37 FramesWhat Kintsugi Means
One of our favourites today. It really resonates deeply with us both. Kintsugi (金継ぎ) is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. The cracks don’t disappear. They’re emphasized. Lit up. The flaw becomes the feature.
The philosophy is simple and profound: breakage isn’t the end. Imperfections aren’t something to hide. They’re part of the object’s history … and the repair makes it even more beautiful.
It’s not “good as new.” It’s better.
Weddings Are Never Perfect
We spend our lives in weddings, and here’s the truth: there’s no such thing as perfect. Vows get flubbed. Weather does its thing. Shoes break, bowties get forgotten, speeches run long, timelines wobble.
And yet… those cracks? Those are the golden seams. The things couples laugh about years later. The stories that get told at anniversaries. The moments that turn a flawless plan into a human day.
We don’t aim to erase imperfection. We aim to honor it. To polish it with memory until it shines. That’s kintsugi.
How Japan Taught Us This
Living in Japan reshaped our relationship with “broken.” Western culture often sees cracks as something to fix, something to cover. But kintsugi says: highlight them. Make them radiant.
We’ve carried that philosophy into everything we do. A ceremony rained out? The mist became the atmosphere. A forgotten speech? The laughter filled in the blanks. A spilled drink on the dance floor? It became the night’s first story.
What could have been seen as flaws became the shimmering seams that made the day unforgettable.
Beyond Weddings
Kintsugi is more than pottery, more than weddings. It’s life.
We all have cracks. Exhaustion. Heartbreak. Plans that didn’t work out. Seasons where we were held together by little more than grit and coffee. And yet, when you look back … aren’t those the times that shaped you most?
We don’t hide those cracks. We gild them. Because they tell the truth of who we are. And truth, in all its imperfect beauty, is worth celebrating.
Our Work Through a Kintsugi Lens
Photography is, in some ways, our own version of kintsugi. We don’t just capture the flawless. We capture it all … the tears, the rain, the tilt of a veil, the messy joy of real life.
And when we plan weddings, we know that the unexpected will happen. It’s not a disaster. It’s just part of the story. Our role isn’t to make cracks disappear, but to help couples see the gold in them.
Because sometimes, the broken bits are where the most beauty lives.
We design with precision, but we plan for life … for the wind that changes direction, the ceremony that starts late, the uncle who suddenly decides he’s a comedian. None of it breaks the day. It shapes it.
True planning isn’t about control. It’s about grace. It’s about knowing that the story will shift, and still trusting it will land exactly where it’s meant to.
Because in weddings, as in life, perfection isn’t the goal. Presence is. And when things go a little sideways? That’s where the gold glimmers through.
Final Reflection
Kintsugi is a reminder that the imperfect isn’t just acceptable … it’s fabulous. That resilience is its own kind of art. And that love is stronger, richer, and more luminous when you carry your cracks together.
In the end, the imperfect is perfect. And the gold is proof you lived, you loved, and you built something worth repairing.
To continue your journey through the resonance of Japanese philosophy, read more in our Japanese Word Series here:
- tsundoku – the act of acquiring books and letting them pile up, unread. a quiet love of knowledge and potential, a celebration of curiosity and the beauty of possibility waiting to be explored.
- wabi-sabi – a philosophy celebrating beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and the simple, natural flow of life. a reminder that flaws, cracks and changes make everything more meaningful.
- nagomi – the ancient Japanese philosophy that helps you find balance and peace in everything you do. feeling of balance, comfort, and calm in the heart and mind, the way to live a balanced and harmonious life the Japanese way.
- omotenashi – the spirit of selfless hospitality. a deep-rooted cultural concept that goes beyond simple politeness, embodying a genuine desire to anticipate the needs of others and provide an unforgettable experience.
…and so many more to come. Whispers of meaning, guiding your heart and vision.
37 Frames
