Differences between weddings in Japan and Australia?

The key word here is "christian style". Yes, many weddings in Japan look and have a christian like feel to them and are even called christian style..but they are really just for show.

Christian weddings in Japan....

1. Have a priest that is almost NEVER a christian himself and only plays the role for the wedding. Some foreigners have part time Jobs in japan as "rental priests" to perform wedding ceremonies. Their job is only to wear the costume, perform the ceremony and leave. They never really have any communication with the bride or groom.

2. The bride and groom do not recite Vows.

3. The father doesnt give away the bride.

4. No call for "does anyone object"?

5. The ceremony may involve a lighting of a single candle.

6. There is very little actual "christianity" in the ceremony. The bible is often held but no real passages are read out of it. The priest does not ask the congregation to pray.

The average age of marriage has increased quite a lot in the last 20 years. Many people get married these days in their late 20s. I should also add that the divorce rate has also increased as well.

Japanese weddings consist of two or three parts. The first part is the ceremony in which only 20 or so people attend..usually family only and the boss of the groom or the person who introduced them.

The second event is the reception (mistakenly called a "wedding party") which is usually held in a restaurant or hotel. Its held right after the wedding. Mostly this event is for eating and drinking and a slide show which shows the bride and groom when they were children and then a few photos of themselves as a couple. Durring this time the bride and groom change clothes a few times. First they enter as bride and groom and make a few speeches. Then everyone eats, then they come back in different clothes and more speeches. Then people leave. In some cases there is a third event at a bar or restaurant for people who were not invited to either the ceremony or the first reception.

There are almost no typical traditions with these types of events.

Guest size can be anything but the actual ceremony is small and the number of events is to give everyone a chance to attend when space is limited.