As part of the entertainment for our Scottish wedding mk II, we hired the koto (箏) player & harpist, Mio Shapley. Mio-san provided the music for guests arriving, for my bride walking down the aisle and for post-ceremony refreshments and her music was beautiful!

Whilst the day itself was a celebration of Scottish-ness I wanted to lace the events with Japanese influences and Mio-san’s performance added to a fantastic atmosphere.

As well as being a very talented harpist and pianist, Mio-san also performs the tea ceremony for events and indeed the first time I saw her was in 2009 at Japanese cultural day at The University of Edinburgh where she performed the tea ceremony and then later in the evening performed with the koto. More information is available on the Mio Shapley website and if you are planning a wedding (not necessarily with Japanese threads) I heartily recommend that you check out the site.

Photos by the wonderful Karolina Kotkiewicz .