A Wedding Retreat at a Historic Ryokan | Gero
Updated: Aug 26
Two-day celebration filled with friendship, family, laughter and the warmth of a Japanese onsen town.
Location: Gifu, Japan
Venue: Yunoshimakan
Guests: Family & friends
Season: September
Style: Wedding Reception
A celebration shaped by memories
Based in Canada, the couple came to me with a beautiful idea: They wanted to invite their loved ones to Japan for a celebration that felt like a school trip — a chance to stay together somewhere special, relax, laugh and create memories as a group.
With many of their guests travelling a long way to Japan, finding a place where everyone could feel comfortable and at home was important.
The perfect setting was Yunoshimakan, a historic ryokan in Gero Onsen, Gifu. By coincidence, it was also a place I had personally visited several times before — a ryokan where I had always hoped to one day create a wedding. The moment I stepped inside, I remember feeling the quiet excitement of knowing that we were going to create someone's most important day in this beautiful place.
THE PLACE
A historic ryokan overlooking Gero Onsen
A Registered Tangible Cultural Property, Yunoshimakan sits on a hillside overlooking the famous hot spring town of Gero. The ryokan is filled with the atmosphere of another era — beautiful traditional architecture, rich wood, intricate details and a sense of history.
There is something about the place that naturally makes you slow down.
It felt perfectly suited to the couple's vision: somewhere their guests could stay together, step away from everyday life and experience a uniquely Japanese way of celebrating.
Rather than simply gathering at a wedding venue for a few hours, everyone could arrive, settle into the ryokan and enjoy the journey together.
THE EXPERIENCE
Arriving together
The day before the wedding was the first time I met the couple in person. When we finally saw each other in the lobby, after having planned the celebration together, we were both overcome with emotion. Tears of happiness came before we had even had the chance to properly say hello!
Soon after, their families joined us, and we spent the evening together over dinner in the onsen town.
It was a quiet and precious beginning to the celebration — time to share stories and enjoy being together before the wedding day arrived.
A relaxed wedding day
After breakfast, everyone took their time getting ready before gathering for the afternoon celebration.
The couple wanted their wedding to feel relaxed and natural, so their outfits reflected that spirit.
The bride wore a yukata from her family home, dressed by her mother, and completed the look with a fresh floral headpiece.
The groom looked perfectly at home in a traditional yukata from the ryokan.
It was a simple choice, but one that captured exactly what the couple wanted their celebration to feel like — comfortable, personal and unmistakably Japanese.
A celebration filled with laughter
The reception began in the evening, with the historic atmosphere of Yunoshimakan.
The styling was inspired by the richness of the ryokan, with deep burgundy tones bringing warmth and depth to the space.
The couple also added their own handmade touch by decorating the tables with origami cranes they had folded themselves, bringing a playful and personal sense of Japanese tradition to the setting.
And then the party began. The bride's sister had prepared masks for every guest to wear as the couple made their entrance, creating an unforgettable welcome.
She had also prepared special happi coats featuring photographs of the couple for both of parents.
It was the perfect opening to a celebration that was never meant to be overly formal — just full of the people they loved, having fun together.
THOUGHTFUL DETAILS
Designed for everyone to join in
The couple wanted their guests to feel involved.
At the reception, we prepared a name bingo game where guests had to find people who matched different descriptions and collect their signatures. Because there was no fixed time to complete it, guests could play whenever they liked, making it a natural icebreaker throughout the evening.
For the wedding film, the couple chose not to hire a professional videographer.
Instead, guests were given a handheld camcorder and encouraged to film freely throughout the celebration.
The result was something much more personal — imperfect, spontaneous footage captured from the perspective of the people who were actually there.
THE MOMENTS WE REMEMBER
Saying thank you in their own way
Instead of reading letters to their parents, the couple found another way to express their gratitude.
They collected childhood videos filmed by their parents over the years and compiled them onto USB drives as a gift. Watching those old memories come together into a story of their lives made for a deeply personal and heartfelt present.
Making sure everyone shared the same moment
With guests from different backgrounds and varying levels of English, we also wanted to make sure no one felt left out. For the English-language speeches, translations were prepared in advance so that everyone could understand and share the same moments together.
The speeches from both sets of parents were particularly moving.
Filled with warmth, kindness and love, their words seemed to wrap around the couple and everyone gathered in the room.
It was one of those moments when the room became completely still — everyone listening, feeling and celebrating together.
A NIGHT OF FUN
When the reception turned into a party
After the reception, the celebration continued in a dance hall with a wonderfully nostalgic Showa-era atmosphere.
Guests competed in a nostalgic game of moving azuki beans with chopsticks, challenged themselves to keep a cup balanced on their heads, and even enjoyed a surprise performance from friends that felt like a Western take on a traditional Japanese mikoshi procession.
There was laughter everywhere.
The kind of laughter that makes you wish the night could simply continue until morning.
BRINGING THEIR VISION TOGETHER
An adult school trip, just as they imagined
From the very beginning, the couple's wish was not simply to have a wedding.
They wanted to create an experience. A place where family and friends could travel together, stay together, eat together, play together and make memories that would belong to all of them.
Yunoshimakan gave them the perfect setting for that vision.
From the traditional ryokan and the onsen town to the handmade details, childhood memories, games and spontaneous moments of laughter, every part of the celebration reflected the couple's personalities and the relationships they shared with the people around them.
By the end of the night, everyone seemed completely at ease.
It truly felt like their own way of celebrating — warm, playful, personal and entirely their own.
A WEDDING THAT STAYS WITH YOU
What stays with me most from this wedding is not one particular detail.
It is the warmth of everyone who gathered that day.
The stories we shared about the couple's journey, the laughter that filled the room and the feeling of watching their family and friends come together as one.
It was a privilege to share even a small part of the story they had built together.
And I hope that, in the years to come, whenever they think back to this trip to Gero, they remember not only their wedding day, but the feeling of having everyone they love together under one roof.
May their future be just as warm, gentle and full of laughter as the day they celebrated together.
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