Adam and Sayako 's Wedding in City of London, East Central London

THE WEDDING

Our venue for the wedding was the Barbican Conservatory. As new residents of London, we knew we wanted to have our wedding in our new home. I had always envisioned an outdoor wedding, but with the unpredictable weather here, we decided to explore botanical gardens instead—and fell in love!

Being minimalists, our focus was less on décor and flowers, and more on our guests. We dedicated time to finding the perfect photographer and videographer, curating travel and accommodation tips for our guests, and carefully selecting food, snacks, and beverages that catered to everyone’s dietary requirements and preferences.

Hiring the Barbican as our venue came with a wedding coordinator, Tomas, who was absolutely brilliant from start to finish. His attention to detail and thoughtful consideration of our needs made him the perfect person to coordinate both the day itself and the lead-up to it.

Being minimalists, our focus was less on décor and flowers, and more on our guests. We dedicated time to finding the perfect photographer and videographer, curating travel and accommodation tips for our guests, and carefully selecting food, snacks, and beverages that catered to everyone’s dietary requirements and preferences.

My dress was designed by Lana Grace, a Ukrainian bridal brand. I purchased my dress from White Canvas Bridal, where sample gowns are sold at lower prices. The selection was fantastic for the price point, though most dresses required alterations. The woman running the shop was incredibly helpful, recommending styles and accommodating my indecisiveness by offering plenty of advice and giving me extra time to decide.

The only downside is that they don’t reserve or hold dresses of interest, and there was a bit of applied pressure to make a decision. In the end, I felt nervous about losing the dress, so I returned a few hours later to buy it (no regrets though—I absolutely love it!).

The style I ended up choosing was sleeker and slimmer than what I originally had in mind, but I loved it—I wanted to feel like a goddess for once, and my dress truly made me feel that way! My favourite details were the two shoulder veils, the leaf-lace design, and how it gave me a slightly curvier silhouette.

My dress originally came with shoulder veils adorned with beautiful leaf-lace appliqué. However, I had always envisioned lace adorned sleeves, so, since the veils were plenty long, I had the lace transformed into long sleeves, while the remaining tulle stayed as shoulder veils.

I wore Jo Malone’s Myrrh and Tonka perfume because my husband and I chose it together for my birthday one year, back when we lived in Tokyo.

I’m a girl on a budget, and I’m not particularly concerned about brand names. My sister-in-law had a pair of really cute low heels with pearly studs from Zara, and I loved them so much that I decided to buy the same pair for my wedding day. I loved my earrings – and they were only ¥300 (less than £2) from a cute, little shop in Japan.

I dried some gypsophila flowers and had them placed into my pulled-back, wispy boho braid. I made sure to dry two bouquets worth – three weeks before my bridal preview – so that I had plenty to work with before and on the wedding day. I ended up having enough for my bridesmaids to use as well!

Carla Viljoen did a brilliant job of helping me achieve the wispy, elegant look I had always envisioned, while also accommodating my large bridal party (six bridesmaids, one bridesman, plus my mum).

Adam opted for an off-white linen suit, a white collared shirt without a tie, and sand-coloured suede loafers. I loved his laid-back yet classy look!

THE CEREMONY

I walked down the aisle with both of my parents, as they both raised me and I could never choose between them. For my entrance song, we chose the version of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ sung by Kina Grannis, as featured in Crazy Rich Asians. Once I saw that wedding scene, it was all I could envision for our wedding.

Despite having no practice with the wedding party, the timing was impeccable—I ended up walking down the aisle during the moment toward the end of the song where her voice echoes on its own. Just like it was in the movie. The room fell completely silent, my parents and I were sobbing, and I had to pinch myself.

Since I am half American, we had our entire wedding party stand at the front with us, in true American wedding style. This also saved space for more guests to be seated, as we had limited seating, and it made standing in front of everyone feel less intimidating.

Our good friend and one of my bridesmaids, Nina, officiated the ceremony. She was a wonderful choice, well-spoken, knows us both so well, and full of heart. The ceremony she conducted reflected all of this and added irreplaceable value to the day!

We wrote our own vows and took turns reading them out to one another in the ceremony.

We had picked one groomsman and bridesmaid to do a reading each. My bridesmaid’s reading was impressive and moving, full of intellect - a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. The groomsman’s lovely reading was ‘Love Like A River’, by Whitney Hanson.

We walked back down at the end of the ceremony to ‘September’ by Earth, Wind & Fire—a favourite of ours that was on my Tinder profile when we matched seven years ago (plus, it was a September wedding!).

My ring was purchased at Jewelry Tsutsumi in Tokyo, just before our ‘first’ wedding with our immediate family. Adam waited a bit longer for his, as he wanted a custom ring by Castro Smith, a hand engraver and jeweller in London.

The design represents my Japanese family crest (a crane), with feathers wrapping around the outside and a crane’s head and wings engraved on the inside.

For photos, we chose The Kensington Photographer. Adam and I were quite particular about this choice, as we are both interested in photography ourselves. We wanted someone who could capture the day in an emotive, natural, and romantic way without breaking the bank.

Our photographer on the day, Mick, was incredibly friendly and easy to work with, often quietly moving behind the scenes, leaving everyone and everything undisturbed and natural. The communication, photography turnaround period, and quality of the images were all fantastic, and we are thrilled with our decision to hire them.

Our videographer was the incredibly talented Richard Leng of RL Films Co. As a huge fan of cinema, I knew I wanted our wedding video to feel like a short film masterpiece. Richard’s sharp eye for storytelling and cinematography made him the perfect choice, and we are eagerly anticipating the final film in a few weeks.

THE RECEPTION

We wanted the day to truly reflect who we are as individuals and as a couple. Our tables were named after cities we’ve visited together (we sat at ‘Pittsburgh,’ where we first met).

The venue was in the city where we’re putting down roots, allowing us to introduce it to family and friends from outside the UK.

Décor was kept to a minimum, and the small amount we did was all DIY with my mother-in-law. We sourced pieces from charity shops, IKEA, and a local flower shop to put together all the dried flower bouquets. We made six mini bouquets for my bridesmaids, one buttonhole for my bridesman, one bridal bouquet for myself – plus a few extra to use as table centrepieces (the bridesmaid bouquets were also repurposed as table centres). The dried flowers cost around £300, and many bouquets are still with us as decoration in our homes.

We also hung photos of Adam and me as children, along with wedding photos of our parents and grandparents, in the bathrooms as a ‘hidden gem’ for guests to discover.

We decided not to have cake as we aren’t huge fans of cake, and often heard stories about it not being eaten. We redirected the funds for this to our evening comfort food, which was a huge hit with guests. Our venue provided catering as part of the booking, with the food prepared by their in-house restaurant and team, Searcy’s.

Since my husband has graphic design background, he designed all the stationery, plus our website!

Some of my family who attended from Japan don't speak English, so we incorporated some Japanese into our speeches and provided them with printed translations of the order of events, menu, ceremony, readings, and speeches, so they could fully understand and follow along in the day.

The entire day was so full of joy and love that it’s difficult to choose a single highlight. Half of our wedding guests flew in from abroad, representing seven countries in total, which left us in awe. Having moved frequently growing up, with family and friends spread far and wide, it’s often hard to reunite. I had always dreamt of having loved ones under one roof for once, and the wedding fulfilled just that. It was magical. The love in the room was palpable, and I felt like I was living in the happily-ever-after scene of a 2000s rom-com.