(c) Sarah Gencarelli 2007

When I moved to Japan to work as an English teacher, I never dreamed that I would end up performing wedding ceremonies for nearly 100 happy Japanese couples. Now, I'm not what you would call a model wedding celebrant — I'm not a priest (I'm not even a Christian), I don't have a genuine wedding license, and I have never been properly trained. However, all things considered, I don't actually think I did a bad job. I was always on time and I only forgot one bride's name.

One of my teaching colleagues told me about the job. He'd been doing it for a few months, and was making good money (15,000 yen — around HK$1000 — per wedding). He thought I would like a bit of extra cash, and knew that I would have no problem learning the lines for the ceremony.

He introduced me to his boss, and I was asked to come in for an interview. At the interview, I was asked hardly any questions. The wedding agency interviewers just checked to see that I was western, that I could speak English, and that I looked relatively presentable. Then they showed me a wedding license and asked if I could make something similar. Were they really asking me to forge a wedding license? It turned out that they were. The demand for western weddings was huge, but real licenses were much too expensive and took too long to obtain. They used forgeries instead.

My first ceremony was an interesting experience. I was told the date, time and address, and I showed up, in my priest costume, to what I discovered to be an Italian restaurant with a crucifix hung temporarily on the wall. Even the crucifix didn't make it look like a church, though. Moments later, the wedding party arrived, the bride in a magnificent white dress covered in lace, and the groom in a tuxedo and top hat. This couple really wanted a western theme for their wedding! The sly-looking people that owned the restaurant and the nightclub upstairs made me a little nervous when they stopped by to watch what was happening. However despite the odd setting and my nervousness, the ceremony went well and the new husband and wife seemed happy with their western-style nuptials.

As it turned out, restaurants were quite common venues for weddings — many of the ceremonies took place in French or Italian restaurants, and even the occasional yakitori bar. The strangest place I ever had to perform a ceremony was a Wild West-themed pizza restaurant whose name, translated into English, was 'The Surprised Donkey'. That suited me, as I never stopped feeling surprised that I was actually performing weddings!

All the time I worked as a celebrant, it bothered me that I was performing the duties of a priest or minister without the proper religious background. I shouldn't have been worried. Most of the couples weren't Christian either, and they were paying for a Hollywood-style display, not a genuine religious ceremony. I later found out that only around one per cent of Japanese people are Christians, and most of them disapprove of the western-style ceremonies which they see as being sacrilegious.

The agency didn't seem to care about religion at all. As long as people were happy to pay for western-style weddings, they were happy to provide them. And there was certainly no lack of demand. Every week I would perform five or six weddings, and the agency employed another twelve westerners as well. I never found out what the agency charged for their services, but you can be sure they were making a lot more than my 15,000 yen per wedding.

In the end though, my life as a wedding celebrant couldn't continue. I was never completely comfortable pretending to be a priest. However I have some great memories, and I know that throughout Tokyo, my face appears in nearly 100 different wedding albums. And that's a nice thought.

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