The concept of a “June Bride” may no longer be the dominant fashion, but weddings are always joyous events. I’d like to introduce a very happy movie, one that merrily plays the Wedding March.

Set in Tokyo during the late 1950s, Kyoko Nonomiya, played by Ayako Wakao, is the youngest of three daughters. In a parallel situation to her own, her two older sisters are already happily married to the two oldest sons (out of three) of the founder of the Mihara trading company (what a crazy situation!). The oldest sister reigns as queen of the Mihara trading company by controlling her husband who is the CEO. But that’s not enough for her, she plans to marry off the youngest in both families, as part of a Marry-Into-Wealth- Trio scheme (scary!). “I won’t let my selfish sister do whatever she wants!” Kyoko and Saburo, the youngest son, played by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, join together in an alliance against this conspiracy and swear to never get married to each other. What’s going to happen to her sister’s plan……?

Colorful Tokyo locations, all more than 60 years old, appear one after another: a luxury bar, a tonkatsu restaurant, a TV broadcast station, the Kinugawa hot spring, a Japanese sweets cafe that serves tasty Anmitsu, a Rockabilly cafe, and so on. All of these places seem so fresh and exciting! And there’s no time to get bored because of the fast delivery of the movie’s dialogue. It’s so awesome, 95 minutes just flies by!

By the way, this movie features two wedding reception scenes. A wedding reception in the 1950s- that’s way older than my own parent’s wedding! I imagined it would be very formal and uptight, but the receptions in the film are more like a buffet style cocktail party, with appetizers on tables, an array of randomly placed liquors, and bottles of Bireley’s orange drink. It seems a lot more casual, more like a holiday party than a reception. The mode of dress is quite casual also. Although there are women in more formal Kimonos, there are a lot of varieties of western style clothing on view, even more than wedding receptions in present day! It seems so much more free and liberal and a lot of fun! I had no idea!

There’s an adorable and charming sweet from Kyoto that fits nicely as a wedding favor. You may think it’s unlike any other sweet from Kyoto. It’s Castella! (A popular Japanese sponge cake made from sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup, which is from Nagasaki with a Portuguese origin). This particular Castella is from Echigoya Tareido, a Castella specialty shop in the Nishijin area, which opened way back in the Edo period. Since their opening, this shop only sells Castella, surely the only store in Kyoto to do this. The shop sells Castella (and only Castella!) in many different varieties: to enjoy with family, as gifts for different occasions. It has a firm but fluffy texture with a rich egg flavor. It’s so tasty that it’s almost shocking. It will knock you out when you eat it!

There’s a special Castella made for weddings that has a small Castella shaped word meaning “celebration” placed on top. So cute! For wrapping options, the wooden box gives off a formal and elegant feel, but for stylish parties, I would suggest the paper box. It comes in a red box with a gold leaf print of the word “celebration”. So simple and happy! Very cool!What I love about the design is when you open the box, your face is illuminated in its golden hue as if you opened a treasure chest full of gold coins. The reason is simple: the box is lined with gold paper. Is that all? Yup, but doesn’t it put you in a happy mood? This Castella gets top marks as a sweet for any celebratory day!

Oh, someone please invite me to a cute wedding reception like the one in “Saiko Shukun Fujin”! And then of course, make the wedding favors be Castella from Echigoya Tareido!