Planning a Multicultural Wedding? 10 Important Things You Should Know!

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Planning a wedding is already a pretty complicated affair that calls for much attention and patience to deal with multiple tangible and intangible challenges. But it becomes a totally different ball game when it happens to be a multicultural wedding. Now this could be a wedding between two different religions, cultures or ethnicities. In any case, a multicultural wedding comes with a layer of complexity that needs to be dealt with caution and maturity. If yours is going to be a multicultural wedding, then here are some helpful tips for you to plan your big day while avoiding hassles.

10 tips to plan a multicultural wedding

1. Communicate with both families involved

Communication in a multicultural wedding is as important as understanding your significant other’s differences in beliefs and rituals. From the moment you start your wedding planning, make sure both families are involved. It will not only make them familiar with a culture that’s different from theirs, but you will also get valuable inputs from them.

2. Think about your options

Do you want it to be a simple court marriage, or do you want to have an exotic two-layer wedding where both the cultures will be equally followed? Alternatively, you can get choose one culture for the wedding and the other for your reception. The options are many. All you need to do is choose wisely and also consider time and budget.

3. Choose proper venue

For a multicultural wedding,choosing the right venue can be a tricky task. Pick a venue where both the families will feel comfortable.

tips to plan an intercultural wedding

4. Include rituals and customs of both sides

Try to incorporate rituals and customs of both sides. Make sure that no one feels left out, or is not being given enough importance. Sit with your SO, discuss in detail about their wedding customs, explain yours and find a balanced way to incorporate major customs of both cultures.

5. Educate both sides about the differences as well as similarities

A ritual of your culture may have a very different meaning in the other culture. For example, black and white as colours of wedding attire, hold very different and contradictory meaning across cultures. Therefore, it is important to give a heads-up.

6. Personalize the wedding

That’s the best part about a multicultural wedding. You can make it as fun and as interesting as possible.

7. Engage your guests as well

While educating your families and seeking their advice is important, it is equally important to engage your guests, more so, if they are from other cultures or other countries. Otherwise, they will feel completely out of place. You can design your invitation cards in a way that will give them a brief introduction to every ritual and happening.

8. Get creative with the food

tips to plan a multicultural wedding

Image: via Cineyug Celebrations

Here’s another part of the wedding where you can surprise all your guests with a menu that includes the best of both the cultures.

9. Plan dance rehearsals beforehand

Also, hire a choreographer who is well-aware of the dance forms of different cultures and is able to create a wonderful mix out of it.

10. Be yourself

All said and done, remember that a multicultural wedding means celebrating the best of both culutres, not losing one culture in another.

Featured Image Courtesy: Pixelena Studio

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