Japanese Wedding

On Saturday, I went to my first wedding in Japan. It was for my friends, Keisuke and Rie. I found out from Ayako before the wedding that there were many customs done and so even how I presented money in a card for them wasn't all that easy. Anyways, I met my friends Keiji and Eiki downtown to catch a hotel bus to a very fancy hotel by Hamana Lake where the wedding was. We were actually just going to the reception as the wedding ceremony was only for close family.
Still, the reception was about 4 hours long. After presenting my card + money at the entrance, we all gathered in a large room for an official photograph. It took a while to do and was getting a bit hot inside. We then walked down to the reception room, first passing and congratulating the couple and their parents:
The reception room was very fancy and even had a huge bouquet of flowers on a cart:We had a wonderful meal that consisted of 12 small courses, which was more than filling:
There were a number of speeches while we ate and some entertainment such as someone playing a piano, some friends singing karaoke and a slide show of the couple. There was also the ceremonial opening of the sake barrel:It was very fine sake served in wooden cups that we got to keep (and not drunk straight out of the barrel):Here is a picture of the bride, Rie, leaving with her father to change clothes during the reception:
And we got a group shot with the more modern clothes afterwards:There was then the cake cutting ceremony:Overall, it was a fun and interesting experience for my first Japanese wedding ceremony. While waiting for the bus to take us home, we waited in the lobby where a woman was playing a traditional Japanese instrument, a koto:And I got a photo with a doll display which is for Girl's Day, which is a holiday in March:That night, there was a second party at a bar downtown where we had a group shot with some who didn't come to the reception: