Wedding Celebrant

[Anonymous]

Hello --

I'm very interested in finding out more about becoming a Wedding Celebrant. Any imput on how to get started, certification etc. & good companies will be welcome & appreciated... Thanks You.

[MB]

Tim,

you may well be advised to do a bit of a trawl through Japan Times and other news sites.
In the not too distant past the ranks you are looking at joining have been clamped down upon by police - not disimilar to cutting the nails on a terminal patient in the hope he will recover.
Whatever you find though - certification will be the key. Not merely the looks and hair color certification requirements alone the realists would would have to add.

MB
http://circle.excite.co.jp/club.asp?cid=e0501179

[Anonymous]

MB,

Thank you for you candid imput. I am already & will continue to troll. In the meantime, what exactly do you mean 'certification'. Are we talking ordination, or just solid Seminary & Church experience (which I have)?

[J.]

Are you familiar with the weblog of Mike at Hunkabutta? His stories could be of help to you. Check out his archive of April 2003. Several entries are related to this topic.

http://www.hunkabutta.com/archive.html

[MB]

Tim,

may be wrong but I believe certification to mean the correct 'religious?' visa (name I can't recall just now) having provided credentials amounting to proper ordination in order to obtain the visa.

(others on this page far more knowledgeable than me and can probably give you the proper contact numbers and visa name etc)

In reality, whilst most Japanese who are married probably don't really know or even care about such matters I think it could well be the ordained local chaps that are looking at protecting their turf so to speak.

Names desert me now but the bells are ringing with the 'puller' being the JT letters to the editor HP. Have a look there.

In all honesty, I don't believe non-ordained personnel of any religion should be performing official services but whether local laws and morals agree with lowly MB is another matter

MB

[Anonymous]

Thank you.

"Lowly MB's" opinion & response are much appreciated.

Yes. Local laws & morals don't always agree. As for the visa question, I again suspect you're right about protecting turf?

Will look into JT more...Thanks.

Tim

[Anonymous]

Hello Tim

Just replying to your question

I have been doing weddings in the Kyoto ,Osaka area for about 1 year now. To do the job you have to be able to pronouce japanese correctly and fluently but not understand it.

When I started out I did not know what I was actually saying but now I do. You also have to be able to do the rehearsal before the ceremony. I am just starting to learn how to do this as my Japanese level is now high beginner, but needs a lot more study.

Usually the company that hires you will want you to read out the entire ceremony in front of a group of people to see if you can talk to large groups and not get stagefright. If they think your good they will take you on.
The company I work for in Kyoto only hires Gaijins on spouse visas and Japanese nationals "retired salaryman" as this avoids hassles with immigration,no restrictions for spouse or dependant Visa.

I think if you are on a working holiday visa or work visa their are restrictions on the amount of work you can do.
All the stories I read about the immigration officials raiding hotel chapels are mainly people on Tourist Visas which is a no no

The Religious visa you can only get if you are an ordained minister, don't know how many of those they give out.

Hope this has been of help.

Regards Larry Wilcox

[Anonymous]

Larry,

Very helpful! Thank you. Gives me a good idea what it's like & what they're looking for. It also clears up the question about the visa. I'm on a spouse so no worries...

I don't live in Kyoto, so there's very little chance I'll ever work for the same company, but I would be interested in following up with them just to find out more about this & see if they have offices up north. I may soon be moving to Hokkaido. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

I put up a website to help a friend find wedding pastors for different wedding jobs that he can't fill. Many jobs have been passed on as part time work. And personal weddings have also been passed on. There is a lot of wedding info on the website and a wedding script you can start working on.

I'd say it's important to go into this with the right motives as sincerity and a lot of love are important. And there is a lot of responsibility involved. Each wedding is "show time" and mistakes of names and things can cost you in the way of big fines if the couple make a claim. This is one of those if you can't take the fire stay out of the kitchen type of things.

Anyway the site is http://info.japan-wedding-services.com I hope it helps in some way.

-Ken

[Anonymous]

Ken,

Thank you very much.
You'll be glad to know, we had already found your site 2 or 3 days before you wrote, and are in the process of studying it. Thanks.

Tim

[Anonymous]

There is a guy making it very difficult to get visas in Japan to do weddings...and at the same time making it very easy. He is petitioning the Japanese government to set tighter restrictions on who can do weddings and at the same time he is setting himself up to be an outlet for the appropriate visas. He will help you out with a visa and weddings if you give him 10 percent of what you make. Kind of interesting... You just want to be careful about which company you do business with.

