If I had the opportunity.

On the 23 November at 11.00 GMT, I tuned in to listen to a BBC Four broadcast on "Mastering the Art of Kimono".

The programme is about how the art of making kimono is dying because the artisans who make these wonderful garments do not have anyone to pass on their knowledge and skills and the market for kimono is also shrinking as the younger generation are more attracted to the western fashion.

Kihachi Tabata's family scrapbooks of kimono samples date back five generations. Photo credit: Pam Skinner.

Although I know about the plight that Japan is facing with their kimono and obi industry, it was still interesting to hear the artisans point of view.

And it then got me thinking.................

If I had the time, money and opportunity, would I devote my life to learning one of the many kimono techniques for the sake of it.

My creative side is telling me yes since I love learning new things and if it involves textiles then even better!  Something about learning and developing a particular knowledge set which you love is very appealing.  You are studying the area for the sake of learning and in doing so, you are enriching the lives of people.  This is the reason why we have art and music.  Can you imagine a world where there is nothing creative?  And I do not mean finding tax loopholes for help rich individuals or company to avoid tax.

Unfortunately one has to listen to their sensible side because there are many issues to consider.  First and foremost, my partner, I can't bear the thought of leaving him in the UK all on his own.  I maybe a modern woman and he himself would tell me to pursue my ambitions but we are old fashion when it comes to our relationships.  Wherever one goes, the other follows, that is what we are like so going to Japan on my own would break my heart.

However if money was not the problem then this would not be an issue.  My partner is happily devoting his life to maths and so long as he has maths (and the internet) he is happy.

Then there is the language barrier.  I have never been good at learning new languages, or at least I am good at one element but not the others.  Take French, when I was learning it at secondary school, I wasn't not good at listening or writing it however reading seem to be fine.  I have a feeling with Japanese, I will have the same issue.

All of these things do make me wonder because I love blogging, making kanzashi and kimono dressing.  I really do wake up sometimes like my husband and think "can I do such and such?".  Maybe one day I will be able to realise my dream.

If you are interested in the radio programme and here is the link to the page.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017chpt

I know if you are in the UK, you can listen to this programme over the internet so if you have the chance please do.

How to Plan a Wedding - Part Eight - Dear Diary......

Actually come to think about it, this should have been Part Five but my brain was a little tired.

So you thought about the time and venue for ceremony and reception (see what I mean about lists becoming lists!), time to think about what time of the year you want to get married.

Autumn, Spring, Summer or Winter?  What is the best season to get married in?  Is there a best time of year?

Unless your country experiences bad weather at certain time of the year, any time of the year is perfectly fine.  It all depends on what you want to do on your wedding.

Normally spring or summer is associated with outdoor weddings because the days are long and the weather is nice and warm.  Whereas autumn and winter are general considered suitable for indoor weddings.

However this is not a hard and fast rule!

So long as you have suitable clothing and heating, no one said you can't have an outdoor wedding in winter.  Just imagine having a wedding when there is snow on the ground or when the leaves are falling off the trees.  It will make wonderful photos!

Then again, if summer for you and the guest is just too hot to handle but you still want the long days to party then having an indoor wedding would be refreshing indeed.  And if any of your guests wish to enjoy the sun then they can venture out while you keep your cool in the venue.

I think technically, I had an autumn wedding but for some reason (maybe global warming) the weather in October was really nice.  In fact on the actual day, we had lovely sunshine and it was nice and warm throughout the day so I didn't have to worry about getting cold.

How to Plan a Wedding - Part Seven - Location, Location, Location (Reception)

Hopefully you have an idea of where you would like to have your ceremony and now it is time to think about reception.

Here are a few things that went through my head when I was brainstorming for ideas.

1. How far away from the ceremony should I go?
2. What is the maximum and minimum number of guests?
3. What is the food and drink like?
4. Is it children friendly?
5. Are there any local hotels in the vicinity for guests to stay?
6. Is there adequate parking?

When you are answering these questions, think about the guests you are likely to invite.  It maybe your big day but considering the needs of your guest will make all the difference in how your wedding will be remembered.

Choosing a remote reception where the guests have to drive 20 minutes before trekking another 20 minutes may give you a unique reception but leaving your guest high and dry in the middle of nowhere and with little to eat or drink will not go down well.

This is far too remote!

I remember my mother complaining about one wedding where she really wanted a cup of tea but when she asked for one the staff didn't give her one because the bride and groom didn't think about refreshments after the wedding breakfast.  She does not have a positive memory of this wedding.

