Stories From A Japanese Wedding Pastor

I made a small blunder the other day at a wedding. At certain venues the pastor has to wait in a side room with the bride, groom and father-of-the bride. This can be either excruciating or relaxing depending on the mood of the happy couple. This particular couple seemed only slightly nervous and were obviously in a “love marriage” so all was well as we waited.

We made small talk and I did my usual spiel about “Leave the ceremony to me, I’ll tell you what to do, you don’t need to memorize anything”. Then I asked them if they had any honeymoon plans. They got red-faced with embarrassment and the dad looked away..the groom quietly said “Actually, she’s six months pregnant..” Now, I’ve seen many pregnant brides but even for slim, tiny Japanese women this bride did NOT look pregnant. I mumbled something like “well, there’s always time in the future to travel”, then we got to the call to start the wedding.

Not a huge mistake but something to look out for anyways. Japanese wedding staff are hyper-vigilant about making the full experience a “dream” for the happy couple. ANY deviation from that is frowned upon, and could cause some criticism to come my way. Luckily none of the staff heard this exchange. You never know what may or may not cause a complaint so it’s better to always stick to routine.