I was doing weddings in the Nagano area for a couple of years. My cousin was there working with some missionaries and I just sort of fell into the gig. From what I have noticed, the best way to get involved in weddings is to get involved with the missionaries in the area you live. Just go to one of the local churches and talk to them about it. They may be territorial or they may throw a hotel your way right off.

Be prepared for the business aspect of the whole gig. It is very much so a high pressure showbusiness kind of thing. You will have to negotiate for money with whoever it is that is paying you; the hotel, wedding company, other business. A lot of the hotels are yakuza so it may be a good idea to get a little info (if you can) before you jump into anything.

[Anonymous]

Ay,

Thanks. Great idea about hooking up with local missionaries. Also, will keep your caution in mind.

[Anonymous]

I've been doing weddies for over three years now. They've been great as a way of saving up a big lump sum for putting a deposit on a house, and also I enjoy doing them. But however much I enjoy the performance, having every one of my weekends interrupted has finally got to me, and now that I have a decent sum of money saved I'm not doing as many. The way I have decelerated may be of interest to some of you. I put my prices up! I now cost 20,000 yen per wedding. The company that hired me regularly made their apologies and let me go, but, like magic, someone else turned up who hires me regularly at that price. I don't do as many: only about 8-10 a month, but that suits me down to the ground. And, of course, I'm making half as much again - and still insisting on getting my travel expenses paid. If you're not desperate for the money, try it! If everyone did it and stuck by it, the wedding farmers would have no choice but to pay more, and everyone would benefit. Japan may be in recession, but that recession hasn't hit the wedding industry in any way - however much they might find it to their advantage to insist that it has. Like the construction industry, it's a pocket of the economy that is still booming, so do the market thing: take full advantage of it.

[HeldAloft]

Hello,
I stumbled into this celebrant thread and wondered if there is any call for a YahooGroup on this topic. Celebrants generally tend to keep to themselves--sometimes out of embarrassment at what they are doing--usually because they are not so chatty about it.
Either way, I have been in the field casually just a few months and enjoy it.
I am not an ordained minister, but do consider myself to be at least a cultural Christian and have respect for the elements of that that are integrated into the service. With some reservations, of course.
Any others? Shall I start up a YahooGroup?
J in Chiba

[Ken44]

Celebrants generally tend to keep to themselves--sometimes out of embarrassment at what they are doing--

I think many couldn`t care less what other gaijins think. They had a good thing going and wanted to keep it quiet.

[deleted by request]

My wife went to her friend's wedding yesterday. Is this someone we know here?

[KansaiBen]

My wife went to her friend's wedding yesterday. Is this someone we know here?

I took off my toupee for this.Cant have J_T thinking I actually have hair.

[deleted by request]

I took off my toupee for this.Cant have J_T thinking I actually have hair.

Seriously? Yukino's wedding last Sunday at the View Hotel in Asakusa? Then you must have met my wife too.

[ChrisElliot2000]

Seriously? Yukino's wedding last Sunday at the View Hotel in Asakusa? Then you must have met my wife too.

I used to do that place last year... the hotel staff kind of suck. They never fill out the prep sheets and have weddings scheduled too close together so the couples smash into each other, coming and going, at the entrance. But they do have a nice chapel with the blacklight effect during the amen chorus.


Got any pictures of the seikatais?

[GameOverTBN]

Yeah,Alot of Hotels don't seem to care about creating a space between the weddings,just try and squeeze them all together and make as much in as quick of time as possible.That would be fine and dandy if they had a clue and were organized but it can be chaotic at times.

Some Hotels are a pleasure to work for and others are so incompetent it makes your job very tiresome.Just thankful to be working now as the wedding business isn't what it used to be? AMEN,G

[Polak]

Does anyone know the agency/company that runs the ceremonies in Sapporo?

I used to be a priest in the west of Japan so have the licence and experience, but moving to Hokkaido for the snow season and wanted to hook up a similar job.

Cheers!

[RK11]

Hi everyone,
I just got a job as Wedding Celebrant and am now starting my training.
The wedding agency offers me gowns for about 3 man, a little dear I thought.

Perhaps you know an inexpensive (web)shop or are you leaving Japan and wanting to sell your own gown?

Thanks

[KansaiBen]

Hi everyone,
I just got a job as Wedding Celebrant and am now starting my training.
The wedding agency offers me gowns for about 3 man, a little dear I thought.

Perhaps you know an inexpensive (web)shop or are you leaving Japan and wanting to sell your own gown?

Thanks

found one here for about 2-man

http://www21.ocn.ne.jp/~nozomi/bokkai.htm

[RK11]

found one here for about 2-man

http://www21.ocn.ne.jp/~nozomi/bokkai.htm

Thanks, I ordered one and got it a few days ago. Looks and fits good.