Together with their families

Aiko TanakaSean Whitfield

We met in a garden in bloom and have been following the seasons ever since. This spring, we ask you to stand with us beneath the same blossoms where it all began.

Origin of the garden

The two whose paths met.

Aiko Tanaka

Bride

A ceramicist who shapes every piece the way spring arrives in a Japanese garden — slowly, and all at once. She has a habit of pressing petals between the pages of whatever she is reading.

Sean Whitfield

Groom

A landscape architect with a weakness for bridges and a deep respect for the gardener who lets a path fall where it wants. He keeps a paper map of every park they have ever walked.

How the garden grew

A path that never wanted to end.

Every garden is a promise that something will come back. Ours began with a walk through Kariya in spring, and the way neither of us wanted the path to end.

The first bloom

Sean was sketching the stone bridge when a petal landed on his page. Aiko, passing by, said it was the garden sending a letter, and he should keep it. He kept the page, and then her number.

One knee, one blossom

He waited until the pinkest week of the year — the week she calls the garden at its best — and knelt on the same bridge where the petal found him. The gardener is still pretending not to have seen.

Until the blossom opens

The day draws near.

3 days 16:50:49 to go

The order of the day

Every moment, in place.

Vows beneath the blossoms

Kariya Japanese Gardens

16200 Number 3 Road, Richmond, British Columbia

Get directions

Dress code Garden formal — soft pinks, ivories, and greens

The stone bridge will be lined with petals and the ceremony held on the island by the maple grove. Walk softly; the gravel path is part of the ritual.

The blossom reception

Kariya Tea House Pavilion

16200 Number 3 Road, Richmond, British Columbia

Get directions

Dress code Garden formal — soft pinks, ivories, and greens

Lanterns are strung as the light falls. Dinner is served low and long, family style, with a toast as the last of the sky turns pink.

Lantern afterglow

Kariya Tea House Pavilion

16200 Number 3 Road, Richmond, British Columbia

Get directions

Dress code Comfortable shoes for the gravel paths

Paper lanterns on the pond, warm sake by the fire bowl, and quiet. The garden stays open only for those who stay to watch it darken.

The hands beside ours

Those who grew with us.

Riku Tanaka

Maid of honour

Aiko's side

Aiko's brother, keeper of the family garden, and the composer of a small song he plans to play on the koto at the reception.

Emma Whitfield

Best woman

Sean's side

Sean's sister, who taught him to read a garden as a question rather than a plan, and who will absolutely cry before the vows.

Hana Mori

Officiant

Family

The couple's oldest friend and the tea master who will pour the ceremonial cup at dawn. She has never once been late to a garden.

Kept moments

What we will remember.

A Japanese garden with a stone bridge arched over a still pond ringed by cherry trees in full pink bloom
The garden at its best, the week we chose
A hand holding a small celadon tea bowl with a froth of pale green matcha, a sprig of blossom beside it
The first cup, poured by a steady hand
Paper lanterns on strings glowing against an evening pink sky above a dark pond
The lanterns, just as the sky went pink
Two pale gold wedding rings lying on a grey stone bridge amid scattered cherry blossom petals
Two bands, resting where the story began

Before you cross the bridge

A few notes for you.

What should I wear?

Garden formal. Soft pinks, ivories, creams, and greens suit the day best. The ceremony is outdoors on gravel paths, so choose shoes you can trust on stone.

What if it rains?

A Vancouver spring is honest about the odds. The pavilion is covered and the tea house warm; umbrellas are provided at every gate. The garden in the rain is still worth standing in.

Are children welcome?

Yes — the garden is a place to wander. We will have a small table of quiet things for them by the pavilion, and the koi are always a crowd-pleaser.

Garden House, Richmond

A block of rooms is held under Tanaka & Whitfield, ten minutes from the gardens. Ask for the blossom-side rooms; they open onto the maple grove.

More information

Shuttle from Oakridge station

A shuttle runs from Oakridge–41st to the garden gate from mid-afternoon, and back again after the last lantern goes out.

The garden fund

We have a garden of our own now, waiting to be planted. If you would like to give something, a tree we watch grow is the only gift on our list.

View The garden fund

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