Multi-Cultural Weddings
When most people think of weddings, what comes to mind is
usually basic information that's not particularly interesting or
beneficial. But there's a lot more to weddings than just the
basics.
While many different religions and nationalities have their own
well established traditions, it is becoming increasingly common
for couples of mixed ancestry to marry. Inter-racial couples are
marrying more and more often and with this increase in
inter-racial marriages comes a need for weddings that have a
multi-cultural feel. With so many wonderful traditions that hold
a great deal of importance to many families it is important to
plan a wedding that will celebrate the cultural diversity rather
than spotlight one of the cultures while neglecting the other.
Even if the couple themselves do not feel strongly about having
their heritage represented, it is important to consider the
feelings of family members as well. While the wedding is for the
couple and in general they should plan it as they see fit, this
should not be done at the risk of hurting the feelings of family
members by neglecting their culture in the ceremony and
reception.
One of the easiest ways to handle a multi-cultural wedding is to
allow one culture to dominate the wedding ceremony while the
other culture dominates the wedding reception. At the ceremony
care could be used to ensure that the attire, words, music,
decorations and procedures adhere to the culture of either the
bride or the groom. If the culture of the bride dominates the
ceremony then you could allow the culture of the groom to
dominate the reception. This could be done by providing food,
entertainment and toasts that reflect on the time-honored
traditions of the groom's cultural background.
Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not
immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.
While the preceding solution of having one culture control the
ceremony and another culture control the reception is one way to
plan a multi-cultural wedding, many couple choose to blend both
of the components of the wedding instead. While this can be more
difficult, it may be a better solution because neither family
feels left out of a party of the wedding. There are countless
variations for blending the traditions of two cultures into the
wedding ceremony. For example you might want to consider having
both the bride and the groom dressing in the traditional attire
of the one of the families but having them enter the ceremony to
traditional music of the other family. Another variation on this
idea is to have the bride dress according to her cultural
customs while the groom dresses according to his cultural
customs. This would symbolize the joining of the two cultures
with the union of the individuals. You could even consider
having the bride and the groom dress according to each other's
cultural customs as a symbol of their being willing to embrace
the other culture in their union.
Cultural weddings can also be blended at the reception in a
number of ways. A simple way to do this is to serve foods that
relate to one culture and provide entertainment that relates to
the other culture. This separation may seem too harsh for some
couples and they may want to blend their cultures in a more
subtle way. One way to do this is to serve a buffet style dinner
that serves cultural favorites of both heritages. Also, if you
budget a significant amount of money for entertainment, you
could consider hiring two bands so that you can have one band
that specializes in the cultural heritage of the bride and one
to represent the groom's heritage. This could not only serve to
unite the families but can also serve to ensure that the
entertainment never ceases. Many live bands play for only about
20 minutes at a time and then take a break. The two bands could
alternate playing their music so that there is never a dull
moment at the reception. If budget constraints do not allow
hiring two separate bands you might want to consider hiring a
band to play the music of one culture and consider hiring
dancers to represent the other culture.
Multi-cultural weddings are on the rise. As the number of
inter-racial couples increases, there is also an increased need
for creative ways to blend two different cultures into a wedding
ceremony and reception that will be enjoyed by all the guests.
Careful considerations should be made to ensure that neither
culture is offended by the festivities and that they are both
prominently displayed and celebrated.
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