Wedding Invitations

Cherry Blossom Wedding Invitations

The cherry blossom is the flower of the cherry tree also known under the name of sakura, a Japanese name literally translated as Japanese flowering cherry.

It is a well known custom in Asian countries such as Japan, China and Korea to witness the blooming of the cherry trees in the month of April.

As a little history during the Heian Period in Japan, more precisely between the year 794 and 1191, the Japanese people tried to borrow some traditional practices from China, including the flower viewing social phenomenon. In China the plum tree was highly appreciated for its beautiful blossoms, but Japan replaced the plum tree with the cherry tree.

The significance of the cherry blossom is always associated with the buddhistic way a viewing life and the concept of mono no aware, or the transience of the blossoms. Their ephemeral beauty is a powerful symbol often associated with mortality.

The cherry blossom it is said to bring good fortune, symbolizing spring, affection and love, but also can be seen as a metaphor for the evanescent nature of life as depicted in all forms of art, mostly in paintings.

Such a powerful symbol can always be used for the wedding invitations. If you are a fan of the Asian cultures, especially the Japanese culture and you plan yourself an oriental theme wedding, you can always match the symbols, associated with that certain Asian country, with the design of the wedding invitations. For example, if you intend to have a Japanese theme wedding you could use traditional symbols like the pink cherry blossom tree known as a sakura, the art or origami, which is perfect for hand made wedding invitations, the art of arranging flowers or ikebana for a perfect Japanese ambient, the geisha style for clothing, accessories or make-up, the traditional Japanese men’s clothing, and the list could go on.

Traditional asian calligraphy has it’s great importance, especially in Japanese culture. You can write a short poem on your invitation card to express your emotions or feelings. Usually this type of poem is called haiku in Japanese culture and they often describe a person’s deep feelings in few but inspirational words.

And since we talked about words, the wording etiquette for the wedding invitations is also very important.

Asian countries are closely linked together by religious beliefs such as Buddhism but also share a wide variety of mythological symbols.

The wedding invitation should contain the basic information about the wedding ceremony, the names of the bride and groom and their parents, the exact date, time and location of the wedding and some other details. If you are having the themed wedding party we just talked about you can make a short suggestion in the wedding invitation about clothing and if the party has a specific theme. You can use the formal wording or a less conventional one, but try not to forget to include the information mentioned above.

The sakura or cherry blossom wedding invitations come is such a wide variety that I have to refrain in recommending one particular design. Of course, you can always make use of your artistic skills, if you have them, and make your own cherry blossom wedding invitations, but you can also order unique, one of a kind wedding invitations from the internet and they can either be more expensive if they are hand written or just perfect for your wedding budget. Either way the choice is all yours but you can never go wrong when choosing a cherry blossom wedding invitation.