The Tamesis
One unique project the couple took on was creating a signature fragrance for their wedding. “Since I own a fragrance brand, we started working with a Japanese perfumer and Brandon’s mother (who is also a perfumer) to create a unisex fragrance that we could all wear on the day,” Dhika shares. They named the fragrance Ceremony 29 to commemorate their wedding date. “Our key scent is hinoki, a Japanese woody scent that represents the wooden houses or wooden houses in Kyoto. Machiya.All the guests received the fragrance as gifts, and Dika eventually released it under her brand after the wedding.
When deciding on her wedding outfit, the bride worked exclusively with designer Sebastian Gunawan. “That was the easiest part of the whole wedding process,” she shared. “He’s been dressing me since I was eight years old! I feel like he knows me best. I wear a blindfold and trust him completely.” For the wedding in Jakarta, Gunawan designed two looks for Dhika that represented her Indonesian and Chinese roots. “In Kyoto, he created a Japanese kimono-style strap floral pattern on my two-piece bridal gown that highlighted my Japanese heritage,” she describes. For jewelry, she tied her hair up with Japanese barrettes and wore a tennis bracelet from Brandon’s mother. “I wanted my neckline to not have any jewelry to accentuate the shape of the dress,” adds the bride. Is she adding another look to her wardrobe? “For our welcome dinner, I chose to wear a vintage dress that my mother, Sebastian Gunawan, had designed for her 20 years ago.” Brandon also chose a suit by Lim’s Tailor, a long-time family favorite.
The couple also prepared outfits for the wedding day. Deckard asked her bridesmaids to choose mismatched dresses in butter yellow and sage green. “I wanted each bridesmaid to have her own style,” she said. They drew inspiration from the Reformation and had Indonesian seamstresses create custom styles for the party. The groomsmen wore suits with matching loafers and ties.
The festivities kicked off with a welcome party at the Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto, where guests spent the weekend. “Afterwards, we went clubbing in Kyoto’s famous Pontocho alley,” the bride added. The next day, the couple and their guests gathered on the deck of the Shogun’s Tomb Sacred Dragon Hall for a ceremony. “We wanted to have a 360-degree view of all our guests, so we arranged circles around a central platform,” says Dhika. Flowers were placed in reflective water containers made by This Humid House. Before Decca took the stage for Utada Hikaru’s First Love, the instrumental work of Ghibli composer and music director Joe Hisaishi set the tone for the ensemble.
The couple described the ceremony as very intimate. Brandon’s father, actor Ferry Salim, served as master of ceremonies and “gave us a little fatherly speech,” the bride said. The couple then read their vows before announcing their marriage with a kiss. The deck turned into cocktail hour, where the newlyweds and their guests enjoyed the last rays of sunshine of the day. “We enjoyed blue hour together on the deck, enjoying cocktails, wine, and delicious local snacks while admiring the sweeping views of Kyoto,” shares Dhika. “It felt incredibly magical and peaceful as we watched the city slowly light up below us as the sun set – the perfect way to transition from ceremony to evening celebrations.”
Before entering the temple for the reception, the newlyweds took a moment to observe the mingling of their guests. “It was amazing to see our year-long plan come to life,” Deka describes. “Our closest family and friends traveled all the way to Japan to pick us up! Some even flew 18 hours just to spend the weekend. That was the most important part.” Food was a highlight of the reception, with lunch boxes from the Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto, sashimi, Japanese beef and loose eel bowls on the menu. “I thought I would be too nervous or too busy to eat, but I ended up finishing all the classes,” the bride shared.
The party moved underground, at Club Metro, Japan’s oldest club. The after-party had a rock ‘n’ roll theme, all the guests changed into clothes, and the party continued late into the night. “We also had Brandon’s favorite Japanese indie rock band Galileo Galilei perform! Brandon also had a surprise with them,” adds Dhika.
Recalling the celebrations in Kyoto, the couple said they were filled with gratitude: “When I see these photos, I can feel the warmth of that day again.”
