37 FramesThere are venues in this world that have beauty. And then there are venues that have possibility.
This particular ryokan sits quietly among ancient trees in Kanagawa, a pocket of cinematic Japan that feels almost mythical. The first time we walked its long, shaded entrance pathway many years ago, we stopped in our tracks. It felt like wandering onto a Ghibli storyboard. Lantern light. Bamboo. Silence wrapped in green. The kind of space that immediately feels like the perfect setting for a destination wedding in Japan… even before you know why.
We had been invited by the okamisama to photograph a wedding for commercial use. She wanted an international eye, a new perspective for couples dreaming of a ryokan wedding in Japan. And though the photography side of 37 Frames had long been global, our planning side was in its early evolution.
But even then, something stirred. That walkway was not just an entrance.
It was a stage.
A natural aisle, already whispering ceremony. And Dee saw it instantly.
What if the couple didn’t have the garden as their backdrop… but celebrated within it? What if guests didn’t observe nature from the terrace or the chapel… but became part of the living landscape?
What if this could become the most emotional aisle in Japan… a Japanese garden ceremony unlike anything this ryokan had ever seen?
And just like that, a seed was planted.
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The Vision That Waited Patiently for the Right Couple
Years passed. We planned beautiful celebrations here, each one very meaningful in its own unique way. We refined our approach to planning destination weddings in Japan. We even deepened our cultural fluency. But Dee never forgot the walkway.
She’d mention it the way an artist mentions a half-finished painting. She knew exactly what it could become. She always said: “When the right couple comes along, I’ll pitch it.”
Then came Michelle and Abhi. And the idea became real. Gold chairs lining the narrow path. Aki’s sculptural florals anchored in the trees and in the 37 Frames floral arch.
Guests seated inside the forest itself, not looking out from the indoors.
Nature not as decor, but as architecture. A true forest walkway wedding aisle. When Michelle stepped onto the path, the entire space inhaled. We all did. It was emotional in a way even we didn’t anticipate.
The ryokan staff later told us they had never seen anything like it. A ceremony that transformed the entrance into a cinematic aisle. A Japanese garden wedding that felt both deeply traditional and entirely new.
We knew that moment would ripple far beyond the day itself.
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A Ceremony Design That Became a Movement
Since that wedding, we’ve created only a handful of walkway ceremonies. It’s special to us. Each one different. Each one tailored to the couple. Each one rooted in deep respect for the ryokan, the forest, and the cultural context of celebrating in Japan.
Now, other planners are offering similar ceremony setups at the ryokan. And honestly… we understand why. It works. It is beautiful. It feels like a dream. And the images… well, they live forever online, inspiring couples searching for ryokan weddings, Japan garden ceremonies, Kanagawa venues, and cinematic outdoor aisles.
Ideas spread. Visions evolve. Creativity circles back in unexpected ways. And you can’t copyright vision. You can’t trademark a feeling. And honestly? If other couples get to experience even a fraction of what our couples felt walking that path, it’s absolutely not the worst thing in the world. It’s a gift.
We just want people to know the story behind it. The intention. The years of work. The cultural bridges we built to make it possible. The story behind why this ceremony design resonates so deeply. Because it wasn’t about creating something pretty. It wasn’t a trend or a template.
It was a philosophy.
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Designing Ceremony As a Living Experience
Our couples tell us the same thing after walking this aisle:
- “I didn’t expect it to be so emotional.”
- “I felt held by the space.”
- “It felt like the garden was part of my story.”
That is the intention of a true destination wedding in Japan. Not spectacle, but soul. (Or perhaps just a little bit of spectacle… it is ‘us’ after all…). Not performance, but participation. A ceremony is an entrance into marriage.
This ryokan walkway lets couples truly walk into something… into nature, into legacy, into connection. It is ceremony as sensory experience. Architecture made of wind and leaves and light. They see every face of the people who are gathered there to celebrate them.
A Japanese garden wedding at its most poetic. This is why it works.
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What Couples Want Now: Layered Experiences
There is a shift happening in modern weddings, especially among couples choosing Japan for their destination celebration.
They are not buying checklists. They are choosing:
- experience
- expertise
- taste
- cultural fluency
- design intelligence
- leadership they can trust
They want a wedding that feels lived in. Not staged. Not stiff. Not bound to old traditions unless those traditions hold meaning for them.
They want depth, atmosphere, emotion. They want to feel their story reflected back to them… moment by moment.
This ceremony design gives them exactly that. And Dee knew it from the first time she pictured it.
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The Hard Conversation: “This Is Japan”
We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve heard the phrase “Well… this is Japan.”
A sentence that can mean many things, but most often, it’s a gentle way of saying:
- “This is how weddings are done here.”
- “This is the format.”
- “These are the boundaries.”
And sometimes, beneath the politeness, it also means:
“We want international couples… but only if they fit the mold.”
Japan is extraordinary. Its culture, its rituals, its reverence for beauty. It’s why we’ve built our entire life and work here.
But Japan is still learning what destination weddings truly are.
Destination weddings are about honouring both cultures. Destination weddings are not about importing a Western wedding to a Japanese template. They’re about creating space for couples to honor their cultures, their families, their story … while also respecting the beauty of the country they’re standing in.
