Shinto wedding
A Shinto wedding ceremony is typically a small affair, limited to family, while a reception is open to a larger group of friends.
[1] Shinzen kekkon, literally "wedding before the kami," is a Shinto purification ritual[2] that incorporates the exchange of sake between the couple before they are married.
[4] In the final portion of the ceremony, the priest offers Japanese evergreen to the altar, said to reflect gratitude to the spirits who blessed the union.
[1] These married gods were part of the Japanese lore of the "first wedding," and are called upon to reflect a harmonious balance within the marriage.
A bride will either wear a colourful uchikake (打ち掛け) over-kimono, or a pure-white shiromuku (白無垢, lit.
The uchikake, a garment derived from the ostentatious over-kimono worn by samurai women before the Meiji Restoration, is typically a colourful over-kimono, made of a heavy brocade fabric that may feature a woven design or embroidery and couching in gold and silver thread.
[1] The bride may change into a red kimono for the wedding reception events after the ceremony for good luck.
"horn-hiding") headdress, made from a rectangular piece of cloth, often white silk, which covers the high topknot of the bunkin takashimada-style wig typically worn by the bride.
[1] Earlier Shinto weddings were a family gathering without religious significance, aside from the occasional appearance of female dancers, katsurame, said to protect the bride from demons.
[1] Scholars suggest that the adoption of religious wedding ceremonies was driven by the decline of state-sponsored Shinto shrines during the 1880s.
[1][11] Soon, wedding ceremonies were performed in more cities, starting in Osaka and Kyoto, and began to attract the donation of larger dowries.
[1][11] After being stripped of its status as a state religion in 1945, there came a rapid rise in the democratization of Shinto wedding ceremonies, and, in turn, the number of people choosing them.
[1] This also reflected a mass movement of families into cities and smaller homes, which made it more difficult to host domestic ceremonies.
[1] As Japan's marriage rate declines, fewer Shinto weddings are being performed; the number has dropped from 90% of ceremonies to 50% since the 1990s.
