37 FramesThere’s a sound that only bamboo makes.
A soft, percussive hush … wind through green columns, knocking gently, like nature’s own applause.
It’s a sound that reminds you the world is alive. Moving. Breathing.
If you’ve ever stood in Kyoto’s Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, you know that beauty … and you also know the crowds.
Selfie sticks. Tour buses. A thousand voices echoing through what was once meant to be silence.
We love Kyoto. We always will. But we wanted something else. Something truer.
And so, during the quiet years when the world was paused, we went searching.
Driving deep into Japan’s countryside, meeting farmers and forest-keepers, finding places where time still whispered instead of roared.
That’s when we found it. The most magical bamboo grove we’d ever seen.
Not a tourist spot. A working bamboo farm.
Owned by the kindest humans you’ll ever meet and who have since become dear friends.
And it was there, in that private forest in Tochigi, that one couple … and their two-year-old daughter … came to say “I do.”
The Meaning of Bamboo
In Japan, bamboo (take, 竹) is more than a plant. It’s a symbol of strength, of flexibility, of quiet endurance.
It bends, but it doesn’t break. It grows fast and true, its roots entwined in communities underground. It thrives in every season, finding sunlight through persistence rather than force.
And perhaps most beautiful of all … bamboo flowers only once every hundred years.
An event so rare, it’s almost myth.
A once-in-a-lifetime bloom that reminds us that longevity, patience, and timing are all part of nature’s grand design.
How perfect, then, that a couple would choose to marry here — surrounded by these ancient, towering stalks.
To promise a life built not on perfection, but on resilience.
Not on stillness, but on growth.
The symbolism wasn’t lost on anyone that day.
The Ceremony: Where Tradition Met the Forest
The forecast said typhoon. The sky said maybe not.
As we arrived, the wind whispered through the bamboo … a low, melodic hum. The air was electric, charged with that kind of calm that always comes before something extraordinary.
The ceremony began quietly. Just the three of them.
Mother, father, daughter … held together by love, light, and the soft music of leaves.
Then, as if the earth itself had been waiting, the sun broke through.
A sudden shaft of gold light spilled through the forest … cinematic, ethereal, divine.
It was the kind of moment you don’t plan. The kind you earn simply by showing up, no matter the weather.
They exchanged vows. They shared laughter. And then they turned toward something timeless … san-san-kudo (三三九度) … the traditional Japanese sake-sharing ritual.
Three cups. Three sips.
Each sip representing heaven, earth, and humanity … the past, present, and future … the joining of families and spirits.
As they lifted the delicate lacquered cups, the sunlight caught the sake, turning it liquid gold.
Their daughter reached up to touch the rim of the cup, a new generation symbolically part of this union.
It was sacred and simple, cultural and connective … an ancient tradition reborn in a bamboo forest.
A Picnic, a Swing, and the Gift of Slowness
After the ceremony, they spread a picnic blanket beneath the tall stalks. Bento boxes and laughter.
Their daughter ran barefoot through the fallen leaves, the forest alive with sound.
Later, they took turns on the most iconic bamboo swing in Japan … a symbol of balance and joy. The kind of simple magic that childhood remembers forever.
They ended the afternoon making bamboo lanterns … shaping, sanding, carving tiny openings for light.
Each lantern unique, imperfect, beautiful … a metaphor for love itself.
Those lanterns, glowing softly as the sun fell, became their keepsakes.
Handmade reminders that even when the world moves fast, some moments deserve to move slowly.
The Night, Lit by Bamboo
As twilight settled, the grove transformed.
Lanterns strung high in the trees began to flicker, lighting up the forest in gold.
The three of them … bride, groom, daughter … danced barefoot under the glow, Aperol spritzes in hand, the air full of laughter and light.
The bamboo seemed to hum back in approval.
The whole forest … alive, sentient … celebrating with them.
It wasn’t a grand ballroom or a Kyoto shrine.
It was better.
It was private, sacred, and wild.
Why Bamboo Is the Perfect Place to Marry
Bamboo teaches us everything we need to know about love.
It’s strong but supple… able to withstand storms without snapping.
It grows in clusters … never alone.
It’s elegant without effort, simple without being plain.
It knows when to stand tall and when to sway with the wind.
It asks us to be flexible in the face of change.
To stand together in times of chaos.
To keep reaching for the light.
And maybe that’s why this forest felt like a temple.
Not man-made, but earth-made.
A place where vows felt less like promises and more like truths whispered into the leaves.
Why Privacy Is the New Luxury
In a world obsessed with visibility, privacy is becoming the ultimate indulgence.
To stand together in a space that is yours alone … to hear only wind and your own heartbeat … that’s rare.
That’s the kind of luxury that doesn’t come with price tags, but with presence.
That’s what we found in Tochigi.
And what our couples find when they trust us to take them off the beaten path.
We don’t just plan weddings.
We curate experiences that remind people what it feels like to be human again.
Because sometimes, the most powerful moments happen far from crowds, in places that don’t need hashtags to matter.
A Love That Will Bend, Not Break
As the night came to a close, the bamboo swayed in the wind, their leaves shimmering under the lantern light.
The family sat quietly, holding hands, their daughter asleep against her mother’s chest.
And we thought about how lucky we were to be there … to witness a love that, like the bamboo around it, would grow strong and flexible, rooted and free.
Love, after all, is a kind of forest too.
It’s alive. It bends. It endures.
And every once in a while, it flowers.
📋 Planning | 📸 Photography | 🎥 Film by @37frames
🌿 Written in a bamboo forest somewhere in Tochigi
37 Frames
