guest tables were decorated with heart-shaped flower arrangements. Small hearts hanging from the ceiling created shadowgraph of hearts. (you can see the shadowgraph HERE)

It's been already a month since our big day but I still feel excited when I see those pics ;)

Many many thanks to GOTO FLORIST!!!

Anyway, it is time to remove my wedding nails...
Now my gels are all cracked X(

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Deciding On Home Equipments - 2

On the weekend, my darling and I again toured the showrooms for our new home equipments. This time, kitchen storage at Sun Wave and toilet bowl at TOTO.

Speaking of kitchen storage, I realized it is better to have a storage for home electric appliances since I now have no place to keep them around... Believe it or not, I keep my rice cooker on the floor X( Also my brand new electric pot is out of use in the box... Anyway, there is a storage with vapor discharge system for rice cooker, electric pot, etc! I think I definitely need it in my new kitchen!!!

TOTO was fun! They nicely display the toilet bowls. Hehe!!!

It is getting cold in Tokyo day by day. Fur boot covers are in style this year! You can simply wear them with your favorite shoes!

Did you get a flu shot already?! I got it last week ;)

Take care!!!

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Quick Scallop Recipe Contest In Hokkaido

On 11/4, I attended the award ceremony of the Quick Scallop Recipe Contest held in Hokkaido.

The ceremony was held at Hotel Monterey Edelhof Sapporo. With Gutch Yuzo (who is a singer, entertainer, and cook), there was a talk show, and many fans gathered. It was a lavish party!

10 winners were selected out of 372 entries nationwide and invited to the party! Gutch Yuzo gave us the prize one by one with his comments.

At the ceremony, we were able to try out all the award winning recipes recreated by the hotel chefs! We had a good time. Surprisingly, there were 2 winners who we knew each other since the other contests in the past!!!

Anyway, my schedule was pretty tough. I had to work in the morning of 11/4 and in the afternoon of 11/5, so I left my office at noon and came back at noon of the next day!

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take a pictures during the ceremony, so I will post the pics later when I received from the organizer!

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SPAM Recipe Contest 2010

Do you know SPAM?

SPAM is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation. It's not the spam e-mail. he-he!

This afternoon, I attended the finals of SPAM Recipe Contest 2010. 12 finalists were shortlisted for this event! Our recipes were re-created by the food specialists (Yoko Hamada and her assistants), so we didn't actually have to cook our own recipes (except pros) which was free of care :)

Unfortunately, my recipe did not get a prize, but I had a fun time trying out all those creative recipes and seeing SPAMMY! He was really cute! Funny that he has looooooong legs!!!

The contest will be held again (in Japan) the next year, so I will definitely apply for it again! My darling loves SPAM, so I know he would enjoy my creations, too ;)

I will translate my recipe of Salty Sweet SPAM Pork Balls later when I get a chance. It's a perfect recipe for bento since it goes great with white rice. At the same time, it's a tasty appetizer for your sake!

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My Accomplishments

Hi again! It's time to list my accomplishments in October :D

On 10/2, my La-Yu Nuts Furikake won the special prize at Kyoritsu Foods (food manufacturer). My recipe is super simple. I just mixed edible la-yu and walnuts together to give a fun texture! It goes great with white rice.





On 10/3, my Healthy Korean Style Udon won the award for excellence. It is a refreshing cold udon recipe for summer. I used hot Kimchi, and my trick is mixing yogurt! Believe me. Yogurt makes Kimchi tasty ;)

On 10/8, my Easy La-Yu Crab Fried Rice won the silver prize at metabo-help.com. Again, I used edible la-yu ;) The recipe is easy because I used a rice cooker. All you need to do is to put all the ingredients in a rice cooker and cook :D



On 10/12, my Rolled Potatoes won the award for excellence at the 35th anniversary campaign of Save the Earth Group. It was again held on twitter!!!




On 10/22 my Almond and Garland Chrysanthemum Mixed Rice was published in a food magazine called Lettuce Club (11/10 issue). It was introduced on P.124. It's a small article, but I am happy that mine was selected :D

On 10/31, my Salty Sweet Chicken Balls Nabe was published in the winter catalog of Kamada (dashi soy sauce products manufacturer). The recipe is very easy because I used a vegetable pack that contains all necessary cut vegetables for nabe ;)

USA residents only, so I can't participate in it, but there is an "Iron Foodie Contest" at Foodie Blogroll. The winner will receive a $200 store credit to Marxfoods.com! See details HERE ;)

Good Luck!!!

