Simply Bowie April 2022 Publication

Tips For Planning A

Multicultural Wedding

Article By Nyah Marshall

To put simply, a multicultural wedding is any marriage between two people with different backgrounds, in which the wedding and reception includes ceremonial and cultural practices from both familial backgrounds. A marriage between two Americans can be considered multicultural if they come from different regions or ethnic groups. However, the cultural differences would be much more substantial if it was a marriage between two people from different countries or continents.

The union of two people is also the union of their families, friends, backgrounds and traditions. This union becomes even more significant in the case of multicultural weddings— in this case, your significant other can come from a completely unique and different background. As the nation becomes increasingly diverse, multicultural weddings are on the rise. The act of blending two religious and cultural backgrounds into a wedding ceremony may sound difficult, but the outcome will ultimately make everyone happy and beautifully blend two families.

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The question then becomes, how can soon-to-be wed couples successfully blend their weddings by incorporating the most important elements, make everyone happy and stay on budget? Here are 5 tips and 5 wedding ideas we complied that will help make sure your multicultural wedding is a great experience.

1.) Consider hiring an experienced planner.

Planning a wedding is already stressful—planning a multicultural wedding and woking to blend both families could make this experience even more stressful. If there is money to splurge, hiring a wedding planner who has experience with planning multicultural weddings will make the process a little easier.

A planner’s job is to guide you through difficult decisions and conversations, granting you and your significant other some peace of mind

Mimi. Ebichi Events, a wedding planning company based in Washington, D.C., specializes in multicultural weddings.

As experts in planning weddings of the sort, they explained, “your wedding should tell the story of your heart, your dreams, taste and style while flowing seamlessly from the planning phase to the day itself.” For this reason they reflect the goals of other wedding planners and work to spend quality time with you and your parent, ensuring that your wedding is successfully planned.

2.) Educate guests and check in with both families.

There could be several expectations and ideals on how your wedding should look, coming from you and your partner’s families. It is most important that your wedding is a reflection of you and your partner’s values. However to avoid unnecessary stress, (as you can see, the goal is to avoid stress at all costs!!) it’s essential that you educate your guests on your partner’s culture and have those difficult conversations with your family.

Marquette Avenue Events is a Chicago and Pacific Northwestbased event planning boutique, that’s renowned for their fusion weddings. CEO Brianne Garritano emphasizes that being proactive in setting expectations with your family is key to a successful multicultural wedding.

“When parents are not stressed,” Garritano said in an interview with PartySlate, “our couples are not stressed.”

A second component to this would be ensuring that you introduce your guests to the cultures represented during the wedding. For instance, you can translate wording for guests when appropriate, as well as, educate them on the rituals and ideas throughout the wedding.

3.) Double check with religious and cultural institutions.

Before setting everything in stone, it is important that you check with the religious institutions that you plan to have officiate the wedding. Every culture has its own frameworks and while most religious officiants are open to interfaith union, some are more stringent with their unions. To avoid any complications, be sure to be transparent with your officiant to ensure they are comfortable with preforming the ceremony at a multicultural wedding. Some officiants of differing backgrounds may even perform the ceremony together!

On the other hand, depending on you and your spouse’s cultural values, having two officiants preform the union ceremony many

not be an option. This brings us to our next tip, which is to consider having two separate ceremonies.

4.) Consider having two equally important ceremonies.

Sometimes all of the tough decisions that come with planning a multicultural wedding can become overwhelming. It’s tough trying to accommodate everyone, especially when you and your partner’s families live in different countries. If you find the act of blending your wedding into one ceremonial event too stressful, it wouldn’t hurt to have two different ceremonies.

This allows you to comfortably showcase each culture separately, with no exclusions so no one feels left out. Geographically and financially this could be the smarter decision.

5.) Let’s talk budgeting.

Speaking of financially smarter decisions, what you include or don’t include in your multicultural wedding greatly depends on your budget. Discussing your budget with your partner, family and planner early on will help you find some clarity in some of those tough decisions.

Mapping out the full picture of what your event will look like, who’s attending and where the money is being allocated are important questions that should be answered early on in the planning process. This is especially important for multicultural weddings, because in some cultures and depending on the event type, there could be certain expectations of who traditionally pays for what.

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Wedding Ideas for Incorporating Both Cultures

Now that the more stressful part of the planning process is out of the way, it’s time get to one of the many exciting parts about multicultural weddings— getting creative about how you plan to blend the two cultures through your wedding design! Hopefully these 5 ideas inspire how you’ll blend your two cultures throughout your ceremony and reception.

1.) Fusion food and drinks.

One of the best and fun ways to introduce your guests to different cultures is through the art of food. Your wedding food and drinks could be a fusion of traditional meals from both cultures.

When speaking on multicultural weddings, catering company Blend Catering based Tahoe, California, emphasizes the intimacy behind food.

“Eating together, especially foods that represent a couple, is a really intimate experience and takes the experience a step further,” they said.

The food at your wedding should be equally as diverse as the ceremony. Another way to educate your guests is by creating a menu card with the food, where it comes from and its significance.

2) Double the entertainment.

When selecting the entertainment for your wedding, think about booking talents that showcase each family’s heritage and

tradition. Entertainment is just another way to connect people and commemorate each culture in a unique way.

In one Latin-Indian fusion wedding planned by Marquette Avenue Events, the couple chose to feature both a mariachi band as well as a barrat with colorful smoke bombs and lively dancing.

3.) Translated invitations.

Ensuring your wedding is an all around, culturally immersive experience starts with the perfect invitations. Wedding invitations with writing in both families’ native languages is a creative way to include both cultures. This will also guarantee that everyone is able to read the essential wedding details.

In a wedding planned by Ruby and Pearl event, the couple chose to incorporate a Chinese tea ceremony within their wedding invitations.

4.) A diverse playlist.

Just like food, music brings everyone together and helps effectively introduce cultures. When planning an interfaith wedding choose your music and DJ with a clear goal that you want every guest’s ethnicity respected and acknowledged. Adding an adequate variety of music from different genres and cultures to your playlist is a great way to get people on the dance floor and mingling!

Also, a good way to get both families on the dance floor on the day of your wedding is by scheduling dance classes for family members before the big day! This can serve as a fun ice-breaker and as a way to teach everyone a few traditional and culturally significant dances.

5.) Be unique with your fashion choice.

A distinct characteristic of multicultural weddings is certainly the different traditional attires the couples choose to incorporate within their ceremonies. There are many ways to include cultural attire throughout the ceremony, in ways that do not have to clash.

Some couples have chosen to execute this idea by wearing the same culturally, traditional attire during the ceremony and then another at the reception. Others wear their own cultural attire during a single ceremony.

Another way of symbolizing the fusion of two cultures is through a fashion swap, where the bride and groom swap traditional attire for the entire celebration.

Ultimately you and your partner should use your knowledge, experiences and values to create a memorable wedding and experience. This beautiful event, that brings together two families of different backgrounds, should be nothing but enjoyable for both parties!

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