37 FramesThere’s a Japanese word that feels like the thread holding it all together. Wa.
It’s often translated as “harmony,” but it’s so much bigger than that. It’s the gentle balance between people and place, the still point between tradition and change, the way community can thrive without erasing individuality.
It’s how Japan works. It’s how love works. And, honestly, it’s how weddings work when they’re done well.
The Many Faces of Wa
In Japanese culture, wa isn’t about perfection or silence. It’s not everyone nodding in agreement. It’s about balance. The art of knowing when to step forward and when to step back. When to lead and when to follow. When to pour the sake and when to let someone else fill your glass.
In our world, wa looks like this:
- Planners balancing the wild ride of logistics with the soft touch of hospitality.
- Photographers slipping between visible and invisible, knowing when to direct and when to disappear.
- Families finding space for both old traditions and new beginnings.
It’s harmony in motion. Not static. Not frozen. Always adjusting, always listening, always recalibrating.
What Weddings Teach Us About Wa
Weddings are basically a crash course in wa.
Because if you’ve ever seen a couple who wants a 200-person guest list sit across from a father who wants 20… you know balance matters.
If you’ve ever navigated timelines with five different cultures in the same room… you know balance matters.
And if you’ve ever held a ceremony under cherry blossoms in a spring storm, you know wa isn’t always about control. Sometimes it’s about leaning into the chaos and finding the beauty inside it.
We’ve built our careers on this. On being the ones who find the flow. The ones who can bridge families, languages, expectations, and weather forecasts, and still make it feel seamless. That’s wa.
Wa in Life and Business
It’s not just for weddings.
Living in Japan has taught us how to practice wa in everything. In business, where we balance global couples with local traditions. In life, where we juggle work, travel, and family and still try to make it all fit. Even in our own partnership … the sun and the storm, the spark and the calm.
Wa is what lets it work. What keeps the center steady when everything else is spinning.
A Final Reflection
The older we get, the more we realize that harmony isn’t about keeping things quiet. It’s about creating something beautiful from the contrasts. That’s what Japan has shown us, over and over.
Because wa isn’t the absence of conflict … it’s the art of transforming it into connection. And when you master that? Whether in weddings, in love, or in life… you don’t just survive the chaos. You create something extraordinary from it.
📍 Built with balance and boldness | 37 Frames
📋 Planning | 📸 Photography | 🎥 Film by @37frames
Continue the journey through the language and philosophy that shape life and love in Japan. Explore more from 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.
- kintsugi – the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, embracing cracks and flaws as part of an object’s history. a philosophy that teaches that broken things can be made beautiful again, more precious for having been broken.
…and so many more to come. Whispers of meaning, guiding your heart and vision.
37 Frames