How to Plan a Wedding - Part Six - Location, Location, Location (again)

So we talked about registry offices but if you are planning a non-religious wedding then that is not your only choice.  You can also get married at "Approved Premises" as they are called.

Approved Premises are places that have been granted a licence by the council to hold a marriage ceremony.  Normally these premises are stately homes, hotels or restaurants and most of the time the local council will have a list of such premises.

Here is the list for Southend on Sea

http://www.southend.gov.uk/info/317/marriage-arrangement_and_ceremonies/612/marriages/5

and this one is for Solihull.

http://www.solihull.gov.uk/community/21397.htm

As you can see the council website ends up being your friend here.

Then last but not least there are the religious ceremony.

If both of you wish to get married in a place of worship then you probably already have an idea of where you would like to get married.  However if you are like my friend who was a Catholic, she found two Catholic churches she would like to get married in and it was only after a conversation with the Father that she finally made her choice.

When it comes to getting married at a place of worship, it is best to contact the person in charge of marriages at the religious building to see what needs to be done.  The reason for this is that not all places of worship have a licence to hold a marriage and if the place has a licence then they may not have an incumbent (or official) who is able to register the marriage.  For the latter, this is normally resolved by booking a registrar and they will attend your marriage which will be conducted by the minster.

For certain Asian marriages, they would go to the registry office to get their marriage recognise by law and then hold a separate religious ceremony at the place of worship so that their marriage is recognise by their religion.

Remember if you don't understand something.  Don't be afraid to ask or it could end in heart ache.

Tomorrow we will look at receptions!

How to Plan a Wedding - Part Five - Location, Location, Location.

Now it is time to consider your location.

Do you have an idea of where you would like to get married?

Are you going to have your ceremony and reception in different places or are you opting to have them in the same place?

Now for us we wanted the ceremony and reception at the same place because we didn't like the idea of up-heaving 55 people from one place to another.  Therefore it was logically sound to have them in the same place.  Not to mention the registry office wasn't the most photogenic place to have photos taken and although we had the whole of Essex to choose from, it seemed only appropriate to get married in Southend on Sea because that is where most of our family live.

However that isn't to say all registry offices are ugly.  Here are some example of registry office that will give you the perfect setting for your wedding.

Weybridge Register Office

Langtons Register Office

Dunoon’s Registry Office

I actually can't believe how stunning Dunoon Registry Office looks but this one is in Scotland so I would expect some amazing buildings and landscape.

The most easiest way to find a list of registry offices is to search the Directgov site here.

http://maps.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/MapAction.do?ref=grolight

It not the best but it is a good starting point.

However registry offices are not the only places to get married which you will find out tomorrow!

How to Plan a Wedding - Part Four - What's the time Mr Wolf?

This can be a tricky question because there are a lot of factors that could affect your decision for the ceremony time.

From Black Country Metalworks 

You can get married anytime in the UK so long as the registrar or the religious official is free but when should you get married.

A morning wedding would suit a couple who are planning a small wedding where it is just you, your partner and some close family members and friends. The advantage of this is that when your ceremony is over, you can head straight to a reception for lunch and them spend the afternoon relaxing. However it does mean you have little time to get ready hence why I said it is suitable for a small wedding.

Then there is the afternoon wedding, this gives you plenty of time to round up your wedding party and get ready in relatively good time. Also if there is any issue that needs to be resolved, at least you have the time to get someone to sort it out. However should you get married before or after lunchtime? Before lunchtime then you will need to organise some sort of light refreshment while the photographs are being taken. Whereas after lunchtime then this is not an issue but then when do you want to serve the wedding breakfast?

Finally the evening wedding or at least before 17.00. This overcomes many of the issues raised in the previous paragraphs however do not be fooled. Even though your wedding is late afternoon, you will not be able to do anything in the morning because you will be preoccupied with you wedding.

Another thing to consider is how long you want your special day to last? If you want to go the whole hog and have the ceremony, wedding breakfast and evening disco then you will probably want to have an early afternoon wedding so you have time for your day to unravel. However this means your guest will have a long day and if you are like me and your guest list is mainly elderly relatives, having such a wedding would be too tiring.

So to summaries!

• Think what wedding elements you want.
• Choose a time for the ceremony which will allow you to fulfil your plans.
• Consider the guests needs.

How to Plan a Wedding - Part Three - Lists, Lists and Lists!

