East Meets West – Intercultural Wedding

Best ways to plan for an intercultural wedding

Marriages are made in heaven. But then, the equations change if you are born in different communities, countries and continents. An intercultural wedding brings in a lot of positives with it. And with the whole package also comes the challenges of sharing traditions. If you are planning an intercultural wedding, here are some quick tips that will help you save time, money and effort:

Time the Announcement

Formally announcing the wedding is a big challenge. You can choose a special occasion to do it. Plan in advance as to how you wish to inform your family, friends and others. A simple intercultural engagement event will give enough hints as to how your loved ones see you together for the rest of the courtship period, leading to the wedding.

Tip: Learn about your partner’s preferences and traditional values. You may opt for an informal ring ceremony amongst your family.

Engage the families

You have already decided that it is going to be an intercultural wedding. But getting your families along is what you must focus on. You have to plan out an elaborate weekend trip with parents, relatives and siblings. If you have a friend, colleague, or a family member who also had an intercultural wedding, invite them too. It could be a revelation for everyone. Intercultural weddings tend to exhibit bountiful love. Get first-hand tips from them.

Tip: Don’t try to do fanciful things in the meeting or the trip. Allow both the families to engage in talks they wish to have over the trip. Don’t try to manipulate or introduce artificial intentions.

Sharing the Cost

There would always be some haze as to how the wedding is going to move ahead. Pre-wedding rituals pose a different type of challenges. The straightforward hurdle would be: Who is bearing the cost of rituals and weddings. Some cultures require transactional bonds to solemnize a wedding. Gifting each other is also a common norm. If you want to ensure that everything goes on smoothly, ask both families to share the cost of wedding equally.

Tip: Sharing equally means you might have to reconsider the number of invited guests. Ideally, both parties should have similar count.

Picking the Venue

Deciding the venue for the wedding is the biggest snag most couples find hard to agree upon. If you belong to different cities, things are likely to muddle up as the wedding date approaches. A destination wedding is the best way to resolve this. It need not be either in the bride’s place or in the groom’s place. Choose a destination anywhere, considering the timing, cost, logistics, and of course, availability of the guests.

The Wedding Itself

You may plan for a joint wedding with a double reception. If your parents agree, you can also do the wedding as per the customs of both cultures. It will definitely inflate your marriage expenses, but will pacify all your direct relatives, especially those who are “not so happy” with the union outside the community.

Tip: Marriages have drifted when food choices are involved. Make adequate arrangements for vegetarian and non-vegetarian buffet separately.

Intercultural weddings require letting go of ego. Infuse your union with love, trust and above all understanding for each other’s values and traditions.