A Japanese bride wearing the traditional white japanese wedding kimono, called shiro-maku. Shiro meaning white and maku meaning pure. The wedding kimono actually consists of two different kimono. The white wedding kimono is worn for the wedding ceremony and an elaborate rich patterned silk brocade kimono called uchikake is worn over the white kimono at the wedding reception.
The wataboshi, bridal kimono hood is derived from the katsuki, a hood worn outdoors by married women in samurai families from the Muromachi to Momoyama periods. From the Edo period, this custom was taken up by younger women. Originally worn outdoors to keep away dust and prevent from the cold, the wataboshi now is worn as the equivalent of the bridal veil in Western tradition. Wearing the wataboshi hides the bride’s face from all others except for the groom until the end of the wedding ceremony. The white wataboshi is worn only outside with the shiromuku, not with colored wedding kimono or during indoor receptions.