Now you know what you and your partner wants and also your parents.

Time to pull all this information together and create your first list which will detail what you need for this wedding to become a reality!

Things to think about : -

1. Ceremony time
2. Venue
3. Formality
4. Budget
5. Potential guest list
6. Legal details like marriage notices

Such a small list you may say but believe me from these 6 things you will be potentially creating another list for each one!

Tomorrow I will discuss ceremony time!

Kimono de Jack UK: 19 days left till December meetup at Birmingham!

If any of my followers like kimono then why not meet us up in Birmingham? Register your interest on the facebook event page and we will see you there.

Kimono de Jack UK: 19 days left till December meetup at Birmingham!: Only 19 more sleeps till that last KDJ UK meetup of 2011 so lets make it a fun one! Like last year, we will be visiting Birmingham Chri...

How to Plan a Wedding - Part Two - Discussion with the parents.

So you both know what you want from the wedding.

I suppose now you need to discuss it with your parents.

Now most parents are more then happy with whatever you want to do for the wedding but this is not always the case.  Maybe your parents would like it to be held at a particular location or maybe they would like to include an activity which is customary in their culture.  For example, my parents wanted a tea ceremony to be performed at the wedding.

Not the set that was used at my wedding but I don't have a picture of it.

Don't get upset by this and don't feel like they are going to take over your day.  It just means you have to accommodate their expectations.

And don't be afraid to mix cultures if you are in an inter-racial relationship.  There is always a way to add elements of one's culture in the big day, whether it is the way the venue is decorated or the food served.  These elements should be embraced on your big day because they will only make it more special and memorable.

So remember listen to what your parents have to say and make a note of what they would like you to do.

How to plan a Wedding - Part One - Decision making

So what is the secret to planning a stress-free wedding?

Did we follow a magically book which told us how to plan the wedding?

Did we hire a wedding planner?

Maybe I had a moogle to magic me the day?

(Unfortunately the final option was not possible but if only it was, wouldn't it be great!)

Nope the secret is planning.  No really, I'm not joking, if you want anything to go well then planning is the secret and don't be fooled by other people who say it was stressful.  Once you have planned and put everything in place, it should all fall into place.

And despite what people keep throwing at us, never did we panic or worry about our wedding.  In fact, we managed to annoyed people with our relaxed attitude.  However we could afforded to be relaxed because we had planned it to be this way.

Now no matter how spontaneous your wedding is, a degree of planning is needed and before we began to make any lists, budgets or announcing our engagement to our parents, we did the most important thing an engaged couple should do.

We both discussed what we want for the big day!

Yes we sat down and talked about what we would like.  No paper, no computer, nothing!  We just talked about how we both wanted a calm and relaxing day without too much pomp and for the ceremony itself to be as simple as possible.

This discussion proved to us that we both wanted the same thing out of our wedding and setup a nice solid foundation for all our plans.

So why not do the same?  It can be as formal as you want or you can just keep it casual.  How you do it isn't important but rather the outcome of the conversation that is key.

Wedding all over and finished!

I just looked at the date today and I have already been married a month and still haven't blogged about it.

How forgetful I have been these days.

It was a lovely day and apart from one slight hiccup, everything went according to plan!

The ceremony went smoothly and before my partner and I knew it, we were married!

If you are wondering what I am doing with my hand, I'm doing a maneki neko pose for my kimono friends.

And here we have my lovely husband walking me down the aisle as his wife.  We joked that we should running out of the hotel and hopping onto the first bus into town to avoid socialising but that would have been cruel.

The rest of the day was taking up by a tea ceremony.

and generally mingling around with the guest to make sure they got a chance to talk to us before having a nice three course lunch.

Yes it was a day to remember and now it is all over, it is time to return back into reality.

Strawberry Kimono: Lyuba's Guide to Starting a Kimono de Jack

As you may have noticed that I am a kimono fan or addict depending on how you see it and part of a kimono group where we create events to wear kimono at and we have lots of fun!

Have you always looks on with envy and wish you had a group nearby?  Well why not start one yourself?  My friend who started the one in UK has written up a guide for starting your very own Kimono de Jack.  It isn't hard at all and all you need is some kimono fans who are interested.

If you are interested then have a read below!

Strawberry Kimono: Lyuba's Guide to Starting a Kimono de Jack: Hello Everyone, Kimono de Jack is taking the world by storm. Well, at least the kimono world. Either way, when it started back in 2010, on...