When My Husband’s Co-Workers Organized a Dinner Party to Celebrate our Marriage

After my husband and I finished the gruesome paperwork needed to get hitched in Japan, my husband finally announced he is married to his co-workers. Upon knowing this joyous occasion, my husband’s colleagues organized a dinner party to celebrate our marriage.

It took us almost 9 months (from January to September 2019) to get all of our documents sorted out, from translations to registering our marriage in Japan, the Philippines, and France. Getting married is not like the romantic stuff you see in movies, in reality, it’s just a bunch of paper that needs to be organized. Hence, when we were done with it, we were very delighted and ready to rejoice in our union.

Can We Celebrate?

The get-together that my husband’s colleague was just simple. We just went to a Yakiniku restaurant near our home and around 8 people attended--- including me, my husband, his bosses, and the people he's close with at work. I know some of them before, so I didn’t have an awkward time. Some of them could speak English quite well and I tried to speak a bit Japanese too.

One of the bosses of my husband even gave us a gift. It was a Japanese tea set. It was really pretty, hence we only used it once because we don’t want it to get ruined. It’s a very precious present.

The tea set we received!

After eating tons of meat at the Yakiniku restaurant, others went home and some stay to go to a different place. This time we went to a wine bar.

My husband and his friend usually went go there when we haven’t met. I’ve been there once and I really liked one of the wines that they serve there. It has a very chill vibe and the owner is very friendly and he even allowed us to write a message on his wall.

Does Your Country Do the Same?

It was my first time attending a dinner party organized by co-workers for celebrating someone’s marriage. Hence, it makes me wonder if it’s a part of Japanese culture or it’s also a common tradition done in other countries. When I was working in the Philippines, I’ve never experienced it, because the ones getting married are the ones treating people for a meal or drink. That’s why they just hold a big reception to accommodate a lot of people.Based on my experience, my husband’s co-workers paid for our meal, so we are very grateful.

Have you guys experienced this? How is it in your country? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Follow me:

TRAVEL: @saunteringboots

ARTS & CRAFT: @lykishbella