Many people start out by asking us "What exactly do you do by Wedding Support?" In order to familiarize yourself with the concept of Wedding Support, we would like you to refer to the ["Wedding Coordinator Journal" that we included on this web page.

What exactly do you do by WEDDING SUPPORT?

Many people start out by asking us "What exactly do you do by WEDDING SUPPORT?" In order to familiarize yourself with the concept of wedding support, we would like you to refer to the "Wedding Coordinator Journal" that we included on this web page.

The period between your engagement to the wedding day is probably one of the sweetest times of your time together. But, they can easily get spoiled by having to deal with tasks like arranging a wedding site, photographer, videographer, beautician, flowers, reception banquet, etc. Also, dealing with specialists individually, many couples tend to go overboard when planning for their "once in a life time wedding bash." A wedding coordinator will assume all the negotiations for you with more balanced view. Give us images of what you want. Be creative as much as you want. After all, we are there for you to make your dream wedding come true. You will be freed from "Marriage blue."

What are the minimum number of people and budget?

We can help you from as little as two, meaning just you and your partner. There is no wedding too little to handle. To give you an idea, if your overall wedding ceremony budget is $5,000 (approx. 600,000 Yen), your fee to us will be around $980.

Ideally we would like to have six months to prepare for client's wedding party. However, we will try our best even at a short notice. Visit our "Consultation" corner and give us your circumstances and wish list as detailed as possible.

In order to offer you a wide selection of specialists that suit your taste, A & A keeps many portfolios of professional hairstylists, make up artists, photographers and videographers.

Do we have to be Christian to have a wedding ceremony at a church?

Please rest assured. We will introduce you from our list of churches that accommodate non-Christian weddings.

Can you arrange an authentic Japanese style wedding in America?

No problem. We can arrange everything from costumes, stage to a reception banquet.

Is your service only limited to the San Francisco vicinity?

Staff may be limited depending on a location, but we will still be happy to work with you within the West Coast. In case if we need to travel far, we would be adding traveling expenses and a special traveling fee to a total cost.

Please visit the "Consultation" corner for further questions.

- A thank you letter from Mr. Roy Herman Adam
A letter from Mrs. Yumiko Shimamori, Roy's wife, is in Japanese version.

Dear Aoki-san,

I would like to say thank you personally for all our wedding arrangement.

When Yumi and I decided to have a wedding ceremony in December 1999, we were both exited and also stressed out. We know that a lot of things have to be done, but we don't know where to start. However, our thinking is that we should not be stressed out like that since wedding is something for us to enjoy.

One weekend, when we watch TV program in Japanese, there is a commercial for your service. We give it a try to call. Yumi called and made a first appointment around August 1999. At the first meeting, we feel so comfortable and relieved. I can see that you know what you are talking about.

3 months preparation seems so short, but you did it very well. You have a very well knowledge associates in their own field. They are all very professional, and the most important are very friendly. Please send my thanks and regards to them as well.

I have a lot of complements from all my work associates and friends regarding the wedding. The wedding is not boring one, since everybody enjoys the food, games and also nice narrator.

I will recommend all my single friends here to have you arrange their marriages when they decide to.

Again, thank you very much and we'll keep in touch.

Sincerely,
Roy H. Adam

" A balding spot in the hair and pink roses" (Dec. 9, 98')

One day in August, we picked up a phone call.
The conversation went like this.
"Hello this is Aoki Associates, the original wedding coordinator."
The caller started to talk in a gloomy tone, "I heard that you help people arrange original weddings..."
" That's right. What can I do for you?"
" We only have two months left to our wedding date..."
Without sounding too pessimistic, I asked her to describe how she has been preparing and what were her wish lists.

Yoko (not her real name) has developed a patch of balding spot in her head from exhaustion of being in a dead end negotiation with a wedding coordinating company. Having lived in San Francisco before, it was her dream to have a wedding in this city. So six months ago, she contacted a San Francisco branch of a prominent wedding company based in Japan, expressing her master plan. At just two months left to the wedding date, the company sent her a list of 3 prepackaged wedding plans from which she was asked to chose one. She did not like any one of them, yet she felt obligated to go through it because she fought hard to get her fiance agreed on a wedding in San Francisco. She felt stuck and had no where to turn to for a solution. We wanted to show her there is a way to still have her dream wedding. That was the driving force.

Yoko's master plan was like this.
She was firm about the wedding dress she spotted in the design magazine. So it had to be order made. A veil to match her wedding dress also had to be custom-made. Since we were pressed with time, we asked our staff to work on her case as a top priority.

When it comes to selecting a church, usually non-Christians have fewer choices. The bride wanted a church that had a classic looking fire place, and she was lucky to find one just like that and would accommodate a non-Christian wedding.

One of the delights of visiting San Francisco is experiencing authentic Chinese food. Besides, with Chinese food, every guest will usually find something he likes. We helped her pick a five star restaurant in downtown as a banquet site and she was very pleased with that suggestion.

She wanted a simple and elegant bouquet to go with her dress, so we showed a photo image to a florist to have one made.

She wanted a gorgeous corsage on her hair and a make up, so we had combined a make up and dress rehearsal. A simple elegant dress, a gorgeous make up and pink roses on hair brought more dramatic effect than we have expected. What's more, it only took one approval nodding from her fiance for everything to go "OK." Later she confessed that he had high standards and he is usually very hard to please.

Toward the end of rehearsal, Yoko seemed more relaxed and confident. She changed her mind about not having a photographer and videographer and decided to include them in her wedding package. I could feel she was genuinely excited about the whole process and I was happy to be part of it.

Our communication log showed a total of 26 pages fax and 1 hour international calls were exchanged between San Francisco and Japan. A bald spot has disappeared and with stunning pink roses on her head, she looked dashing. "Don't I look like a character out of a Peking Opera"

Yoshiko's idea of wedding was "just make me stand out like a stage actress. After all it's once in a life time event." So I communicated her wish to Toshi, my most trusted hair and make up artist. I have always thought when it comes to creating a dramatic effect, nobody does it better than Toshi. The request got Toshi's creative juice going and he said reassuringly, "Leave it up to me."

On the wedding day I was completely at ease until I went to check on the bride. My immediate reaction was "Oh my god... that make up is too much." Since the bride felt so strongly about a stage like effect, we could not advise her to have any other way. I was getting nervous. Then as we were heading to the banquet site, Yoshiko whispered in my ear, " Tell me the truth. Don't I look like a Peking Opera singer? Don't people think I look ridiculous?" I did not know what to say, but I thought agreeing with her would just create more anxiety, so I said, "You definitely look marvelous." My heart was really pumping inside though.

The lesson I learned from this episode is to trust your staff's judgment and skills no matter what. When she entered the banquet room, spot lights followed her and she looked so gorgeous standing among big flowers and gorgeously decorated stage. I could not help screaming, "All right. Good job Toshi." I looked around to see everyone's reaction and everyone, especially the husband looked captivated by the beautifully presented bride. The bride was beaming in happiness. Standing next to me was calm looking Toshi muttering, "I guess I could have made her makeup more showy." Every wedding is unique, but this was one of the more unforgettable moments.