Multicultural and Bilingual Weddings

Multicultural and Bilingual Weddings
By Lois Heckman, Wedding Celebrant

Blended families and marriages, both culturally and racially, are on the rise. So go ahead and make your vows of love and commitment in the languages you choose. The words to your ceremony should be genuine and speak of you, in your voice, ensuring a much more meaningful and personalized wedding ceremony.

I have often written how we Americans come from many lands, and that is a source of our greatness and our strength. It is always appropriate to have your wedding ceremony reflect your heritage, and this can be done in a variety of ways. Adding some cultural flavor is as tasty for a wedding as it is in our daily diet.

To give a wedding character and to celebrate one’s family, couples can draw upon their favorite and most appropriate customs to include in the wedding. Multiethnic weddings can contain as much or as little cultural detail, giving you control to balance the interests of both families.

Here are some tips on how to do this in the ceremony:

• Make good use of a program book for translations. Translate some or all of the ceremony, or just special readings.
• Say your vows in different languages. Have the officiant recite your vows in one language and you can repeat them in the other language, or the bride may say them in one language and the groom in the other.
• Have a guest read a poem or reading in the ‘second’ language.

There are many, many rituals and traditions to draw on for inspiration. Here are just a few examples:

• The Presentation of the Arras (13 Coins), or the Lazo (the cord placed around the couple) for Latino heritage
• The Seven Blessings or Breaking of the Glass, for Jewish traditions
• Pouring of Libations or Jumping the Broom for African American traditions
• Sharing of dates and milk for Middle Eastern backgrounds
• Tea ceremony or sharing of wine and honey for Chinese heritage
• Handfasting for Celtic or Pagan traditions

It is perfectly fine to interpret these rituals, giving them your own spin. What could be more American than blending and changing of cultural traditions? So go ahead and give your wedding ceremony some of the spice of life with the flavors of your rich backgrounds. Not only a culturally competent officiant, but wedding planners, caterers, friends and family are excellent resources for designing a custom multicultural wedding. Weddings are personal experiences, and the best one’s are the most unique.

Lois Heckman
http://www.loisheckman.com/