Since PM Shinzo Abe declared an emergency state over Japan, many couples had to cancel or reschedule their wedding plans for this year.

It’s not only Japan but all over the world, the pandemic messed up the plans of many couples, and the events industry (including weddings) was crushed because of it.

However, in Japan, someone came up with an interesting idea that works even in these tough times and that is Remote Wedding Ceremony (Rimoto Kekkon Shiki/リモート結婚式) shortened RimoKon (リモ婚).

However, what is a remote wedding and how do you do it? A remote wedding is an online ceremony for your wedding that can easily be done from your home. The idea is beginning to spread around Japan as people can no longer gather in a big number at the same place and no one wants people to get infected at their wedding ceremony.

When going to a wedding you’re supposed to have fun, not worry that you might get the virus or that you might be the one spreading it to someone else.

Therefore, to stop that from happening and also protect the guests, but still not give up your wedding plans, quite a few couples in Japan have decided to try out an online ceremony.

Instead of gathering at a venue, people gather on Zoom or any other online conference apps together with their families, guests, some special attendees, and in some cases, a priest.

In Japan, rather than a priest, a ceremony without a priest is getting more and more popular.

Non-religious weddings are not that rare and here, you can opt either for a Japanese style wedding, a Western wedding, or a Jinzenshiki（人前式）.

Jinzenshiki is a public ceremony where you don’t vow in front of a priest or marriage officiant, but the guests become the witnesses and you make the vows in front of them. It is an interesting concept and compared to the Shinto/Christian ceremonies, you have more freedom and the guests participate and have a role in the ceremony.

The remote weddings can be done over the Internet and you have much more freedom to do what you want to. Some services provide remote wedding plans and you can also DIY the whole thing. In case you need some help, the remote wedding planners are there to help you organize your dream online ceremony.

In case you go for a wedding service, they will help everything go smoothly and you can talk to them about the food delivery system and so on. The reception can be done while eating and you can even order traditional dishes and gifts for the attendees and have them delivered to their houses before the ceremony starts. I bet the guests will be delighted!

You can check the Remote Wedding Official Website if you are interested in seeing more information about the services. (Japanese Only)

What do you think about having an online wedding? Does that appeal to you or would you rather wait until everything is over so you can hold one at a proper venue?