Asking for Money – going overboard?
Last week, I wrote two posts on how to ask for money. But then I thought about how it would be seen to a wedding guests. My personal opinion is that if you badger on about how you need money then it might irritate your wedding guests. However, if you say something like “You dont need to buy us a present, but if you want to, save your money and just give us cash so we can use it”
Yesterday, my fiance and I received this email (oh the horror!) invitation to a wedding in Japan. We found out that 30,000 yen is equivalent to £211 so about $500? I thought this was extremely crude but then again, this just might be Japanese culture to put this on the invitation itself? Anyways, thought this would be a good way to share information about a wedding in Japan and how to get there, where to stay, what to see!
Hi Everyone!!
Salut a tous!
皆さんこにちは！
We, Miyoko & I, would like to invite you to our wedding next year in Japan.
On est tres content de vous inviter a notre marriage l’annee prochaine en Japon.
来年の結婚式お誘いたいです。
It will be held on Saturday May 16th 2009 at 5pm, in Niigata, Japan. It will finish at 8pm.
Ca aura lieu le Samedi 16 Mai 2009 a 5 heures a Niigata en Japon. Fin a 8 heures.
来年の5月16日土曜日,午後5時。
結婚式の場所は五十嵐邸ガーデン(THE GARDEN HOUSE IKARASHI)
受付開始は、16:30
挙式は、17:00
終わる時間20:00
The website is below:
Le site web se trouve en bas↓
http://www.swanlake.co.jp
It will be a Japanese style wedding, so customs and traditions will be followed in the Japanese manner.
(For those of you who have attended, or lived in Japan, there isn’t much else you need to know I guess.)
Please continue reading if this is your first time to Japan.
Pour ceux qui n’ont jamais aller a Japon, continuer a lire svp.
It is traditional for guests to give a monetary present in Japan.
Only friends & close family/relatives are usually invited to the actual wedding ceremony.
Everyone else is invited to the “2nd party” called a “ni-jikai”, which is held after the 1st part is over.
(So it’ll be a long night for most!)
Unfortunately the monetary gift has a minimum amount set per person (adults only not children).
For friends it is a minimum of 30,000 yen.
For family members/relatives it is usually 100,000 yen.
This may sound weird to most Westerners, but it is accepted in Japan as normal.
In return the guests are given “gifts”, similar to a “party favour” or large “doggie bag” I guess, which you don’t get in a Western wedding. Everyone gets the same, or almost the same “gifts”, there are sometimes slight differences for men or women, it depends on the bride and groom.
(With the current exchange rates in favour of the pound & euro, those of you coming from Europe will find this quite reasonable I think.)
But as we understand for some of you costs involved in coming to Japan are quite high, we want to halve the minimum amount per person. This won’t apply to people living in Japan though. (So keep it to yourselves!)
Also, we have arranged with Miyoko’s cousin, who works at the Akasaka Prince Hotel in Tokyo, for cheaper rooms if you wish to stay there during your trip to Japan.
She’s got you a twin room at only 10,000 yen a night with breakfast included per person. Let us know if you want us to book a room(s) for you.
We are still looking into arrangements for hotels in Niigata.
We might even be able to get an empty flat for those of you who don’t mind sharing & want to cut costs as much as possible. Only problem will be getting around I think. Still waiting to hear about that.
The travel.rakuten.co.jp website has some useful links for hotels in Niigata, & Japan, too.
Most hotels can be found for less than 7000 yen a night I’ve been told.
Business hotels are even cheaper, and just as good, but just don’t expect the full services.
(Love hotels are only really useful for 1 night, or a few hours if you want, but good for when you are travelling light around Japan.)
For those of you who wish to travel around Japan, I’ve been told the Japan Rail Pass is quite good.
Apparently it’ll cover the cost of getting to Niigata from Tokyo, and then also whereever else you plan to visit.
Only available for tourists, so I’ve never been able to get one before as I lived and worked there, and you have to purchase it in your country of departure/overseas.
Getting to Niigata from Tokyo, you have several options .
1. The Shinkansen (bullet train). Fastest but most expensive option. About 10,000 yen one way.
2. The highway bus. Half the price but takes about 5 hours.
3. By car, if u are going to drive or car share.
4. Regular train. I’ve never done this I hear there is a slow train.
Also looking into climbing Mt.Fuji if the season is open in May if anyone is interested.
If you have any other questions please call or e-mail me anytime!
Please let us know asap, about number of people, etc.
We haven’t heard back yet from the actual place yet for a deadline, but we’d like all RSVPs by January 11th please.
Thanks & hope to see you in May!!
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