These photos were taken an hour before the wedding in a Japanese garden at The New Otani, the hotel where we stayed during our visit to Tokyo. With it’s beautiful tomato red bridge and Zen shrubbery, Greg couldn’t have found a more picturesque backdrop for this photo shoot. 

I had hoped to find a new outfit to wear for the joyous occasion, but it didn’t work out that way. Things were either too short, too neutral, too bare, too casual, too flimsy, too expensive or too maximal when I shopped around for a frock and topper. I still liked the blue sheath dress and citron trench coat that I wore for my 40th a few years ago better than anything new I tried. Shopping your closet has it’s benefits.

Although classic in silhouette, the uneven ruching detailing both in the front and back of the sheath gives it a modern and sculptural vibe. It was unexpectedly cold and windy that day and I was much relieved that I had a dressy trench coat to cover up my sleeveless dress. I kept the trench on and un-buttoned during most of the wedding events. 

I hadn’t thought of adding nude hosiery to this ensemble until right before the event. 99% of the women in Japan wear textured, black or plain nude hosiery with their skirts and dresses, so I was inspired to do the same. I bought an ultra fine textured pair at a nearby shop for $4.

And my goodness was I glad that I wore hose. Most of the ceremony at the shrine was outside. And afterwards we walked to the restaurant where the reception was held, as well as walking back to the hotel. I would have frozen my buns off with bare legs, and been utterly miserable. 

The dress was blue. The trench coat, pearls, clutch bag (and dress) were old. And the shoes are new. The citron colour of the pumps stole my heart right away. But I am not a high-heeled stiletto gal, preferring chunkier and lower heels by about a billion percent. However, I loved the black and white stripes on the heels so I gave them a bash.

As far as “sitting shoes” go, they felt fab, and completed the lady like integrity of the outfit. I can scarcely believe, and neither can Greg, that I walked to the reception and back to the hotel in these heels – although it was at a much slower pace than my usual fast stride. Thank you Kate Spade for making high heels that agree with my fussy feet. 

Be sure to see the additional pictures on Facebook or Tumblr, and if you are interested in the making of a YLF photo, Greg has outlined the post-processing steps on his lookfab blog. 

Tomorrow, the finale of our Japan series and the most important post of all: Brian and Tomoko’s wedding.