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Brothers and Sisters

During the wedding reception, we planned a surprise for our siblings!

We decided to walk out with them before we change costumes. I have two younger sisters and my darling has two younger brothers. We are the oldest ;)

My sisters wore elegant furisode (振袖) which is a traditional long-sleeved kimono for unmarried women. My darling's brothers wore suits because many men usually wear suits at the ceremony.

Do we look alike?! he-he!!!

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Deciding On Home Equipments

In the weekend, my darling and I again toured the showrooms for our new home equipments: kitchen at Sun Wave and bathroom & vanity at INAX. Since there are so many options for each equipment, we cannot decide the specifications at once. Now I have another change in my kitchen... we took many pictures there but somehow we want to see the real thing again, so going there back again this weekend... We cannot grudge the time for our new home, you know!
Can you believe it is already November?!
This week, I am really busy because I have to work on a holiday (11/3) and go Hokkaido (by plane) on 11/4 (PM) and come back on 11/5 (AM).

I hope I can handle all these schedules.

Anyway, I still have more to write about my wedding, so don't get board :P

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Wedding Ring Pillow

Wedding ring pillow is a pillow that has ribbons to tie the rings. Some people make their own, but frankly, ring pillow can be anything!

We first thought of using an apple, putting rings through its stem. But surprisingly, most apples at supermarkets have short stems, so we gave up.


Then later, by a lucky chance, my darling found this cute little heart-shaped leafy plant at a general store! It nicely matched our wedding theme: full of hearts!

By the way, our wedding rings are here ;)

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Our Marriage Vows

As I wrote before, we wanted our wedding to have a real homey feel, so we chose Civil Wedding Ceremony (人前式 - Jinzen Shiki). It is a nonreligious wedding ceremony that bride and groom read out their own vows in front of those present, implore them to validate the marriage. Our marriage vows (originally in Japanese) are the below :D

---------------------------------

Darling & Me:
Our Vows

Me:
We are happy to have our wedding in front of all who made time to be here today.

Darling:
Here, we will make 7 vows.

Me:
1. We will take care of our family.

Darling:
2. We will never forget to care for others.

Me:
3. We will build a family filled with love, laughter, and happiness.

Darling:
4. If we have a quarrel, we won't be stubborn, but listen to each other.

Me:
5. We will make a relaxing home, without stocking up on things.

Darling:
6. We will be never too busy to spend time together on weekends.

Me:
7. We will do moderate exercise and have well-balanced happy meal, to live long together forever.

Darling:
We will stamp our vows indelibly on our minds, share our joys and hapiness,

Me:
overcome our pains and sorrws together,

Darling & Me:
and together, we hereby pledge that we will bravely lead our lives hand in hand.

Darling:
2010.10.10
Groom, xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx.

Me:
Bride, xxx xxxx.

---------------------------------

Believe it or not, we practiced reading them out in the morning of the big day! Ha-ha!!! However, my darling didn't make a mistake! Me?! I misread words X(

We then signed the certificate of marriage in front of our guests.

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LOVE Pink Brownie

This is another wedding idea.

We served our guests with my pink brownies (top left one) along with recipe cards!!! My wedding coordinator was kind enough to ask her friend (patissier) to create them for our wedding. Remember it or not, what we printed out at Kinko's were recipe cards ;)

BTW, white square cake (top right one) is our wedding cake. Mango pudding in the spade-shaped dish and Almond Pudding (杏仁豆腐) in the heart-shaped dish are desserts for our wedding reception foods.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed them!!!

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Wedding Cake Rental

What is your ideal cake-cutting ceremony?

Mine is to cut a huuuuuuuge wedding cake :D

However, it costs way too much to order a huge real wedding cake, so we decided to rent a fake one!!!



Long ago in Japan, renting a fake wedding cake was nothing special, but nowadays, people are more for edible ones. Thus, you can hardly find a shop to rent a wedding cake. It took me about a week to find one!!!

As an option, we bought a two birds ornament on top of the cake, which matched our wedding theme perfectly!

Of course, we served our guests with real pieces of cake from one of the finest pastry shops called anniversary ;)

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