Taiwanese model and actress Lin Chi-ling (林志玲) and Japanese band Exile’s Akira yesterday married in Lin’s parents’ hometown of Tainan.
At around 3:20pm, the bride and groom performed traditional wedding rituals at an ancestral hall dedicated to those surnamed Wu (吳) and at a dessert shop nearby.
Sources say 44-year-old Lin chose to have the wedding in Tainan as a tribute to her mother, Wu Tzu-mei (吳慈美), who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Wu also married in Tainan.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Lin also wanted to provide Akira’s friends and family members an opportunity to witness traditional Taiwanese wedding customs, they added.
Starting in the morning, hundreds of well-wishers gathered outside the hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous couple.
Lin’s father, Lin Fan-nan (林繁男), and the bride walked down a red carpet to the main hall of the venue. Her father gave Lin’s hand to 38-year-old Akira, born Ryohei Kurosawa.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The bride and groom were wearing a Ralph Lauren custom-made wedding dress and suit.
In his vows, Akira thanked Lin Chi-ling for marrying him and promised to make her the happiest woman in the world.
In her vows, a tearful Lin Chi-ling thanked Akira for making her “believe in love” and pledged that the two would stay together for better or worse into old age.
A banquet was later held at the Tainan Art Museum’s Building 1.
Since open fires are prohibited inside the building, the food was prepared at Silks Place Tainan and then delivered to the museum, sources said, adding that an afterparty was hosted at the hotel.
The dishes served included ingredients from Taiwan and Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, hotel general manager Rebecca Lee (李靖文) said.
The wedding was attended by close friends and family, including Catwalk modeling agency founder Ivan Hong (洪偉明), producer Chiu Li-kwan (邱瓈寬), TV hosts Kevin Tsai (蔡康永) and Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) and actress Tammy Chen (陳怡蓉).
Additional reporting by Wang Chun-chung and CNA. This story has been modified since it was first published.
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