The challenge arises when venues want the benefit of welcoming global couples, but hesitate to offer the flexibility those couples need to celebrate as themselves.
It’s not resistance.
It’s unfamiliarity.
Japan has centuries of tradition. Destination weddings, however, are built on customization, cultural blending, and giving couples agency over their experience.
These two worlds are only just beginning to meet.
And that’s where planners like us step in. Bridging cultures, translating expectations, creating trust, and helping venues understand that embracing flexibility doesn’t dilute Japanese culture… it elevates it.
Because when Japan opens its doors to couples from around the world without asking them to change who they are, something beautiful happens:
- The celebration becomes richer.
- The venue becomes global.
- And the story told … in images, film, and memory … becomes unforgettable. Not just an event but a piece of living history. The couple’s. The venue’s. And in its own quiet way, the universe’s too.
Japan has everything it needs to be the world’s most sought-after destination wedding location. All it requires now is an openness to possibility… and the willingness to see that honoring other cultures doesn’t diminish Japan’s.
It expands the world’s respect for it.
Bridging Cultures With Sensitivity and Boldness
Japan has its own rhythm and rituals. Destination couples bring their own expectations, backgrounds, families, and dreams. Bridging those worlds is an art.
Couples need cultural awareness to celebrate respectfully. Japan needs the freedom to welcome new interpretations of ceremony.
And 37 Frames stands exactly in that space.
It is why our Japan destination weddings feel both deeply Japanese and deeply personal. Because when you understand both worlds, you can create something that belongs fully to neither… and yet honors both beautifully.
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The Bridge That Changes Everything
And this is where the partnership between Dee and Sumika becomes its own kind of alchemy. Dee brings the world with her – decades of global experience, an artist’s eye, an understanding of international etiquette and cultural nuance, a deep affection for Japan (her adopted home) and for the people who choose to marry here.
Sumika brings Japan in its purest form. She lives the traditions she shares, wearing kimono not just on wedding days but as part of her everyday life. She is fluent in the subtleties of Japanese customs, in regional cultures, in sake, cuisine, mochi pounding, and the quiet rituals that shape hospitality from the inside out.
Together they form a combination that is rare in the destination-wedding world. Some international planners hire a Japanese consultant to fill cultural gaps. Some Japanese planners bring incredible knowledge but have limited global exposure or experience with the complexities of destination weddings. Both these approaches work beautifully in their own ways. Every planner has their own superpower and the right couples should always choose the team whose strengths speak to their vision.
Ours just happens to be this bridge – a partnership where global perspective and Japanese tradition don’t simply coexist but collaborate. Where ideas flow both ways. Where cultures meet without compromise.
It’s a dynamic that makes planning feel less like logistics and more like storytelling. And watching the two of them work together – anticipating needs before they arise, blending creativity with cultural fluency – is one of the quiet joys of this work.
The 37 Frames Signature: Seeing What Isn’t There Yet
Dee’s talent isn’t just planning. It’s pre-visioning. She sees what a space could be long before anyone else does. She senses emotion, flow, narrative, atmosphere. She designs not just for aesthetics, but for memory.
Sumika brings cultural grounding, omotenashi, language, and grace. Together, they form a rare partnership in Japan’s wedding world… innovation rooted in tradition, executed with precision and heart.
Couples feel it instantly. This ryokan felt it. And now the industry sees it too. We’re proud of that.
But our work is not to guard ideas.
It is to keep creating new ones.
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Leaving a Legacy While Moving Forward
We’ve helped transform what destination weddings at this ryokan look and feel like. We’ve welcomed international couples from around the world, and put together teams of local vendors and creatives with an adventurous heart and an open mind.
And yes, others have since followed the path we carved. We are proud of that. Truly. Because what you create with meaning becomes a gift.
And this ceremony design has become one of those gifts.
But now, with 2026 couples arriving, the horizon is widening. There are other ryokans ready for wedding reinvention. Other Japanese gardens ready to become ceremony spaces. Other landscapes waiting for their own cinematic entrances.
We are not done exploring new ideas and venues. Not even close.
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To Our Walkway Couples… Thank You
To the couples who have walked that forest aisle… hearing the leaves… feeling the weight of the moment… becoming part of the garden itself… You were part of a chapter that changed something in Japan.
You trusted Dee’s vision when it was just a sketch in her mind. You became part of the garden. Your stories live in those trees now.
Because this is what we do. We see what isn’t there yet. And then we build it. Together.
You helped shape what modern ryokan weddings and destination ceremonies here can become. Many couples will request it. But only a few of you were there at the beginning.
We carry that always.
And to the couples coming in 2026? We’ve got new ideas. New venues. New visions that will make you cry in ways you didn’t expect.
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Final Thought: Aisles Come and Go. Stories Stay.
A venue is never the hero. The couple is. Their people are. Their stories are. A space is only as powerful as the vision shaping it. A ceremony is only as emotional as the people inside it.
And a wedding is unforgettable only when intention leads design.
Dee’s already got new venues on her mind. Places no one’s using for ceremonies yet. Spaces that make her stop mid-sentence and say, ‘Wait. What if we…?’
That’s how it always starts. With a ‘what if.’
And we can’t wait to show you what’s next.
We will keep dreaming. Keep elevating. Keep reimagining what destination weddings in Japan can look like.
And this is only the beginning.
37 Frames
